The gaunt fowl obtrudes himself
from every part. On the other hand, none but the primest of prime
turkeys could have set in motion this brisk old gentleman with the ruddy
check and hale, clear eye, whom we next pass. A most stanch and royal
turkey lurks behind that portly front--a sound and fresh animal, with
plenty of cranberries to boot.--What are these soldiers? Carpet-knights
who have united their thanks over a grand regimental banquet. What
frisky gobblers they have shared in, to be sure! They prance and amble
over the pavements as if they had absorbed the very soul of Chanticleer,
and fancied themselves once more princes of the barnyard. The most
singular and freakish of the turkey's manifestations this, by far!
Indeed, on a review of these suggestive facts, we cannot but feel a
marvellous reverence for the potent cock, established as patron of this
feast. This sentiment is wide-spread among our people, and perhaps it is
not too fanciful to predict that it will some day expand itself to a
_cultus_ like that of the Egyptian APIS, or, more properly, the Stork of
Japan. The advanced civilization of the Chinese, indeed, has already
made the Chicken an object of religious veneration.
Pages:
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48