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 Cock
and he's a Cock. Only he is a very, very common Cock, while you are a
real beyond-the-sea Indian Cock. That's why he screams with envy. Every
bird wishes to be an Indian Cock. 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.