Page 546 - Child's own book

them, and uttered so loud and strange a cry that lie was
frightened at it himself. O h ! never could he again forget
those beautiful, happy birds; and when they were quite out of
sight lie dived down to the bottom of the water, and when he
oncc more ro se to the surface, he was half beside himself. He
knew not howr these birds were called, not whither they were
hound, but lie felt an affection for them such as he had never
yet experienced for any living creature. Nor did lie even pre­
sume to envv them, for how could it ever have entered his
head to wish himself endowed with their loveliness ? Ho would
have been pi ad enough if the ducks had merely suffered him
to remain anion? them—poor ugly creature that he was; and
the winter proved so vervj very cold ; the duckling was obliged
to keep swimming about, for fesir the water should freeze en­
tirely ; lmt every night the hole in which he swam grew
smaller and smaller. It now froze so hard that the surface
of the ire cracked again ; yet the duckling paddled about, to
prevent the hole from rinsing up. At last he w a s so exhausted
that he lav insensible, and became ice-bound.
m e
Early next morning a peasant came by, and, seeing what
had happened, broke the ire to pieces with his wooden
shoe, and carried the duckling home to his wife, so the little
creature was revived oncc more. The children wished to play
with him, but the duckling thought they meant to hurt him,
and in his fright he bounded right into a bowl of milk, so that
it was spurted all over the room. The woman clapped her
hands, which only frightened him still more, and drove him first
into the butter tub; then down into the meal tub, and out
again, M'hat a scene then ensued ! the woman screamed and
flung the tongs at him ; the children tumbled over each other
in their endeavours to catch the duckling, and laughed and
shrieked. Luckily the door stood open, and he slipped through