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    Doris Lessing Chickens and Eggs

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    Chickens and Eggs_Doris Lessing

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    Doris Lessing Chickens and Eggs

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    20 views7 pages

    Chickens and Eggs - Doris Lessing

    Uploaded by

    Antonella Carroso
    Doris Lessing Chickens and Eggs

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    of 7
    A Sitting Hen "What ascaebeain, what a feckless g'—s0 my mother would say ‘of me oa puesta ising pollens, a nighhour coming oer about Sonne fam problem, "What brut sara Di she belive ia the txil oe? No, And the Chee, who ee ae tld may sy of thee ‘vn, “This i my woutless wil’, "This my aul sa Are they vertng heen eye? "She sack «Biber usualy ai wth a fon lil Laugh. What coud she have meant? ut the rea ‘yestion ame mich le for Hf you ae hte, foreen, what she ‘Sys has to be taken as tre. This knot of way neds, ange Aides, a contusion of emotion, amount to hein a seater the eles chill Lae yur had to sky hws cond hae sed hose ‘word on this overseriusctiteal bookwaem of ge? A mystery. ‘Wis icin oder co cure my fightin that she sn T must tok afer he siting hen rom start to fash’? Was she curing we of “nesponsity Bar twas aleady bound eo ee hen keting infront of ie eage an hou wo, most pansonaedy cyan with this ineaeraed one who was as une with those fo them, reting ont from the bas 38 the long hows and days, sty on ‘ue fron in the old Southern Rhoda, ‘efor my moser had ede the hen my charge, Iwas gathering Up es ens hn, doing what be nate sages as ep net ‘bs eure ad nother, anhe, bee i rely hat fn unguaded eg could survive rote than ay or, Will ets, Pte, hawks as he watch lice armas ofthe bushy ‘would sc thee, end eat eo the sp leaving lia sme of soi, or cll i away to thie own nests if yo ted a hen eo it ‘on a reasonable umber of ex yu had to hant about inthe bush, find where she had hidden Gen, beep them sae and then, hin thre were enough, show them eo the hen She might or might nat. bhebroo sl ick that, feed = spoonful of see shetty othe ten, wt then neal alrays went Brood er lack hanging othe sep maternal clocks ad ells appropriate roa matron wondering ‘what had happed to tone eg hea ey she thon a ord lace. And here they were all together, own and whe ad a ‘olored, some a les ers. Tis hen we 2 Rhde sland the heavy he that cn brood sen, scents eg ely ak 1 the lang’ egsof che supermarket, hich ae only half thie Se. slender white Leghorn, che other kindof hen pecking about over te hil could se on only twelve ees “These gs were Bound to hatch. A device fog way fram the cexpatse of borate, Was a sheet of cardboard, aad i were ‘atious sizes of cuout cag shapes. The deep dh of ein thir ‘nt of st t00d wang andy to, the cardboard, nda can, Each egg wa ited ne the elevate of le andthe contraption, hdd upto the candle Ad thee could bese the tiny nei the fidenpiness ofthe gy that mean ets fren that ite Nos of blood there would tea chic The hen approved our makeshift device, fora fis she di no ese ay eb lacked, ro eto the ait, and stl, bee wings curing in and close ‘ur she was aoe ia the bush ander 2 sub oe 4 Elen eee rn, wine she Would st fie mines, Ske as bind a on of wie sing coil cage for her own pa and forte goa thee ‘Once day I lke of dhe wire frontage al she ace trod ‘uote th es, dea roma newly fled a il oe mich, Stood tal and flapped her wg ad then and [wate for this she tele ran, aping ber poor probably aiff nd aching wing, And fan sf yard af abou oak ofa the aig bt oy he ‘was hen and exrhbound, She peck about a le, dank ome ‘owe and than fer pepe al an hog, ro carey hack it Tee net. Wa she thinking, Ob, leave don pu hack that wire? ut idan in the evening, before te light went pened the wie gan, bot ofen she dal nor want to go ost She had sat thee “uhm al day, though the est othe col doving ite, But slays onthe lookowe “The packing ese was st deliberately where people pase al day, sing from howse to storeroom. Probably she would hve peered Some