"Always bear in mind," Ma Tridge would say, "that after one has
married one's cook she ceases to cook."

"Never tell anyone," Pa Tridge would say, "who it was you saw in the
spinney with Mr. Jay or Mrs. Woodpecker."

"Indeed," he would add, "you might make a note that the world would
not come to a miserable end if everyone was born dumb"--but he was
very glad not to be dumb himself.

"Even though you should get on intimate terms with a pheasant," Ma
Tridge would say, "don't brag about it."

"Forgive, but don't forget," Pa Tridge would say.

"Remember," Pa Tridge would say, "that, though it may be wiser to say
No, most of the fun and all the adventure of the world have come from
saying Yes."

"Bear in mind," Ma Tridge would say--but that is more than enough of
the tiresome old bores.

And after each piece of advice the little Tridges would all say,
"Right-O!"

And then one night--these being English Tridges in an English early
summer--a terrible frost set in which lasted long enough to kill the
whole covey, partly by cold and partly by starvation, so that all the
good counsels were wasted.