Observing the behavior of individual fowl in a henhouse, we note that birds lower in rank are pecked by, and give way to, birds of higher rank. In an ideal case, there exists a linear order of rank with a top hen who pecks all the others. Those in the middle ranks peck those below them but respect all the hens above them . At the bottom there is a drudge who has to take it from everyone.
This quote is attributed to Adolf Remane, but I read it in The Emperor by Ryszard kapuscinski.
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