let alone living witnesses? What! be an honourable Cat up to this time—one who might be pointed out as a model of discretion! And now, ah me! how great a disgrace! Now all the neighbours will say, 'The cat Vaska is a rogue; the cat Vaska is a thief. Vaska must not be admitted into the kitchen, not even into the courtyard, any more than a ravenous wolf into the sheepfold. He is utterly corrupt; he is a pest, the plague of the neighbourhood.'"
Thus did our orator, letting loose the current of his words, lecture away without stopping. But what was the result? While he was delivering his discourse, Vaska the Cat ate up the whole of the chicken.
I would advise some cooks to inscribe these words on their walls: "Don't waste time in useless speech, when it is action that is needed."
