im in myself."

On the next day the weather was delightful. The sun shone brightly on
the green burdock leaves, and the mother duck took her whole family
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 legs paddling under them as easily as
possible; their legs went of their own accord; and the ugly gray-coat
was also in the water, swimming with them.

"Oh," said the mother, "that is not a Guinea fowl. See how well he uses
his legs, and how erect he holds himself! He is my own child, and he is
not so very ugly after all, if you look at him properly. Quack, 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 wretched riot going on; two
families were fighting for an eel's head, 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 eel's 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 yonder; she is
the highest born of them all and has Spanish blood; therefore she is
well off. Don't you see she has a red rag 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, and that she is to be noticed by both
man and beast. Come, now, don't turn in your toes; a well-bred duckling
spreads his feet wide apart, just like his father and mother, in this
way; now bend your necks and say 'Quack!'"

The ducklings did as they were bade, but the other ducks stared, and
said, "Look, here comes another brood--as if there were not enough of us
already! And bless me, what a queer-looking object one of them is; we
don't 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. He's a perfect fright," said the
spiteful duck, "and therefore he must be turned out. A little biting
will do him good."

"The others are very pretty children," said the old duck with the rag on
her leg, "all but that one. I wish his mothe