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!
Patou
[To the Blackbird.] Point-blank, do you admire or despise the Cock?