THE FARM-YARD COCK AND THE WEATHER-COCK

THERE were two cocks- one on the dung-hill, the other on the roof. They were both arrogant, but which of the two rendered most service? Tell us your opinion- we'll keep to ours just the same though. The poultry yard was divided by some planks from another yard in which there was a dung-hill, and on the dung-hill lay and grew a large cucumber which was conscious of being a hot-bed plant. "One is born to that," said the cucumber to itself. "Not all can be born cucumbers; there must be other things, too. The hens, the ducks, and all the animals in the next yard are creatures too. Now I have a great opinion of the yard cock on the plank; he is certainly of much more importance than the weather-cock who is placed so high and can't even creak, much less crow. The latter has neither hens nor chicks, and only thinks of himself and perspires verdigris. No, the yard cock is really a cock! His step is a dance! His crowing is music, and wherever he goes one knows what a trumpeter is like! If he would only come in here! Even if he ate me up stump, stalk, and all, and I had to dissolve in his body, it would be a happy death," said the cucumber. In the night there was a terrible storm. The hens, chicks, and even the cock sought shelter; the wind tore down the planks between the two yards with a crash; the tiles came tumbling down, but the weather-cock sat firm. He did not even turn round, for he could not; and yet he was young and freshly cast, but prudent and sedate. He had been born old, and did not at all resemble the birds flying in the air- the sparrows, and the swallows; no, he despised them, these mean little piping birds, these common whistlers. He admitted that the pigeons, large and white and shining like mother-o'-pearl, looked like a kind of weather-cock; but they were fat and stupid, and all their thoughts and endeavours were directed to filling themselves with food, and besides, they were tiresome things to converse with. The birds of passage had also paid the weather-cock a visit and told him of foreign countries, of airy caravans and robber stories that made one's hair stand on end. All this was new and interesting; that is, for the first time, but afterwards, as the weather-cock found out, they repeated themselves and always told the same stories, and that's very tedious, and there was no one with whom one could associate, for one and all were stale and small-minded. "The world is no good!" he said. "Everything in it is so stupid." The weather-cock was puffed up, and that quality would have made him interesting in the eyes of the cucumber if it had known it, but it had eyes only for the yard cock, who was now in the yard with it. The wind had blown the planks, but the storm was over. "What do you think of that crowing?" said the yard cock to the hens and chickens. "It was a little rough- it wanted elegance." And the hens and chickens came up on the dung-hill, and the cock strutted about like a lord. "Garden plant!" he said to the cucumber, and in that one word his deep learning showed itself, and it forgot that he was pecking at her and eating it up. "A happy death!" The hens and the chickens came, for where one runs the others run too; they clucked, and chirped, and looked at the cock, and were proud that he was of their kind. "Cock-a-doodle-doo!" he crowed, "the chickens will grow up into great hens at once, if I cry it out in the poultry-yard of the world!" And hens and chicks clucked and chirped, and the cock announced a great piece of news. "A cock can lay an egg! And do you know what's in that egg? A basilisk. No one can stand the sight of such a thing; people know that, and now you know it too- you know what is in me, and what a champion of all cocks I am!" With that the yard cock flapped his wings, made his comb swell up, and crowed again; and they all shuddered, the hens and the little chicks- but they were very proud that one of their number was such a champion of all cocks. They clucked and chirped till the weather-cock heard; he heard it; but he did not stir. "Everything is very stupid," the weather-cock said to himself. "The yard cock lays no eggs, and I am too lazy to do so; if I liked, I could lay a wind-egg. But the world is not worth even a wind-egg. Everything is so stupid! I don't want to sit here any longer." With that the weather-cock broke off; but he did not kill the yard cock, although the hens said that had been his intention. And what is the moral? "Better to crow than to be puffed up and break off!