dark budden place, be tbere she owld be 0 much of 3 temptation, We saw nts aking, a hawks shadow Micke the ‘ah andthe bird peeing down tose the hen. She would be tmatch fora a,b the danger ae the snes. They could she {hough the meth of the wie an tere was nothing se could do Inthe comer ofthe packing case was i of wate, The en cond sot be exec to sk hit all day and al ight bt thee was ‘Eager shat a snake would come up for che watez When we thought ‘of puting outa lure for the snakes adh of water some yds aes, ‘we mere Warmed by the sereans hat his water would bring seas utp Kom the bush Beer rely on the dogs, whic roamed fre a ek, Lying in our bode we woul ear baking, an think, I that ‘snake? Tigh go onto pee though dk or ioaligh and fancy Taw a sake sneaking ay cry day wh the en as ut for ber hallhour exerci, 1 fiche tepid water 0 othe as sien the shel sa hp hem hate? Al che fancy wives di he ererber wondering I he Ins had managed wo ep ber ssf under the bush, woul those casa es easly thn ous, which were it Hood hoe wae every 1G)? The hen didnot seem to id the eg ing a bt wet. Bat st Somme pint inthe stig she debrtly soll ang, and den oth onde mas of es under ber Ip chem bak angie thacthey would sot ave x chan to hath bu she alld the same gga seny fom her warmth, Ard now # wa ny jl fo Ut way ‘Howe condemned eg and thro them ino she bh. They were dled and the hen nc. They plopped onto a rock, che earth, 2 ace unk wih + blo sound dl aoe het apa et a ong ‘le later hen Usnod inthe Tateham Court Koad an sa Jou man come sang aver the handlebars his ret mororeyele, fe his heal erasbed dow on the pavement ards away. The ‘Sound hs met i he pavement athe same posi ss that ‘ofthe ade eg inthe Dash ‘wentyone days i takes to hatch eps, wen-one nights, and ther the great ferce hen wha had acepte me a reectoe and File for thc ame Sometimes she pecked mealies std ny hand Under ofa ithe eggs were thee and ave at the soe of that brooding warmth. My wes and hands had her beak mad, but she seemol to know tht meant her wl “Time mast pss so slowly fr a sting hen, Does i un ie fone athe thee wecks nea dc end? “Thc o four days bore the end, holding an pg hat was s0 heaey and portetous wo my ea imagined I bead the peck peck of achieves. The egy seed opus, to annousce sell The ben Seachem nen to cr eggs and pec ene aT them bl, under hee Only tne days no ony two. Te Ren eee a Enon hr egs were de to atch. Wich her bea she moved them around be her gent eer that never ted down om eas o chick. aps must be moved about or otherwise the hike might be born lope. So me ‘gh, bedi she? ‘One more day. And cdly mare frm my poson crouched hafore her nest And at lst, when T held ae og 10 my a, and ‘he fn pec peck ofthe chick inside: On the snoch surac ofthe gg sppeared «minute ducing of sel Thats where would appent fsa hote and then the beak ofthe cick tha would have on the tongh intent hat ena he Beale he hc selec feck The he dia’ ike me ling oa an egg now. She wah ms, fet eyes fll of warnings. "Everyone sco tbe aware and waiting, watching. The dogs sacar small tance, The eran made ence to pst lowe, Then, hed dhe fa sila fos under ber came the many scans ofthe pecking, batching ice. Ae ase, when Ted ex there were gs ta were sell whol, ad» mass of broken sll andthe iat chil the lie uinos, no ap ih pen fet siya the ‘Soon, all around the hen were the tn heads ofthe chicks, Sly and yellows fifo be on postcard and alerdr “The hen ston unt eas eg hatched then ited ofthe wire, nd she stood up, ving the tant eroding ell of he hen with hicks. She sep outs the chicks wih het One eg remained. Te hid noe beech, For ome reson tht chick had dis under er. Ba now, scratching ad denking and showing the chicks what they had to haem she to about among dem, dking fom the water is, ‘eying ali grain and scratching sowed them. We watched, che Ags wacked tha peoud hen and ber chicks, and we knew how the Predators bided dete inthe bash The wis were up thse vo, watching ‘The hen wandored over the bil with be chic, who everyday were fer Aenight the en retested t her packing ese and seme noeto mind being shat in ‘Soom