HOW T HE COCK BECAME KING OF THE BIRDS 



the eagle replied, *I can fly higher and see farther than 

 all the other birds. Surely I should be king of the birds.' 

 And so the lord of the forest replied, *I hear what you say. 

 Stand to one side. Call your wife.' And so Mrs. Eagle 

 came, and she spoke in the same language. And the lord 

 of the forest replied, *I hear what you say. Stand to one 

 side.' Next came the Bird of Paradise, who said, 'I am 

 more beautiful than all the other birds, surely I should 

 be king of all.' Again the lord of the forest spoke as be- 

 fore, 'Stand to one side, call your wife.' And so the fe- 

 male Bird of Paradise presented herself and spoke in the 

 same manner." 



I must explain that the reason why the story took five 

 nights to relate, is because my African friends paraded 

 every known bird for judgment. Often I failed to recog- 

 nize the bird about which they were speaking and then 

 I would have to stop them, for I would not let them 

 continue until it had been made clear to me about which 

 bird they were speaking. 



Finally, on the fifth night we came to the end of the 

 story. "At last the cock came to the lord of the forest 

 and he said, 'Cock-a-doo-del-do.' And the lord of the 

 forest replied, *I hear what you have said, stand to one 

 side, call your wife.' And so the hen came, and she said, 

 *Tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk, tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk.' And the lord of 

 the forest turned to the cock and addressed him, as fol- 

 lows, 'My friend, you have won the day. You are more 

 clever than all the other birds of the forest, because you 

 have taught your wife a different language from your 



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