There was once a man and his wife, who one fine morning found an egg. "Well," said the wife, "wait till it is hatched: and some beautiful bird will certainly come from it!"
And when the egg was hatched, what did they have? A great Chicken, and a very naughty one. But the man and his wife said, "O what a lovely bird!"
And the Chicken began to crow and make a dreadful noise. And the man said, "How sweetly our dear bird sings!"
And when the Crow-Biddy snatched at everything on the dinner table, and spilt the cream, the good wife said, "What an appetite the dear thing has!"
And when he tore up his school books, and threw them away, they said, "Oh, our Pet knows everything!"
And when he broke all the plates and dishes, they said, "How lively the dear thing is!"
After a time the cock beat the man, but only he said, "How strong and stout he is growing!"
One day the cock went into the street, and threw stones at the lamps and windows, and the husband and wife both said, "Indeed there is nobody like him in the whole town."
But then came a soldier, and caught the cock, and locked him up in a dark prison. This time the husband and wife said nothing.
