An old duck wandered into the barn and caught sight of herself in the mirror.  “There is another duck,” she said.  “I wonder who she is.”

And she walked toward the reflection.  “She is rather friendly,” the duck went on.  “She is walking toward me.  What large feet she has, but her feathers are very handsome.”

Just then she bumped into the mirror.  “Goodness!” she cried; “if that duck isn’t in a glass case!  Why are you in there?”

“Well, you needn’t answer if you don’t want to,” she said, walking away.  “A glass case is a good place for you.”

Just then a pig came along, and nosing around, he came in front of the mirror.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, thinking he saw another pig.  His nose hit the glass, and he stepped back.

“So you are in a glass pen,” he said.  “You are not very handsome, and your nose is not so long as mine; I cannot see why you should have a glass pen.”

And away he trotted to tell the other pigs about the very plain-looking pig.

Kitty came along next and walked in front of the mirror, turning her head and swinging her tail.  She had seen a mirror before and knew what it was.  The cat wished to look in the mirror, but she saw the dog coming in the door, and she did not want him to think her vain.

The dog walked over to the mirror and gazed in it.  Then he looked foolish, although he had seen a mirror before, too, but not so often as puss.

“Thought it was another dog, didn’t you?” she laughed.  “Here comes the donkey.  Let us hide behind those barrels and see what he does.”

II

The donkey went up to the mirror.

“If they haven’t another donkey!” he said.  “I suppose I should speak first, as I have lived here so long.  Why, he is coming to meet me.  That is friendly, indeed.”

Bump! his nose hit the glass.

“Well, I had better give up!” he said.  “You are in a glass case, but I don’t know why you should be.  You are a homely creature, and your ears are not so long as mine.”  And he walked off with a disgusted air.

The cat rolled over and over, and the dog buried his head in his paws.  “Did you ever see anything so funny?” he said to puss.

“Hush!” she replied, “Here is the rooster.”

[Illustration:  The rooster and the mirror]

The rooster stopped quite still when he saw himself in the mirror.

“Well, where did you come from?” he asked, ruffling up his feathers.  He walked straight to the mirror and flew at the other rooster.  Bang!  He went against the glass.

“In a glass case, are you?” he said.  He stretched out his neck and looked very fierce.  “You should be; you are a sight—­your feathers are ruffled, and you are not half so handsome as I am.”

And off he walked, satisfied that he was handsomer than the other rooster.