Part 25 (2/2)

There was a grand hunting party; the hunters lay in ambush all around; some were even sitting in the trees, whose huge branches stretched far over the moor. The blue smoke rose through the thick trees like a mist, and was dispersed as it fell over the water; the hounds splashed about in the mud, the reeds and rushes bent in all directions; how frightened the poor little Duck was! he turned his head, thinking to hide it under his wings, and in a moment a most formidable-looking dog stood close to him, his tongue hanging out of his mouth, his eyes sparkling fearfully. He opened wide his jaws at the sight of our Duckling, showed him his sharp white teeth, and splash, splas.h.!.+ he was gone,--gone without hurting him.

”Well! let me be thankful,” sighed he; ”I am so ugly that even the dog will not eat me.”

And now he lay still, though the shooting continued among the reeds, shot following shot.

The noise did not cease till late in the day, and even then the poor little thing dared not stir; he waited several hours before he looked around him, and then hastened away from the moor as fast as he could; he ran over fields and meadows, though the wind was so high that he had some difficulty in proceeding.

Towards evening he reached a wretched little hut, so wretched that it knew not on which side to fall, and therefore remained standing. The wind blew violently, so that our poor little Duckling was obliged to support himself on his tail, in order to stand against it; but it became worse and worse. He then remarked that the door had lost one of its hinges, and hung so much awry that he could creep through the crevice into the room, which he did.

In this room lived an old woman, with her Tom-cat and her Hen; and the Cat, whom she called her little son, knew how to set up his back and purr; indeed, he could even emit sparks when stroked the wrong way.

The Hen had very short legs, and was therefore called ”Cuckoo Short-legs”; she laid very good eggs, and the old woman loved her as her own child.

The next morning the new guest was perceived. The Cat began to mew and the Hen to cackle.

”What is the matter?” asked the old woman, looking round; however, her eyes were not good, so she took the young Duckling to be a fat Duck who had lost her way. ”This is a capital catch,” said she; ”I shall now have ducks' eggs, if it be not a drake: we must try.”

And so the Duckling was put to the proof for three weeks, but no eggs made their appearance.

Now the Cat was the master of the house, and the Hen was the mistress, and they used always to say, ”We and the world,” for they imagined themselves to be not only the half of the world, but also by far the better half. The Duckling thought it was possible to be of a different opinion, but that the Hen would not allow.

”Can you lay eggs?” asked she.

”No.”

[Ill.u.s.tration]

”Well, then, hold your tongue.”

And the Cat said, ”Can you set up your back? can you purr?”

”No.”

”Well, then, you should have no opinion when reasonable persons are speaking.”

So the Duckling sat alone in a corner, and was in a very bad humor; however, he happened to think of the fresh air and bright suns.h.i.+ne, and these thoughts gave him such a strong desire to swim again, that he could not help telling it to the Hen.

”What ails you?” said the Hen. ”You have nothing to do, and therefore brood over these fancies; either lay eggs or purr, then you will forget them.”

”But it is so delicious to swim!” said the Duckling; ”so delicious when the waters close over your head, and you plunge to the bottom!”

”Well, that is a queer sort of pleasure,” said the Hen; ”I think you must be crazy. Not to speak of myself, ask the Cat--he is the most sensible animal I know--whether he would like to swim, or to plunge to the bottom of the water. Ask our mistress, the old woman,--there is no one in the world wiser than she; do you think she would take pleasure in swimming, and in the waters closing over her head?”

”You do not understand me,” said the Duckling.

”What, we do not understand you! So you think yourself wiser than the Cat and the old woman, not to speak of myself. Do not fancy any such thing, child, but be thankful for all the kindness that has been shown you. Are you not lodged in a warm room, and have you not the advantage of society from which you can learn something? But you are a simpleton, and it is wearisome to have anything to do with you.

Believe me, I wish you well. I tell you unpleasant truths, but it is thus that real friends.h.i.+p is shown. Come, for once give yourself the trouble to learn to purr, or to lay eggs.”

”I think I will go out into the wide world again,” said the Duckling.

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