“Well! if I sell her to you for four francs, it’s none too much—if she gives you three eggs a day.”

“Do you take me for a child just out of a crib?”

“Oh, no! deuce take it! if children was born like you, all shrivelled and shrunk, then there wouldn’t be any young folks.”

“Name me a reasonable price.”

“You call four francs too much—for a black hen—and one like this!”

“Sell me one that isn’t black; I don’t care.”

“Just now, this is all I’ve got. Come, I don’t want to be hard with you; give me three francs, and take her.”

“Not if I know it!”

“Well then, how much will you give me for her?”

“Thirty sous—that’s quite enough!”