Truly there once was a man known to his intimates as “Chicken Foot.” He had a foot like a chicken; not two, only one.

His few friends could see it, but they did not know why. Some thought it was a birth defect. Yet Chicken Foot denied it had anything to do with his birth. He thought it was because, “he ate a lot of chicken.”

His friends felt embarrassed for him about that name, for his foot. They were ever telling him to take his medicine. He said, “The medicine does not work, why should I take it?” Of course, the medicine was for his head, not his foot.

He was a queer duck with a chicken foot-shaped foot.

He thought of himself as sly, occasionally green, and largely rotund. Rotund was not his largest feature. However his green – now there was his most visible feature – it showed when he got jealous. He was not always green. It came upon his face and then would vade, a momentary flush.

He knew that “tell” about himself but, try as hard as he might, he could not contain that green.

The interesting thing about Chicken Foot was that he liked acting sly and letting people know how sly he was. Now we all know that is not very sly. He was slyly obvious, a real sadness for slyless Chicken Foot.

What is important about this story? Not very much except that it is true. Its psychological message: Sometimes a green coloration can be seen on the face of others under certain circumstances.

Take a look at your own mirror; ever see a hint of green?

Epilogue: Although jealousy is neither a psychiatric disorder nor a criminal offense, it has had its “foot” in both.