A CHRONICLE: THE LESSON TAUGHT BY THE HENS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIV, Issue 173, 22 July 1903, Page 7

A CHRONICLE: THE LESSON TAUGHT BY THE HENS.

The lord of the manor eateth eggs and maa , and it came to pass that he for his breakfast, and he ■tyantea ego'? ~ bse and'-Went to the house where the Jeiig dwell-and searched diligently, and, behold, he findeth no eggs. , And he waxed exceedingly wrath, and ffl id unto' his spouse many bitter words concerning those hens; yea, he uttered m e words |bY found in the dictionary. 'm he desired his first-born to bring his Se hatchet so that he might separate 11 Lads of those hens from the bodies. Rut Us helpmeet snifl unto him, "Put 1 thy little hatchet and explain unto 5 ff hy thou desirest to decapitate those said unto his helpmeet, "Be- „££ of a truth they will not lay any US And have I not given much corn Toats and have I not also lamed my £ picking up bones and putting them n the house where they dwell and did L I .rire them a large head of cabbage Z Vonth, and do I not break the ice t their trough once every day? And hftold when I require two eggs for my Sakfast. verily. I cm only find those Ide of china;" and he spat on hi 3 whetJune and began to sharpen his little

Now the wife of the lord of the manor ; as a woman who, having brains, had L* been in the habit of using them id she said. "Give unto me the care of those hens for the space of six months. ? will pay thee for the corn and all banner of food they eat At the price it is said in the market-place, and thou shalt ay me for all the eggs and.all the chickens, both fried and roasted, that shall be eaten within thy gates.' And he answered and said unto her, «1t shall be as thou sayest." (And he goeth into his sleeve and laugheth until ;the tear 3 came and chased each Other adown his cheeks, and he sayeth to himself, "I have got the old woman And it was now the month called January. Now, when the woman went, down to the house where the hens dwelt and looked therein she beheld a sight Hat made her smile with an exceeding Joud smile. And this was the vision 3he beheld:— On the floor were six large ankle bones of the ox and one skull of the gentle mule; on the wall, tethered with a rope, TO3 a head of cabbage, and, lo! it was so fctrhup that the hene could not reach it without much flying. The water was terily a mass of ice, and many small cavite therein testified as to the manaer the hens quenched their thirst. hi a far corner there was a pile of grain which smelled badly, for it was even mouldy.

Now, when the woman had recovered from the effects of this panorama, she called out to her first-born and said unto him, "Johnnie, let's go share in this ■biz.'"

And Johnnie answered and said unto her, after the manner of those of his age/"You bet"

Then she.breaketh the ankle bones of tie ox; she pulveriseth the headpiece of the mule; she cleaned up the house and.atoppeth up. all the cracks; she removeth all the nests, and taketh down the roosts; she whitewasheth the inside of the house; 9he putteth the oil of kerosene upon the perches, and she slay«th the lice by thousands, yea, by tens of thousands did she slay them.

■ She returneth the hens to the house Md calleth upon the old man for some corn and some oats and screenings of the tfheat, some meal of the corn and some Wheat called after the male deer, and she getteth several i measures of each of these things. (Aid the lord of the manor, when he had'given these things unto Siis helpmeet, put into a book the amount and the price fchoreof, and he taketh are that the price should not be too low. Then he huggeth himself and sayeth to himself, "_Jia! Eggs is eggs, and mine is the profit.") About this time there arose in the iWest a demon called blizzard, and he spteadeth himself all over the country, round about where the lord of the manor dwelt. Now, when the blizzard prevails in any country, the hens dwelling therein refuse to make, deposits of eggs unless much has been done for their comfort, and the merchant who deal*th in the fruit of the hen sayeth unto his hired man, "William, it will be an eggaelent' idea to put up the price ot *$>S) for thereby we will increase our Wealth." And William answered and said nnto him, "Yea, verily, that will we do." 4ad the price of eggs advanced fourNow, the -wife ol the lord of the manor ™ give unto the hens much attention, wd she fed them with corn, and with oat 3) and with the screenings of the Jjieat, and the meal of the corn, and we wheat called after the male deer, pd the hones of the ox that she brake w> email fragments, and the dust of we headpiece of the mule that she pulJerised, and she saved the crumbs from the table; those gave she also and used auch judgment in making ready feasta f °r hena. ' Aad it happened that about the welfth day after she began to feed the fle ns, and the lord of the manor began °nee more to eat eggs at his breakfast, and whereas he. formerly ate only two <jog 9 he now ate more; and there being wore than enough eggs for his own use, »c ordereth his wife to give also eggs rate his first born, and unto all the rest M his children, and unto the man ser™k, and unto the maid servant, and ™to the strangers within his gates. _ out his wife said unto him—"Nay, ™y lord, egga are high in price, and it «re better to sell some, and I can Jfke the money to buy garments for •™c children and a piece of sackcloth for °y lord, for verily the time will soon «°me when he will need it." . And the lord of the manor looked «»wn upon his spouse and said unto her iT Woman, do as I bid thee," and she ow so, and 10l many eggs were consum- _ Kow the woman did speak every Jri - to tlie mercnan t who sol d eggs * ncl Jd ask him the price, and also did •£ k . torn the price of corn and other p ; i!s of the field; and she did neither * v .v nor sell. . •And the merchant did marvel greater tuereat. About the fourth day of JJ c third month there did march forth «» the house wherein dwelt the hens yast number of chickens; for the hens, f the manner of their kind, did sit chi c k lr 6ggs and did hatch from them in^!*' 01 " 5 oi tliem straying far off "Ko the field, the lord of the manor findeia it and taketh it to his wife, Baying,

