At a country fair there was a Buffoon1 who made all the people
laugh by imitating the cries of various animals. He finished off
by squeaking3 so like a pig that the spectators thought that he had
a porker concealed4 about him. But a Countryman who stood by said:
"Call that a pig s squeak2! Nothing like it. You give me till
tomorrow and I will show you what it's like." The audience
laughed, but next day, sure enough, the Countryman appeared on the
stage, and putting his head down squealed5 so hideously6 that the
spectators hissed8 and threw stones at him to make him stop. "You
fools!" he cried, "see what you have been hissing," and held up a
little pig whose ear he had been pinching to make him utter the
squeals.
Men often applaud an imitation and hiss7 the real thing.
