This is not the case with humans, of all creatures they are the one endowed with intelligence. Although human beings are divided into Chinese people and foreigners, and divided in red, brown, white, black and yellow colours, they are just like chickens and ducks, it is not impossible for them to communicate. In Hong Kong, chickens and ducks were in the same cage for a hundred years until three years ago, when ducks were put in a separate cage, and chickens and geese are together instead, so they talk together. As the chickens feel that they cannot communicate, many chickens are now learning goose language, learning fast and very fluent. This shows how smart chickens in Hong Kong are. Even today, geese are separated again, and ducks are back again to coexist with the chickens. Therefore, today chickens can be seen speaking duck language again.
It turns out that chickens talking duck language is a good thing, for they can talk about their culture together. But if a chicken speaks like a duck, it is unfair if the duck cannot speak chicken language as it makes them unequal. But that is how it is. They wished they were born a duck, but they have no alternatives. As everyone knows, when a chicken talks to a duck, they naturally speak duck language, and when a chicken talks to a chicken they also speak duck language. This is really ridiculous.
Why do chickens speak duck language instead of chicken language? It just shows that "I am a duck". Are ducks worthy? Are they worthier than chickens? The funny thing is that when chickens talk duck language, they are often hard to understand but they still persist. They could have spoken chicken language but they have abandoned it. It seems that having 20% skills to speak duck language is better than speaking 100% perfect chicken language. It is absurd.
It is incredible that chickens cannot talk to chickens. It means that they are striving to be a duck: "I'm a duck and you are a chicken." And not only that. While their entire behaviour and attitude mimic ducks, they make fools of themselves. Some smart chickens who wished they were ducks, have indeed become ducks. Some of them have always had duck-shaped bodies, and are neither fish nor fowl.
Chickens that have transformed into ducks feel proud of themselves. Unfortunately they are the only ones who feel proud, because in the eyes of ducks, chickens are always chickens after all. In a flock of chickens they remain chickens, even though there are some that can swim and smell like ducks but they have no webbed feet and their beaks are sharp, they still look like chickens. At most, they are just half-breeds born of a duck and a chicken that slept together.
But chickens have always played the role of ducks, it is said that they are striving for the top. If you praise them by saying "you are a duck," it will really make them feel like you are their confidant, because they feel they have really become ducks.
Selected from "New Amusements", New Life Evening Post, 5 January 1946
