"You bad chickens!" she said, "I'll catch you and make you eat out of
my hand." So she ran after them and tried to catch them, but some ran
one way and some another, and she could not lay hold of any of them.
The next day she went again to the house where the tame chickens were,
and this time she saw the little girl's mother, and told her about the
trouble she had, and how her chickens would not let her come near them.
"I don't see why they are not nice, gentle chickens like those your
little girl has," said the old woman.
"Well," said the little girl's mother, "perhaps they would be tame if
you had always treated them as well as my little girl treats her
chickens. She has been kind and gentle with them ever since they came
out of their shells, and they have learned not to be at all afraid of
her. But I think I have seen you throwing sticks at your chickens and
chasing them about the yard. If you do that, they cannot help being
afraid of you, and they will never come to you and eat out of your
hand."
What the little girl's mother said was very true, and if any of you
have birds or animals which you wish to tame, you must always treat
them so kindly that they will never have any reason to be afraid to
come to you.
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