"But we shall be hungry," cried all the hens.
"That is the essence of a hunger-strike," said the thin hen.
Just then the keeper arrived with food for the fowls.
"We mustn't run to him," they said to one another. "It's a hunger-strike, you know."
Suddenly the fat hen began running to him.
"Come back; it's a hunger-strike, you know!" cried the hens.
"I have an idea," shouted the fat hen as she ran; "the more we eat the longer we shall hold out."
"So we shall," cried all the hens as they scurried after the fat one.