猫头鹰爸爸说：“这不是孩子们可以听的话。”
“But I must tell our neighbour owl about it，she is such an estimable owl to talk to.”And with that she flew away.
“我还是要把这话告诉对面的猫头鹰！她是一个很正派的猫头鹰，他值得交往！”于是猫头鹰妈妈就飞了。
“Toowhoo！Toowhoo！”they both hooted into the neighbours dovecot to the doves inside.“Have you heard？Have you heard？Toowhoo！There is a hen who has plucked out all her feathers for the sake of the cock，she will freeze to death，if she is not frozen already.Toowhoo！”
“呼！呼！呜——呼！”他们俩都喊起来，可喊声就被下边鸽子笼里面的鸽子听见了。“你们听说没有？你们听说没有？”？呼！呼！有一只母鸡，她把她的羽毛全啄掉了，想讨好公鸡！她一定会被冻死的——假如她现在还没有死的话。呜——呼！”
“Where？where？”cooed the doves.
“在什么地方？在什么地方？”鸽子咕咕地叫。
“In the neighbours yard.I have as good as seen it myself.It is almost unbecoming to tell the story，but there is no doubt about it.”
“在对面的那个屋子里！我几乎可以说是亲眼看见的。把它讲出来可真不像话，不过那全都是真的！”
“Believe every word of what we tell you，”said the doves，and cooed down into their poultryyard.“There is a hen—nay，some say that there are two—who have plucked out all their feathers，in order not to look like the others，and to attract the attention of the cock.It is a dangerous game，for one can easily catch cold and die from fever，and both of these are dead already.”
“真的！真的！每个字都是真的！”所有的鸽子都说，同时向下边的养鸡场咕咕地叫：“有一只母鸡，也有人说是两只，她们都把所有的羽毛都啄掉，目的是要与别人不同，借此引起公鸡的注意。这是一种冒险的游戏，因为这样她们就容易伤风，结果一定会发高热而死。如今她们两个都死了。”
“Wake up！wake up！”crowed the cock，and flew upon his board.Sleep was still in his eyes，but yet he crowed out，“Three hens have died of their unfortunate love for a cock.They had plucked out all their feathers.It is a horrible story.I will not keep it to myself，but let it go farther.”
“醒来呀！醒来呀！”公鸡大叫着，同时向围墙上飞去。他的眼睛依然带着睡意，不过他仍然在大叫，“三只母鸡由于与一只公鸡在爱情上发生不幸，全都死去了。她们把羽毛啄得精光。这是一件很难堪的事情。我不愿意把它放在心里，让大家都知道这种事吧！”
“Let it go farther，”shrieked the bats，and the hens clucked and the cocks crowed，“Let it go farther！Let it go farther！”In this way the story travelled from poultryyard to poultryyard，and at last came back to the place from which it had really started.
“让大家都知道它吧！”蝙蝠尖叫着。于是母鸡叫，公鸡啼。“让大家都知道这件事吧！让大家全知道吧！”于是这个故事就从这个鸡屋传到那个鸡屋，最终它回到它原来所传出的那个鸡窝去。
“Five hens，”it now ran，“have plucked out all their feathers to show which of them had grown leanest for love of the cock，and then they all pecked at each other till the blood ran down and they fell down dead，to the derision (derision n.嘲笑)and shame of their family，and to the great loss of their owner.”
这故事现在变成：“五只母鸡把她们的羽毛都啄得精光，为的是要表示出她们中间谁因为与那只公鸡失了恋而变得最消瘦。随后她们相互啄得流血，弄得五只鸡全都死掉。这使得她们的家庭蒙受羞辱，她们的主人蒙受很大的损失。”
The hen who had lost the loose little feather naturally did not recognise her own story，and being a respectable hen，said，“I despise those fowls，but there are more of that kind.Such things ought not to be concealed，and I will do my best to get the story into the papers，so that it becomes known throughout the land，the hens have richly deserved it，and their family too.”
那只落掉了一根自然松垮的羽毛的母鸡不晓得这故事就是她自己的故事。因为她是一只很有身份的母鸡，所以她说：“我瞧不起那些母鸡，不过像这类的贼东西有的是！我们不该把这类事儿掩藏起来。这故事会我尽我的力量在报纸上发表，让全国全知道。那些母鸡活该倒霉！她们的家也活该倒霉！”
It got into the papers，it was printed，and there is no doubt about it，one little feather may easily grow into five hens.
终于，报纸上刊登了这故事。这全是真的：一根小小的羽毛很容易变成五只母鸡的故事。