A A sportsman went out once into a wood to shoot, and he met a Snipe .
“Dear friend,” said the Snipe , “don’t shoot my children!”
“How shall I know your children?” asked the Sportsman . “What are they like?”
“Oh!” said the Snipe , “mine are the prettiest children in all the wood.”
“Very well,” said the Sportsman , “I’ll not shoot them; don’t be afraid.”
But for all that, when he came back, there he had a whole string of young snipes in his hand which he had shot.
“Oh, oh!” said the Snipe , “why did you shoot my children after all?”
“What! these your children!” said the Sportsman ; “why, I shot the ugliest I could find, that I did!”
“Woe is me!” said the Snipe ; “don’t you know that each one thinks his own children the prettiest in the world?”