The Oregon daily journal., October 19, 1907, Page 17, Image 17

s
tones
THE UGLY
DUCKLING
Gro6)
Ola
ever
B
ENEI.TH the branches of some burdock bushes,
on tbeVank of a winding creek, tat an old duck
on ler neat htti-hing her young one. By and by, one
egg cracked, and then another. "Chick, chick, chick."
wu heard as tjfop little heads peeped out of the shells,
to be greeted jMth the "Vjuack, quack" of the old mother
duck.
"Are you '(U here, my dearsT she asked, as she
arose from her (nest No, there lay the largest egg of
all unhitched She sit down again on the egg just as
an old duck' waddled p to -0911 on her.
"How ajre you getting alongr site asked.
"They Wre all hatched but one, and it is to big
,i
it will not bfreak." she replied.
"DcKjd upon it," said her visitor, "it is a turkey
egg, and vJw'll have trouble, for turkeys can't swim."
AT LAST the big egg broke. "Tweet, tweet,"
and out crept a young one. but so very big ana
ugly that the mother duck thought he must be a young
turkey-cock.
"I shall soon see," she said to herself, "whether
be is or not. when be goes into the water."
The next day she sprang into the creek with a
splash, and one duckling after another sprang in after
her. Even the big ugly one was swimming, too, arid
beautifully.
"No turkey could swim like that," she thought
"Quack, quack, come with me and I will take you
to the barnyard so that all the chickens, ducks and
turkeys may see you."
"Look there, how ugly that one duck is," said 'the
ducks, and one flew at him.
ill Kyi
3.
ET him alone.-' said the mother; "he is doing
no harm."
The poor ugly duckling who had been the last to
leave bis shell was beaten and pushed and made a fool
of by the hens as well as the ducks. Even the turkey
cock puffed himself up and swooped down on him,
gobbling and getting red in tiie face. The poor duck
ling was very unhappy, and every day tilings grew
worse and worse f or him. He was even chased about
by his sisters, who said:
"I wish threat would catch you!"
T ducks bit bun, the hens beat Iiim. and tjie girl
who fed the poultry kicked him away with her foot.
So he ran away and flew over the heage. Even the
little birds who saw him were frightened, and he
thought it was because he was so ugly. The poor
duckling, however, closed bis eyes and ran away
faster and faster until he came to a great meadow.
v . :
4.
J.J E LAV down in the reeds mitif morning, wljen
three wild geese came by.
" You are ogly, but we like you. Come with us,"
(Ley said to him. Just at that moment bangf bang!
went a gun, and the three geese fell down dead. Bangf
bang! and all the other wild geese in the meadow flew,
op. The huntsmen were lying all around the meadow
liding in the reeds-.
What a fright the poor duckling was in, especially
when a big dog ran up with his tongue hanging out
of his mouth. He showed his sharp teeth, but happily,
Fic turned away from the duckling,
"Oh. I'm glad I am so ugly, for even a dog will
not bite rae," said the duckling, and he lay still rmtil
the bullets of the huntsmen no more whistled through"
the reeds, and then hurried awry as fast as be could.
'r
evening he reached a little but all tumbled
dowf end dirtv. He crept through the half-open
door into la dark little room where an bid woman sat.
Slie livedhere alone with her tom-cat and pet hen.
The cat slje called her little son. He purred and put
up bis bac if you rubbed him Sm his head to his
tail, but spalrks flew if you rubbed him the other way.
The ben badj 10rt iCS so they called her "Chickling
Short-legs."
in the ipowiing when they saw the duckling Tom
began to pur- and the hen to cluck.
"What the matter?" said the woman, for she
could not se well, and thought the duckling was a
fat duck that had lost her way.
"Oh, theft is a fine catch," said she when Tom told
her. "Now,
to cat."
iwe can have all the duck eggs we want
rJ,IIE duckling, for so they thought he was,
stayed all winter with the old woman and her
cat and hen ; but one fine day in the springtime, long
ing for a nice swim in the Water, he went down to
the brook and swam far away from the home of the
old woman and her pets. But in the autumn when it
grew very cold, the poor duckling had a bad time.
One morning he saw a flock of beautiful swans come
out of a thicket nearby, and a feeling came over the
poor ugly duckling that he loved those beautiful white
birds as he had never loved anything lefore. Ah! how
he longed to go with them, but he felt ashamed even
to let them see how ugly he was. and while he was
thinking this away they flew without seeing him
ipryj
THE winter came, and it was so cold that he had
to swim about to keep from freezing. The
pond froze over all except one small opening in the
ice where he swam around. But this grew smaller and
smaller and finally the ducking was frozen fast in the
ice, and there the next morning a man found him and
carried him home. The children wanted to play with
him, but the duckling thought they were going to hurt
him, and, in his terror, he jumped right into the milk
pail. The farmer's wife clapped her hands, and the
children laughed and screamed, and knocked each other
down trying to catch him. The duckling flew out of
the open door.
He had a bad time after that all winter long, and
.low he hVed through the 'cold winter nobody knows.
At last the warm spring camc and, much to his sur
prise, the duckling found that his wings were so strong
that he could fly swiftly throuch the air with ease.
S.
ONE day he flew into a beautiful large garden.
There, swimming around jon a lake, he saw,
the graceful white swans he had seen before, and whom
he loved so much. He was very sad, though, when he
saw these beautiful creatures, for he thought of him
self sls very ugly.
"Better be killed by mem," he thought, "than AC
beaten by ducks, bens, women and children." 'So he
flew into the water and swam toward the beautiful
white swans. ' .
"Only kill rhe," said the poor creatnrey and LV
bowed his head on a level with the water. Jut hit :
did he see in the clear water! BeOeath bio, jwif lit ft
looking-glass, he $aw bis Own Image. :3o longer waj
he a dark. gray tigly bird. He bid rovn to be.
beautiful white swan!
He was very glad now, for be knew Jhat sill bla
anfferags were over. So be shook bis f eathent tn3t
stretched bis. slender graceful neck, and arts uT3
per after. f: ' - f f y
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1 Copyright. 1907,
1 brllang.)
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