The hen and the carp

Once, in a roostery

there lived a speckled, and when-

ever she laid an egg this hen

ecstatically cried:

'O progeny miraculous, particular spectaculous,

what a wonderful hen am I!'

Down in a pond nearby

perchance a fat and broody carp

was basking, but her ears where sharp --

she heard Dame Cackle cry:

'O progeny miraculous, particular spectaculous,

what a wonderful hen am I!'

'Ah, Cackle,' bubbled she,

'for your single egg, O silly one,

I lay at least a million;

suppose for each I cried:

"O progeny miraculous, particular spectaculous!"

what a hullaballoo there'd be!'