There once was little duckling who hatched from a huge clutch of duck eggs. Ducks, ducks, everywhere ducks! And you know how loud ducks can be. Well, this group of ducklings was no different from any other. They quacked and squawked and made a huge ruckus wherever they went, except for the little duckling. He was very shy because he could sense right from the beginning that he was a little different from the other ducks.
As they began to grow, his difference became apparent to the
other ducks as well, even though he tried so hard to fit in. Finally, he could hide it no longer. The problem was that he couldn’t swim. Imagine a duck that can’t swim! Perhaps it was his feet, although they looked
as webbed and flat as the other ducklings.
Perhaps it was his down feathers, although they looked as plump and
protective as the other ducklings. I
think the most likely reason, though, was that he had never even tried because
he was just too afraid.
Well, you know how ducks can be--always boasting, bragging,
and quacking about something. Soon all
of the ducklings were picking on the little odd duck. How they laughed at him! They all took to the water like . . . well,
like ducks take to water. They would
jeer at him coldly, “Come on in scaredy-pants!
You couldn’t swim to save your life!”
Of course, the more they did this, the more the little duckling panicked
about learning how to swim and wouldn’t do so.
Eventually, he took to walking up and down the shore very quickly and
resting in the grass instead of drifting on the water. He became a very good walker this way, his
feet became very strong, and he hardly even waddled at all. You would think that the others would be
impressed by this (and I think some of them were secretly envious), but no one
paid it any mind at all and instead just gave him the cold shoulder, and the
little duck ended up leading a very lonely life.
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| A most peculiar situation for the ducks. |
One day something very strange happened. It was horrible! It was frightening! It was awful!
Surely, surely it must be the end of the world! The ducks, now grown bigger, were all in a
panic and no one knew what to do, no one except for the little duck. Oh, how fiercely they squawked and
quacked. You see, somehow overnight the
water itself had grown very cold and flat and hard as a rock. There was no way to swim in it! The water wouldn’t move anymore! They couldn’t get their little webbed feet
in! How in the world were they going to
get around without the water?
Just as they were about to give up hope and offer themselves
to the fox, they saw a very peculiar thing.
It hushed them all immediately.
Out on the hard water stood the little duck all by himself. He was walking everywhere with his strong,
flat, little feet. He noticed everyone
was watching him, and don’t you know that he put his bill straight up in the
air and strutted all around that pond!
Well, the other ducks were beside themselves. They wanted to go out on the flat water but
they didn’t dare try.
Finally, after enjoying his moment in the spotlight, the
little duck came back to the shore and kindly began to teach all the other ducks
how to walk very strongly, using their feet for waddling instead of paddling. They were very grateful that he showed them
how to do this, and you can bet some of them felt pretty badly for the way they
had treated him. After they were all on
the hard, flat, frozen water and skating around and having fun, a small group
of them came up to the little duck and promised that they would help him to
learn how to swim when the water was soft again. This made the little duck very happy and
tearful, and I do believe that a great deal of ice melted that day, just not on
the pond.
