The cockatrice was a legendary monster hatched from a cock's egg by a toad or serpent. It could kill its victims with a glance. It was finally destroyed by a man in a coat of glass. The cockatrice saw himself reflected in the glass and so died. The poet Robert Burns longed for us to see ourselves as others see us. It is far more important that sinners see themselves as God sees them - which is another way of saying that they should see themselves as they really are.