noon
Cock of the walk , he flapped his wings , and crowed among the feathered tribe . But alas ! a fair , white partlet has torn his crest out , and he shall crow no more . You will generally find him of a morning , smelling round a beef-cart , with domestic felicity written in every line of his countenance ; and sometimes meet him in a cross-street at noon , hurrying homeward , with a beef-steak on a wooden skewer , or a fresh fish , with a piece of tarred twine run through its gills . In the evening he rocks the cradle , and gets up in the night when the child cries . Like a Goth , of the Dark Ages , he consults his wife on all mighty matters , and looks upon her as a being of more than human goodness and wisdom . In short , the ladies all say he is a very domestic man , and makes a good husband ; which , under the rose , is only a more polite way of saying he is hen-pecked .