Green Forest Stories · Chapter
An Egg That Wouldn’t Behave explained
Blacky the Crow steals an egg from Farmer Brown's henhouse, choosing a smooth white egg over a brown one.
What happens
Blacky the Crow steals an egg from Farmer Brown's henhouse, choosing a smooth white egg over a brown one. As he flies over the Old Orchard, the egg slips from his claws, hits a branch, and falls to the ground without breaking. Blacky tries to break it with his bill but fails, leaving him puzzled and frustrated.
Themes in this chapter
Wisdom and Experience
Blacky's overconfidence in his knowledge of eggs is challenged when he encounters an egg that won't break.
Characters to notice
- Blacky the Crow
Steals an egg from Farmer Brown's henhouse and struggles to break it after dropping it.
- Striped Chipmunk
Watches Blacky from the old stone wall and observes his failed attempt to break the egg.
- Farmer Brown
Owner of the henhouse where Blacky steals the egg.
Key passages
“If you had an egg and it wouldn’t behave Just what would you do with that egg, may I ask? To make an egg do what it don’t want to do Strikes me like a difficult sort of a task.”
The narrator poses a whimsical question about what one would do with an uncooperative egg, suggesting that forcing an egg to behave is a tricky challenge.
Sets up the central conflict of the chapter: Blacky's struggle with an egg that defies his expectations.
“If anyone had told Blacky that he didn’t know all there is to know about eggs, he would have laughed at the idea.”
Blacky was so confident in his egg expertise that he would have dismissed any suggestion otherwise.
Highlights Blacky's pride and the irony of his later failure.
“That egg wasn’t behaving right. It should have broken when it hit the branch of the apple tree. Certainly it should have broken when he struck it that way with his bill.”
Blacky was baffled because the egg didn't break as expected when it hit the branch or when he pecked it.
Illustrates Blacky's confusion and the egg's unusual resilience.