"Behold, where did this chick come from?" . : ' . : ■

And she answered and said unto Mm, "The hen did hatch it."

And straightway he thought of his little hatchet and was sad, but he comforted himself with the thought that there would soon be chickens both fried and roasted, and it was even so.

And he ordered his wife to give of them freely to all his household.

But once more she said unto him, "Shall I not sell some of these chickens to get the wherewithal to buy garments for the children, and a large piece of sackcloth for my lord?"

And he waxed wrath and said unto her, "I will pay unto thee the market price of all these chickens, according to the covenant I made with thee. And she held her peace, for she was = a wise woman.

Now, when the harvest was ripe, there came many hired men to gather in the crops, and they ate many chickens, so that there was hardly enough left for the winter store.

And the hired men said to one another, "Lo! we have struck it rich this time, for have we not heard that chickens are nearly worth their weight in silver ?"

And it came to pass that at the end of the sixth month the lord of the manor said unto his wife, "Now is the time come when we mil balance the account with the hens."

And his wife goeth te an old pot (which was made for holding tea, but, being of great age, and having many cracks in it, she now used it as a place of safety for her writings), and bringeth forth a parchment on which was written various words and figures.

Then the lord of the manner taketh out his little book, and showeth unto his wife how many measures of grain slfe had bought of him and the price thereof, and she was indebted unto him to the amount of 75 dollars lawful money.

Then his wife said unto him, "Give me the price of a measure of corn, al3o of oats, and other grains that I have had of thee," and he, having done so, she looketh over her parchment whereon she had marked the price of the merchant for those grains; and putting down some figures, reduceth the amount of dollars to sixty and five, which she showeth to the lord of the manor, and explaineth the matter unto him and sayeth unto him —"My lord is a just man and would not defraud even his -wife. Behold, this is the price of the merchant who keepeth the market at the place where the roads do cross."

And the lord of the manor said — <f Let it be as thou wilt." (For he thought he was very safe.) Then the woman gathered herself up, nnd with a voice of exceeding sweetness did tell unto the lord of the manor how many score of dozens of eggs they had consumed, and how many dozen of chickens they had eaten, both fried and roasted, and the price the merchant received for the eggs and the chickens, and the price thereof was' for the eggs from 15 to 30 cents per dozen, and when the blizzard arose in the land the price for the space of tAvo weeks was 40 cents. And the price of the chickens was from two to four dollars a dozen, and the sum of the whole was just 125 dollars more than the cost of the feed.

And the woman said—"Pay unto me one hundred and twenty dollars, and take thou the five dollars and buy thyself a piece of sackcloth and I will furnish the ashes free." (For there waa nothing mean about his woman.) And the lord of the manor was stricken as with a palsy, and the sweat rolled down upon his cheeks, and he felt exceeding sick. And straight away he -zoeth out behind the barn and kicketh himself, and sayeth unto himself— "Verily, it is a good thing I had my laugh early, for now there is no laugh in me. Oh, that I had been born a mule! For then I would have had the ears and the quickly-moving hind legs to warn me that I was a mule I will arise, go to the house, and clothe myself in the Backcloth and the ashes."