The rooster was simply delighted with his new bright red comb, swaying atop his head.

The peacock explained, “The pond’s heart was so filled with gratitude she gave the following blessing: Swans shall have feathers forever white, parakeets wings the brightest green, cuckoo birds a delightful call, peacocks the grandest of tails, and roosters a red comb to sport.”

As soon as the peacock said these words, a crimson comb began to sway atop the rooster’s head. Before that day the rooster used to twist and crook his sorrowful head out of sight. But after that, he wanted all to see his new red comb. And from that day onward roosters crowed every morning to proclaim the source of their pride to the world.

So in this way, the louse’s small blessing grew and grew and rewarded more animals than she ever knew. And now the louse’s blessing has come to reward others: those who tell the story of the louse’s blessing, and those who are filled with wonder just hearing the story—whether they wake up to the story or fall asleep at its close.

A most unusual protagonist

To everyone's surprise, the much despised cuckoo bird began to sing the finest meldies and tunes.

Vijay Dan Detha wrote a story of a louse called “A Louse’s Blessing.” He heard it from a woman in his village, Borunda, which lies in the geographic—as well as cultural—center of the Indian state of Rajasthan. Borunda’s economy traditionally was agricultural: First, millet and squash and other monsoon crops were grown, and then, when farmers began to dig wells and irrigate, the plantings became more exotic and the crops more dependable. Recently, limestone has been quarried, so trucks and the occasional jeep or government bus now ply dusty roads that once belonged to camel carts and flocks of sheep. The brightest colors one sees are in the men’s turbans, or the women’s glossy veils. The sun is harsh, the water scarce, and the sand ubiquitous.