A HEN who had no nest of her own found some eggs, and, in the kindness
of her heart, thought she would take care of them, and keep them warm.
But they were the eggs of a viper; and by and by the little snakes
began to come out of the shell.
A Swallow, who was passing, stopped to look at them.
“What a foolish creature you were, to hatch those eggs!” said the
Swallow. “Don’t you know that as soon as the little snakes grow big
enough, they will bite some one—probably _you_ first of all?”
“Then,” said the Hen, as she stood on one leg and looked at the ugly
little snakes, first with one eye and then with the other, “you think
I have done more harm than good?”
“I certainly do,” said the Swallow, as she flew away. “Good judgment is
better than thoughtless kindness.”