My master was a pupil in a very large school; the house in which he
boarded, accommodated twelve more, but none so kind as himself; many
slight injuries I received, but I considered how much worse my lot had
been, and felicitated myself accordingly; but too soon I felt the most
acute torments.
My master was often laughed at by the other boys for his fondness for
me: I loved him so much, that whenever he came into the yard, I ran to
meet him, would feed out of his hand, or fly upon his shoulder, but this
I would never do to any other boy, and by this I suppose it was which
made them hate me.
One day two of them came into the garden to read, the story they fixed
upon was, unfortunately for me, that cruel one of Diogenes stripping a
cock of all its feathers, and throwing it into the middle of the school
where Plato was instructing his disciples; crying, 'there is Plato's man
for you.' They laughed heartily at this, and one of them cried out, Oh!
the most admirable thought has struck me! let us serve Manly's hen in
the same way, and when he is in bed to night, we will open the door, and
throw it at him, and cry out, 'there is Manly's lady for you.' This was
highly approved of, and I was accordingly seized, and stripped of my
feathers. Oh! Dickey, was not this far more unjust than the young
bantum's taking your worm from you? that could give you no pain, but the
tortures I endured, no one can possibly imagine; the blood flowed
copiously, the skin was torn from the flesh, I wished for death to put
an end to my torments, but that was denied.
At night they fulfilled their intention, my benefactor was truly
distressed to see my miserable condition, and taking me to the mistress
of the house, and implored her assistance to cure me; she wished to have
me killed instantly, but that he would not consent to. As she was a
humane woman, she endeavoured to cure me; and got some oil, which she
carefully rubbed over me, and I was kept in a place where these wicked
boys could not come to me. I had the pleasure of hearing that these boys
had been expelled from the school, the greatest disgrace that could
befall them.
It was long before I was entirely recovered; the next holidays Augustus
determined to take me home with him, and leave me in charge of his
amiable sister, whom he knew would nurse me tenderly. There I may say I
was perfectly happy for some time. I became a mother, and had the
delight of seeing my children beloved by Augustus and his sister.
Once, owing to the carelessness of a servant, I hatched some duck eggs,
I did not perceive the mistake, till taking my chickens (as I thought
them) out, to teach them to scratch, they all ran towards the water; in
vain I called after them to stop, that they would be drowned if they
attempted to go in; deaf to my entreaties, they threw themselves in, I
came to the pond in all the agonies of despair, expecting to see all my
precious little ones dead; but, to my astonishment, they were all
swimming merrily. A duck with whom I was intimate (for I made it a rule
to treat all the domestic fowls with civility) came up and assured me
she would take care of my young charge while they were on the water, and
teach them to swim.
Soon after, Augustus intended giving a supper to some of his friends,
and it was proposed that each one should bring his favourite dish;
Charles Mellish, Manly's cousin, was staying with him, he was a boy of
an ardent temper, and would do any thing by way of frolic, or what he
called fun; from the time this supper was proposed, he determined his
dish should differ from every other persons, he accordingly procured
from the cook a large pie dish and cover, and when the party assembled,
he came into the poultry yard, seized me, and in spite of my peeking and
scratching, forced me into it, covered me over with leaves, and placed
the lid on; when he entered the parlour, I heard a number of little
voices say, I wonder what Charles has got. He replied, something
different to any one else I think; but before I let you see what it is,
I must make an agreement that if it is different, every one of the
ladies shall give me a kiss; but if any other person ever thought of
bringing the same, every one in the room shall have the liberty to give
me a slap on the face. This being agreed to, he set the dish upon the
table, and took off the lid; I, who had been sadly cramped, immediately
flew out, to the great astonishment of all present. I suppose master
Charles received the reward from the ladies, but of that I did not wait
to be witness; but ran out of the room as fast as possible.