those minute cies came yok a leggy and hey cul run fat ar haw’ shade dipped towards them over the earth ‘Arn then they were cackerels and poles, and anche hen satin the packing case behind the bari of wie Some people had incubators, bt a relly good one was an expensive ten Chickens and Hass ‘The Incubator ‘And so bare Iwas, alone inthe house on the hope lone on the Sanyal Me Watkins Seadebaker had st eae ny father and smother ff ow he il Salry andthe big hosp My father ‘rail again with «cise in his disbetes.Dostrs were not then a8 lll they are toy wth diabetes, and the eres tha kept ‘czuring would not happen now: All hot eae {was a home my mother would appease and trembling "Your fhe i ery gun [sed 10 dave chem he seventy mies in, an Rout a ess the fost, good cars of our aehbour, bu in out rang Overand, and en thse road, it might take fou o ve hour, with my father ‘af dying on the ack sae and my mother, ‘Deve mote slow ‘Stop minute. He mast ex" Those were nghanaze journeys td thw eed wat not eo have to do "The season was a incubator fl fogs hee oe fou days of hatching and my mother, “You have 9 stay. We ca aor wo Jom all these engs” That dreadhal "We can afford if of the Imporcshed snide classes, with behind i a indicunen ofthe ‘ber wlatmess ofthe world, had always allen on my eas ke an fccuation, [dil noe know Bow it cold be my fale une wat ny very exten, but dreaded the efi. As Id the next We ‘expect ese todo i They ate response enoxgh” Issac waste cookoy hey were al boy, eer when they were ‘ol and even if he wnt up eo then who ould lame hin? ‘was afta T wasee "up to it mysele. The Incubator had probably teen knocked ogee by a ocl carpenter twas alge box hat ad some enon holes dried inthe sides. n were er of ge ‘uit dozen, on ay racks ortowed from the store tthe sation Each eg had eon ls by our hed each had een tested el syste ight so you cool ace ie was fer. The cocrapion was ‘warmed bya small lan, sod ic hal tiny shade ad above tha at 2 hoight of ewe ince, sel eap that dete hor ale trough 2 fara! int the bon of es. The fae was mine “We den want ronsted eg? ted my moder nerwowsly eno ce my her, fraps afl of re ander that sambling thatched ron, said the thing waa ire hazard. Te ame a of no ore dha game, forthe meal cap would be t00 he The Inestoe war conasty ‘monitored ad at night my mother would creep fom her becom through mine, an check the lime, which us never Bo out "When this dove yourself box woul evel ve up ey six chickens they would be monly dispatched i boxes Acros he “eld to aighboors who had alteay booked bal «dozen ors degen dhyold eck Tol be alone for atleast swe ngs, peas thie: Te would be ea forme now to make ral drama ot of the ‘ination, particule a5 the Liberation War andi btliey an Mugabe sn his exces, hive intervene. "Awhite git of severe all slone and the neighbours sale away, surrounded By Blak Fist, wher I ay ‘alone’ his i ignore the ures who wou [inthe compound halfa mile ary, and who would ects come tushing ove if the catch di dae wo go up infant the Tacs of what was then call he color bat fel nade fo comment, partculry 44 kind of moral exhastion st in even thin about Whole hooks could be writen about the oie the ‘omtadicions Recent T1ead that inthe suthem states of Amey ‘when they were tying to intra the schools, because the white Aid not mind sanding up wih the blacks only siting doen with them, the desks Were taen out ofthe classroom sl techie, back and whee, had to sand yp to study. Thistle could te paralleled with a hundred abou thecal eof southern Alien, In the shore hundeed year history of Southern Redes fr ‘occupation eo ibecain, there wrt ane rape ase, black on whe ‘Dang the two world waes women stayed sone on the fas wile ‘heir men went of fae, perbape with a farm manage ack to ‘lp them, and there sao mene of anything untoward edd no ‘oss my mind to be aed slr in tha howe Teo wander around and though the bush hy myself and had for yeas My ‘mother began by moaning that Iwas inviting ep, bet that as 0 ‘morethaneowine hetors of tho kind the clear ba invited “The,

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