And the Chicken pondered long over that saying. _Note._--I must confess to following the Chicken's precedent, without arriving at any solution. For, logically, an Egg must be the junior of any Chicken. And again, even for parabolical purposes, it is far-fetched to represent an Egg as a potential Member of Parliament. On the whole, I am not entirely satisfied that my young friend is so proficient in acquaintance with Cryptic as he has represented to me.--H. B. J. * * * * * There is only one thing that irritateth a woman more than the man who doth not understand her, and that is the man who doth. * * * * * A certain Artificer constructed a mechanical Serpent which was so marvellously natural that it bit him in the back. "Had I but another hour to live," he lamented in his last agonies, "I would have patented the invention!" The Woman was so determined to be independent of Man that she voluntarily became the slave of a Machine. _Note._--I do not understand the meaning of the Fabulist here.--H. B. J. * * * * * "She used to be so fresh; but she is gone off terribly since I first knew her!" said the Slug of the Strawberry. _Note._--See my remark on the last parable.--H. B. J. * * * * * "Now, I call that downright Plagiarism!" observed the Ass, when he heard the Lion roar. "A cheery laugh goes a long way in this world!" remarked the Hyena. "But a bright smile goes further still!" said the Alligator, as he took him in. _Note._--If the honble Philosopher is censuring here merely the assumption of hilarity and not ordinary quiet facetiousness, I am entirely with him. But I rather regard him as a total deficient in Humour and fanatically opposed to it in any form.--H. B. J. * * * * * "I trust I have now made myself perfectly clear?" observed the Cuttlefish, after discharging his ink. * * * * * The Cockney was assured that, if he placed the Sea-shell to his ear, he would hear the murmur of Ocean. But all he caught distinctly was the melody of negro minstrels. * * * * * "It is some satisfaction to feel that we have both been sacrificed in a thoroughly deserving cause!" said the Brace-button, complacently, to the Threepenny Bit, as they met in the Offertory Bag. _Note._--This must be some local allusion, for I do not know what sort of receptacle an Offertory Bag may be, or why such articles should be inserted therein.--H. B. J. * * * * * Mistrust the Bridegroom who appeareth at his wedding with sticking-plaster on his chin [or "_without_ sticking-plaster," &c.--the Styptic is capable of either interpretation.--_Trans._].