这篇讽刺小品最初发表在哥本哈根1860年出版的《新的童话和故事集》第一卷第四部里。讽刺的对象是那些自高自大、自作多情、说空话不做实事，也无能力做什么实事的一批庸俗人物——这类人物随处可见。“与其变得烦而倒下来，倒不如啼几声为好。”
The FarmYard Cock and the WeatherCock家养公鸡和风信公鸡
THERE were two cocks—one on the dunghill，the other on the roof. They were both arrogant，but which of the two rendered most service？ Tell us your opinion—well keep to ours just the same though.
有两只公鸡，一只在垃圾堆上，一只在屋顶上，两只都很自高自大。可是谁更有能耐呢？请告诉我们你的意见……然而，我们保留着我们的意见。
The poultrypoultry n.家禽 yard was divided by some planks from another yard in which there was a dunghill，and on the dunghill lay and grew a large cucumber which was conscious of being a hotbed plant.
鸡场那边有一道木栅栏，与另一个院子隔开。那个院子里有一个垃圾堆，垃圾堆上长了一颗黄瓜并结了一条很大的黄瓜。她自己很明白，她是发酵土里长出来的东西。
“One is born to that.” said the cucumbercucumber n.[植］黄瓜 to itself. “Not all can be born cucumbers，there must be other things，too. The hens，the ducks，and all the animals in the next yard are creatures too. Now I have a great opinion of the yard cock on the plank，he is certainly of much more importance than the weathercock who is placed so high and cant even creak，much less crow. The latter has neither hens nor chicks，and only thinks of himself and perspiresperspire v.出汗，流汗，分泌，渗出 verdigrisverdigris n.铜绿，碱性碳酸铜，碱性醋酸铜。 No，the yard cock is really a cock！ His step is a dance！ His crowing is music，and wherever he goes one knows what a trumpetertrumpeter n.喇叭手，号兵 is like！ If he would only come in here！ Even if he ate me up stump，stalk，and all，and I had to dissolve in his body，it would be a happy death.” said the cucumber.
“这是天生的！”她内心这样说着。“并不是什么东西都可以生成黄瓜的，世上也应该有别的有生命的物种！鸡、鸭，还有邻舍院子里那一群，也都是生灵。我这会儿看见木栏上有公鸡，和高高在上连咯咯叫都不会更不用说喔喔啼的风信公鸡比，他更有自豪的资本！那风信公鸡既没有母鸡，也没有小鸡。他只想着自己，满身铜绿！不行，家养的公鸡，那才算得上是公鸡！瞧他迈步的那个样子，那是跳舞！听他打鸣，那是音乐！他所到之处，人们就明白什么是小号手！若是他跑到这里来，若是他把我连叶带杆一起吃掉，若是我进了他的身子里，那真是幸福的死！”黄瓜这么说道。
In the night there was a terrible storm. The hens，chicks，and even the cock sought shelter，the wind tore down the planks between the two yards with a crash，the tiles came tumbling down，but the weathercock sat firm. He did not even turn round，for he could not，and yet he was young and freshly cast，but prudentprudent adj.谨慎的 and sedate. He had been born old，and did not at all resemble the birds flying in the air—the sparrows，and the swallows，no，he despised them，these mean little piping birds，these common whistlerswhistler n.吹口哨的人，啸啸作声的东西。 He admitted that the pigeons，large and white and shining like motheropearl，looked like a kind of weathercock，but they were fat and stupid，and all their thoughts and endeavours were directed to filling themselves with food，and besides，they were tiresome things to converse with. The birds of passage had also paid the weathercock a visit and told him of foreign countries，of airy caravans and robber stories that made ones hair stand on end. All this was new and interesting，that is，for the first time，but afterwards，as the weathercock found out，they repeated themselves and always told the same stories，and thats very tedious，and there was no one with whom one could associate，for one and all were stale and smallminded.