123 OUR HUMBLE HELPERS 



painful deglutition. When the crop is full, which is 

 ascertained by the touch of the hand, the bird is 

 set free ; another takes its place and, willy nilly, re- 

 ceives the funnel in its throat. During the thirty- 

 five days that this feeding lasts, a goose consumes 

 forty liters of corn ; that is to say, more than a liter 

 a day." 



" After such a cramming with quantities of corn 

 rammed down by main force, ' 9 remarked Jules, ' i the 

 goose must get discouraged and pine away." 



"Get discouraged! You don't realize a goose's 

 appetite. The miserable creature becomes accus- 

 tomed to this diet, even takes a liking to it, and 

 toward the end of the operation comes of its own ac- 

 cord and opens its beak to receive the funnel which 

 ere long proves fatal to it. Soon we see the pouch 

 of fat under the stomach dragging on the ground, 

 the orange color of the beak turning pale, the breath- 

 ing rendered difficult, and every sign pointing to a 

 near end suffocation by excess of corpulence. But 

 the knife forestalls this. The bird is cut into 

 quarters and salted; its melted grease is put into 

 pots or bottles, where it can be kept for two years 

 with its beautiful white color and fine flavor unim- 

 paired. 



"In other countries the fattening process includes 

 the application, in its utmost rigor, of the principle 

 of immobility. Under an earthen pot, the bottom of 

 which has been broken, the goose is put in such a 

 way that only its head is left free, projecting through 

 the opening. Thus immured in its earthenware 



