Other Comments:

Go back to the time when the Earth was fixed at the centre of the universe, when evil was imprisoned within the Earth, and the keepers of evil were the animals. Go back to the time when the Rooster was lord of the Earth, and ruler of the animals. This is the world which Wangerin paints for us. The story is powerful, the characters astonishingly evocative of their barnyard descendents. The proud, strutting Rooster, the woeful Dog, the industrious Ants, the foolish Turkeys – we know these characters. And yet we don't, either. There is no farmer in this farmyard. The evil serpent seeks to have his way, not by lies and guile, but by outright conquest. The Rooster is hugely proud, and yet that pride is not, in and of itself, a sin. The Dun Cow of the title, God's messenger, appears rarely and speaks less. It's all quite strange and, like Shakespeare, outright silly in parts. And yet, there is profound truth spoken here. No matter the situation, no matter the temptation, no matter the foe, all can say, with Chauntecleer the Rooster, "I can choose against evil." (p. 118) – Greg Slade