Favorite Fairy Tales | Page 7

another report followed.
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, showing him his sharp white teeth, and, splash, splash! 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 hurried 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 moving.
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 noticed that the door had lost one of its
hinges, and hung so much awry that he could creep through the crack
into the room. So he went in.

In this room lived an old woman, with her Tom-cat and her Hen. The
Cat, whom she called her little son, knew how to set up his back and
purr; indeed, he could even throw out sparks when stroked the wrong
way. The Hen had very short legs, and was therefore called "Chickie
Short-legs." She laid very good eggs, and the old woman loved her as
her own child.
The next morning the new guest was discovered, and the Cat began to
mew and the Hen to cackle.
[Illustration]
"What is the matter?" asked the old woman, looking round. But 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 Duck's eggs, if it be not a Drake. We shall see."
And so the Duckling was kept on trial 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 always used 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."
"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 people are
speaking."
So the Duckling sat alone in a corner, and felt very miserable. However,
he happened to think of the fresh air and bright sunshine, 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