NOW, what is all this noise about? The hens cackle and run about. The
pig squeals. Over the fence flies the old gander, and after him flies
the goose. Now, what can be the matter?
I will tell you. It all comes from this: our little Philip has had a
present of a new whip; and the first thing he does with it is to see how
his friends in the barn-yard like it.
He does not like to try it on the horse or on the cow; for the horse can
kick, and the cow can hook with her horns. So, like a little coward, he
frightens the hens, and the poor geese, and the pig, shut up in his pen.
I do not think it right. We ought to protect the weak, and not try to
scare or hurt them.