DRINKING ALONE WITH THE MOON.docx

1、DRINKING ALONE WITH THE MOONThe Ugly DucklingIT was lovely summer weather in the country, and the golden corn, the green oats, and the haystacks piled up in the meadows looked beautiful. The stork walking about on his long red legs chattered in the Egyptian language, which he had learnt from his mot

2、her.The corn-fields and meadows were surrounded by large forests, in the midst of which were deep pools. It was, indeed, delightful to walk about in the country. In a sunny spot stood a pleasant old farm-house close by a deep river, and from the house down to the water side grew great burdock leaves

3、, so high, that under the tallest of them a little child could stand upright. The spot was as wild as the center of a thick wood. In this snug retreat sat a duck on her nest, watching for her young brood to hatch; she was beginning to get tired of her task, for the little ones were a long time comin

4、g out of their shells, and she seldom had any visitors. The other ducks liked much better to swim about in the river than to climb the slippery banks, and sit under a burdock leaf, to have a gossip with her. At length one shell cracked, and then another, and from each egg came a living creature that

5、 lifted its head and cried, Peep, peep. Quack, quack, said the mother, and then they all quacked as well as they could, and looked about them on every side at the large green leaves. Their mother allowed them to look as much as they liked, because green is good for the eyes. How large the world is,

6、said the young ducks, when they found how much more room they now had than while they were inside the egg-shell. Do you imagine this is the whole world? asked the mother; Wait till you have seen the garden; it stretches far beyond that to the parsons field, but I have never ventured to such a distan

7、ce. Are you all out? she continued, rising;No, I declare, the largest egg lies there still. I wonder how long this is to last, I am quite tired of it; and she seated herself again on the nest.Well, how are you getting on? asked an old duck, who paid her a visit.One egg is not hatched yet, said the d

8、uck, it will not break. But just look at all the others, are they not the prettiest little ducklings you ever saw? They are the image of their father, who is so unkind, he never comes to see.Let me see the egg that will not break, said the duck; I have no doubt it is a turkeys egg. I was persuaded t

9、o hatch some once, and after all my care and trouble with the young ones, they were afraid of the water. I quacked and clucked, but all to no purpose. I could not get them to venture in. Let me look at the egg. Yes, that is a turkeys egg; take my advice, leave it where it is and teach the other chil

10、dren to swim.I think I will sit on it a little while longer, said the duck; as I have sat so long already, a few days will be nothing.Please yourself, said the old duck, and she went away.At last the large egg broke, and a young one crept forth crying, Peep, peep. It was very large and ugly. The duc

11、k stared at it and exclaimed,It is very large and not at all like the others. I wonder if it really is a turkey. We shall soon find it out, however when we go to the water. It must go in, if I have to push it myself.On the next day the weather was delightful, and the sun shone brightly on the green

12、burdock leaves, so the mother duck took her young brood down to the water, and jumped in with a splash. Quack, quack, cried she, and one after another the little ducklings jumped in. The water closed over their heads, but they came up again in an instant, and swam about quite prettily with their leg

13、s paddling under them as easily as possible, and the ugly duckling was also in the water swimming with them.Oh, said the mother, that is not a turkey; how well he uses his legs, and how upright he holds himself! He is my own child, and he is not so very ugly after all if you look at him properly. Qu

14、ack, quack! come with me now, I will take you into grand society, and introduce you to the farmyard, but you must keep close to me or you may be trodden upon; and, above all, beware of the cat.When they reached the farmyard, there was a great disturbance, two families were fighting for an eels head,

15、 which, after all, was carried off by the cat.See, children, that is the way of the world, said the mother duck, whetting her beak, for she would have liked the eels head herself. Come, now, use your legs, and let me see how well you can behave. You must bow your heads prettily to that old duck yond

16、er; she is the highest born of them all, and has Spanish blood, therefore, she is well off. Dont you see she has a red flag tied to her leg, which is something very grand, and a great honor for a duck; it shows that every one is anxious not to lose her, as she can be recognized both by man and beast

