CHANTECLER
Hush! He's a friend!

PATOU
A false one.

CHANTECLER
[_To_ BLACKBIRD.] Fine things we learn when the talk is of you!

THE OLD HEN
[_Her head protruding from the basket._] Strike rotten wood, and see the
wood-lice scatter! [_The basket-lid drops._]

PATOU
[_To_ CHANTECLER.] He laughs at you behind your back!

BLACKBIRD
[_To_ PATOU.] Ha, retriever, you retrieve?

PATOU
When you pour forth your heart in your ardent cry, giving it over and
over, he calls it the same old saw that your jag-toothed red crest
stands for!

CHANTECLER
So that's what you say?

BLACKBIRD
[_Affecting simplicity._] You surely don't mind? How can it affect you?
And a joke about you is always so sure of success!