家养公鸡和风信公鸡

有两只公鸡，一只在垃圾堆上，一只在屋顶上，两只都很自高自大。可是谁更有能耐呢？请告诉我们你的意见……然而，我们保留着我们的意见。

鸡场那边有一道木栅栏，与另一个院子隔开。那个院子里有一个垃圾堆，垃圾堆上长了一条很大的黄瓜。她自己很明白，她是发酵土里长出来的东西。“这是生就的！”她内心这样说着。“并不是甚么东西都可以生成黄瓜的，世上也应该有别的有生命的物种！鸡、鸭，还有邻舍院子里那一群，也都是生灵。我这会儿看见木栏上有公鸡，和高高在上连咯咯叫都不会更不用说喔喔啼的风信公鸡比，他的确另有一番意义！那风信公鸡既没有母鸡，也没有小鸡。他只想着自己，满身铜绿！不行，家养的公鸡，那才算得上是公鸡！瞧他迈步的那个样子，那是跳舞！听他打鸣，那是音乐！他所到之处，人们就明白甚么是小号手！若是他跑到这里来，若是他把我连叶带桿一起吃掉，若是我进了他的身子里，那真是幸福的死！”黄瓜这么说道。

夜里天气坏得可怕极了，母鸡、小鸡，连带公鸡都找不到躲避的地方。两个院子中间的那道木栏被吹倒了，发出很大的声音。屋顶上的瓦也落下来，但是风信公鸡却稳稳地站在那里，连转都不转一下。他不中用，然而他年轻，是不久前才铸出来的。而且头脑清醒，遇事不慌。他天生老成，不像那些在天上飞来飞去的诸如麻雀、燕子之类的小鸟，他瞧不起他们。“唧唧喳喳的鸟儿，小不点儿，普普通通。”鸽子倒挺大，闪闪发光，很像珍珠母鸡，看去也颇像某种风信公鸡。但是他们太胖了，笨头笨脑，一门心思只想着啄点东西进肚皮里去，风信公鸡这么说道，交往之中他们还总是令人厌烦。秋去春来的候鸟来拜访过，谈到过异国他乡，谈起过天空中鸟儿成群结队地飞行，谈起过猛禽拦路行凶的可怕故事。头一回听，这都很新鲜有趣。可是到后来，风信公鸡明白了，他们老在重複，总是讲同样的事儿，很是令人烦心！他们一切都叫人烦心。没有可交往的，谁都是死板板的，毫无趣味。“这世界真不行！”他说道，“甚么都无聊透顶！”风信公鸡像人们所说的那样，对甚么都腻味了。黄瓜要是知道的话，她一定会觉得很有趣。但是她的眼中只有那家养的公鸡，现在他已经到了她的院子里来了。

木栏被吹倒了，可是雷电已经平息。“你们觉得那一阵子喔喔啼如何？”家养公鸡对鸡婆和鸡仔说道。“有点粗声粗气，一点儿不雅致。”

鸡婆带着一群鸡仔闯到垃圾堆上，公鸡像骑士一般迈着大步来了。“菜园子里长出来的！”他对黄瓜说。从这么简简单单的一句话里，她体察到了他的高度涵养，却忘了他正在啄她，正在吃她。“幸福地死啊！”

来了一群母鸡，来了一群小鸡。只要有一只跑动，另一只便会跟着跑起来。他们咯咯地叫，他们唧唧地叫，他们瞅着公鸡，为他感到骄傲，他是他们一族。“咯咯、勒咯！”他啼了起来，“我在世界的鸡场里这么一叫，小鸡马上便长成了大母鸡。”

鸡婆和鸡仔咯咯唧唧地跟着叫了起来。

公鸡接着宣讲了一个大大的新消息。“一只公鸡能生蛋！你们知道吗，蛋里是甚么玩意儿？里面是一只爬虫怪1！谁见了它都受不了！人类都知道这事，现在连你们都知道了。知道我身体里怀着甚么！知道了我是所有鸡场里一个甚么样的棒小伙子！”

接着家养公鸡拍拍翅膀，挺起自己的冠子，又啼了起来。所有的鸡婆，所有的鸡仔都哆嗦了一下。但是，他们都为自己同类中有一个所有鸡场中最棒的小伙子而骄傲。他们咯咯地叫着，他们唧唧地叫着，好让风信公鸡听见。他听到了，不过并没有因此而动上一动。“一派胡言乱语！”风信公鸡内心这样说道。“家养的公鸡从来也没有下过蛋。我没有那个兴致，要是我愿意的话，我满可以生一个风蛋！可是这个世界不值得有甚么风蛋！全是胡说八道！——现在我连这么立着都不高兴了。”

於是风信鸡折了。不过他没有把家养的公鸡砸死。“当然他是这么打算的！”母鸡说道。这篇故事所含的教益又是怎么说呢。“与其活得腻味折掉，倒还是啼啼叫叫的好。”

丹麦有这样的迷信，说有个怪物，鸡头蛇身。它一眨眼便能吓死人。