But Juries—Æsop was a sheriff then—
Consisted of twelve Brutes and not of Men.
But first the Elephant sat on the body—
I mean the Hen—and proved that she was dead,
To the veriest fool's head
Of the Booby and the Noddy.
Accordingly, the Stork brought in a bill
Quite true enough to kill,
And then the Owl was call'd,—for, mark,
The Owl can witness in the dark.