Page:Our Grandfather by Vítězslav Hálek (1887).pdf/20



Betuska, daughter of Kubista, fed poultry. First came the cock and chose himself a few nice morsels, but the best he gave to one hen who was before all dear to him. The other hens clucked and said that she was his wife. But for all that the others were not idle either. They jumped on to Betuska’s hand, her shoulder, and into her lap, and complained to her as their good friend that the cock cheated them of their due by paying attention to only one of them, while after all it was they who laid all the eggs for the egg basket. Betuska was their judge; she cursed the cock for a reprobate and permitted the hens to take their corn out of her lap.

But these chickens were like children: order them with an affable countenance, and something for dainties and they do not desert you. Provided it kept coming they would most willingly have got all their food by themselves. Betuska called them to her with empty maws, and sent them away well primed. They hopped away clucking, sidled up to the cock, and kept on gabbling that they were not at all inferior to the cock’s wife. They knew thus much about her, and even hinted at her infidelity, until the cock himself ceased to peck, his comb swelled, and he measured them with a look such as a choir master gives to naughty choir boys.