Verotchka's Tales Part 11

"Help! Help!" piped the Canary pitifully. "I will never do it again. It is better to die of hunger than to live in a cage."

The Canary now thought that there was nothing in the whole world nicer than the Crow's nest. Of course, it was cold and occasionally one had no food. But there was freedom. One could fly about wherever one pleased. She wept, waiting for the boys to come to put her into the cage. But as luck would have it, the Crow pa.s.sed by that very moment and spied the Canary in difficulty.

"You are foolish," scolded the Crow. "Didn't I tell you not to touch those seeds?"

"Aunty, I'll never do it again."

The Crow was just in time. The boys were already on their way to fetch their victim. The Crow tore the net quickly with her beak. The Canary was free.

The boys chased the Crow, throwing sticks and stones and scolding her for some time.

"How nice it is to be free," chirped the glad Canary, finding herself once more in the Crow's nest.

"Of course, it's nice. You'd better take care if you want to stay free," scolded the Crow.

The Canary, safe in the Crow's nest, started life anew. Never again did she complain of either cold or hunger.

One day, the Crow flew away in search of food and stayed all night in the field. When she returned she found the little Canary lying in the nest with her little legs up--cold and stiff.

The Crow tilted her head to one side and looking very closely at the Canary, she said:

"Well, I told you you were not a real bird."

[Ill.u.s.tration]

THE WISEST OF ALL

I

Turkey Gobbler awoke as usual before any one else. It was still dark.

He woke up his wife and said:

"Am I not the wisest of all?"

Turkey Hen was not quite awake. She coughed and then answered:

"Oh, you are very wise. Khe! Khe! Khe! Who does not know that? Khe!

Khe! Khe!"

"No, it isn't enough to say 'wisest of all,'" said Turkey Gobbler.

"There are plenty of wise birds, but the wisest of all is one, and that is I."

"The wisest of all! Khe! Khe! Khe! The wisest of all! Khe! Khe! Khe!"

"That's right," said Turkey Gobbler.

A little cross, Turkey Gobbler added in a voice that other birds might hear:

"Do you know, I think that I am not respected enough."

"You only imagine that. Khe! Khe!"

Turkey Hen calmed him, at the same time smoothing her feathers that had ruffled over night.

"You only think that, for one could not imagine a wiser bird than you.

Khe! Khe!"

"What about the Gander? Oh, I see everything. Of course, he is silent most of the time, never saying anything directly, but I feel that silently he does not respect me."

"Don't pay any attention to him," said Turkey Hen. "He isn't worth it.

Khe! Khe! Haven't you noticed how foolish he is?"

"Any one can see that," said Turkey Gobbler. "It is written all over his face, 'Foolish Gander,' and nothing else. But it isn't really the Gander, for, after all, can one be angry with a fool? The Rooster, for instance. The most ordinary Rooster. Did you hear him scream at me the other day? He screamed so loudly that all the neighbors heard him. It seemed to me he was saying I was foolish or something like that."

"How strange you are," said Turkey Hen, astonished. "Don't you know why Rooster screams?"

"Why?" asked Turkey Gobbler.

"Khe! Khe! Khe! It's very simple and everybody knows it. You're a c.o.c.k and he's a c.o.c.k. Only he is a very, very common c.o.c.k, while you are a real beyond-the-sea Indian c.o.c.k. That's why he screams with envy. Every bird wishes to be an Indian c.o.c.k. Khe! Khe!"

"But that's hard to be, mother. Ha! ha! ha! Some ambition for a common little Rooster to become a Turkey Gobbler! No, sir. That never can be!"

said Turkey Gobbler.

Turkey Hen was a very modest, kind bird. She was always worried when Turkey Gobbler quarreled with anyone.

This morning, he was hardly awake when he was thinking with whom to pick a quarrel and fight. He was a restless bird, though not unkind.

Turkey Hen was often hurt when other birds made sport of Turkey Gobbler, calling him, "Old Stuck-Up" or "Chatterbox" or "Empty-Head."

They were partly right, of course. But then, there are no birds without faults. That's why it is pleasant to find in another bird even the tiniest shortcomings.

The birds, now awakened, proceeded from the poultry house into the barnyard, and at once there arose a horrible clatter. The hens made the most noise; they ran around the yard, they climbed on the kitchen windows, and they screamed, beside themselves,

"Cut-a-cut! Cut-a-cut! Cut-a-cut! We are hungry! Cook Matryona must either be dead or she wants to starve us to death."

"Ladies and gentlemen, have patience!" remarked Gander, standing on one leg. "Look at me. I, too, am hungry, but I don't shout in the way you do. If I were to open my mouth and scream, 'Quack! Quack!' or louder, 'QUACK! QUACK! QUACK!'..."

Gander quacked so loudly that Cook Matryona awakened immediately.

"It's easy for him to talk of patience," grumbled a Duck. "His throat is like a megaphone. If I had a neck as long as his, and a bill as strong as his, I'd also preach patience. I would also have my food before any one else, and preach patience to the others. We know Master Gander's patience."

Rooster, supporting Duck in this, screamed, "Yes, it's easy for Gander to talk of patience. Who pulled out two of my finest tail feathers yesterday? It is dishonorable to grab hold of a bird's tail. Of course, we quarreled slightly and I won't deny that I intended to pick Gander's head, but then I was to blame, not my poor tail. Am I not right, ladies and gentlemen?"

Hungry birds, like hungry people, become unjust--just because they are hungry.