DR. BOLI’S ALLEGORICAL BESTIARY.

No. 2.—The Chicken.

THE CHICKEN, OFTEN known as the “tuna of the barnyard” because of its useful and palatable meat, is an ambulatory member of the fungus family. Chickens are most commonly grown from eggs, although the more desirable forms may also be grown from cuttings to preserve the exact characteristics of the breed. Not just any egg will grow into a chicken, however, and in fact the great majority will not. Only those eggs laid the day before or the day after the new moon will grow into chickens; the rest will grow into echidnas or skinks or other worthless creatures. Chickens are usually fed exclusively on a diet of chicken by-products, and indeed the self-sustaining nature of the chicken is one of its chief attractions for the frugal farmer. Among the more common diseases of chickens are melancholy and Tourette’s syndrome, for either of which cephalectomy is the cure normally recommended. The Roman emperor Galba kept chickens to guard his quarters, which many historians consider to be the primary cause of the decline of the Empire in the West. In Chinese astrology, the Chicken is said to be allied to the Stoat and the natural enemy of the Radish.

The chicken should not be confused with the superficially similar rooster, which is an entirely different creature and a member of the animal kingdom.

The chicken signifies Humility, for obvious reasons.

 

From Dr. Boli’s Encyclopedia of Misinformation.

Writing. Early Greek writing was often written left to right on one line, then right to left on the next, and so on. This style of writing was known as boustrophedon, or “as the ox ploughs,” because oxen were often given light fiction to read to ease the boredom of ploughing fields day after day.