Cobwebs from an Empty Skull

A young cock and a hen were speaking of the size of eggs.  Said the cock: 

“I once laid an egg—­”

“Oh, you did!” interrupted the hen, with a derisive cackle.  “Pray how did you manage it?”

The cock felt injured in his self-esteem, and, turning his back upon the hen, addressed himself to a brood of young chickens.

“I once laid an egg—­”

The chickens chirped incredulously, and passed on.  The insulted bird reddened in the wattles with indignation, and strutting up to the patriarch of the entire barn-yard, repeated his assertion.  The patriarch nodded gravely, as if the feat were an every-day affair, and the other continued: 

“I once laid an egg alongside a water-melon, and compared the two.  The vegetable was considerably the larger.”

This fable is intended to show the absurdity of hearing all a man has to say.