254 Old Stories
It was plain to William that he was being let into some of the family secrets of the village. All through the street the roosters greeted him as he passed along. At some of the houses it was the man that was chief, at some the woman. William certainly had food for reflection, but it is not related that he ever made any use of this knowledge which came to him so strangely.
In this connection I may mention that some say if you listen to roosters calling back and forth you can hear this conversation.
Rooster at first house. “The women rule here.”
Rooster at second house. “And so they do here.”
Rooster at third house. “And so they do everywhere.”
A grown person, when a rooster crows, will sometimes imitate its call, and work a child’s name into the sound. Then he says to the child, “Didn’t you hear the rooster calling you?”
a fortune in a stick
There were once three girls who were anxious as to the kind of husbands they should have.