17、. Come, now, dont turn your toes, a well-bred duckling spreads his feet wide apart, just like his father and mother, in this way; now bend your neck, and say quack.The ducklings did as they were bid, but the other duck stared, and said,Look, here comes another brood, as if there were not enough of u

18、s already! and what a queer looking object one of them is; we dont want him here, and then one flew out and bit him in the neck.Let him alone, said the mother; he is not doing any harm.Yes, but he is so big and ugly, said the spiteful duck and therefore he must be turned out.The others are very pret

19、ty children, said the old duck, with the rag on her leg, all but that one; I wish his mother could improve him a little.That is impossible, your grace, replied the mother; he is not pretty; but he has a very good disposition, and swims as well or even better than the others. I think he will grow up

20、pretty, and perhaps be smaller; he has remained too long in the egg, and therefore his figure is not properly formed; and then she stroked his neck and smoothed the feathers, saying,It is a drake, and therefore not of so much consequence. I think he will grow up strong, and able to take care of hims

21、elf.The other ducklings are graceful enough, said the old duck.Now make yourself at home, and if you can find an eels head, you can bring it to me.And so they made themselves comfortable; but the poor duckling, who had crept out of his shell last of all, and looked so ugly, was bitten and pushed and

22、 made fun of, not only by the ducks, but by all the poultry. He is too big, they all said, and the turkey cock, who had been born into the world with spurs, and fancied himself really an emperor, puffed himself out like a vessel in full sail, and flew at the duckling, and became quite red in the hea

23、d with passion, so that the poor little thing did not know where to go, and was quite miserable because he was so ugly and laughed at by the whole farmyard. So it went on from day to day till it got worse and worse. The poor duckling was driven about by every one; even his brothers and sisters were

24、unkind to him, and would say, Ah, you ugly creature, I wish the cat would get you, and his mother said she wished he had never been born. The ducks pecked him, the chickens beat him, and the girl who fed the poultry kicked him with her feet. So at last he ran away, frightening the little birds in th

25、e hedge as he flew over the palings.They are afraid of me because I am ugly, he said. So he closed his eyes, and flew still farther, until he came out on a large moor, inhabited by wild ducks. Here he remained the whole night, feeling very tired and sorrowful.In the morning, when the wild ducks rose

26、 in the air, they stared at their new comrade. What sort of a duck are you? they all said, coming round him.He bowed to them, and was as polite as he could be, but he did not reply to their question. You are exceedingly ugly, said the wild ducks, but that will not matter if you do not want to marry

27、one of ourfamily.Poor thing! he had no thoughts of marriage; all he wanted was permission to lie among the rushes, and drink some of the water on the moor. After he had been on the moor two days, there came two wild geese, or rather goslings, for they had not been out of the egg long, and were very

28、saucy. Listen, friend, said one of them to the duckling, you are so ugly, that we like you very well. Will you go with us, and become a bird of passage? Not far from here is another moor, in which there are some pretty wild geese, all unmarried. It is a chance for you to get a wife; you may be lucky

29、, ugly as you are.Pop, pop, sounded in the air, and the two wild geese fell dead among the rushes, and the water was tinged with blood. Pop, pop, echoed far and wide in the distance, and whole flocks of wild geese rose up fromthe rushes. The sound continued from every direction, for the sportsmen su

30、rrounded the moor, and some were even seated on branches of trees, overlooking the rushes. The blue smoke from the guns rose like clouds over the dark trees, and as it floated away across the water, a number of sporting dogs bounded in among the rushes, which bent beneath them wherever they went. Ho

31、w they terrified the poor duckling! He turned away his head to hide it under his wing, and at the same moment a large terrible dog passed quite near him. His jaws were open, his tongue hung from his mouth, and his eyes glared fearfully. He thrust his nose close to the duckling, showing his sharp tee

32、th, and then, splash, splash, he went into the water without touching him, Oh, sighed the duckling, how thankful I am for being so ugly; even a dog willnot bite me. And so he lay quite still, while the shot rattled through the rushes, and gun after gun was fired over him. It was late in the day before all became quiet, but even then the poor young thing did not dare to move. He waited quietly for several hours, and then, after looking carefully around him, hastened away from the moor as fast as he could. He ran over field and meado