the other. The water closed over their heads, but the next moment they came up again and were swimming about most beautifully, their legs going of themselves. They were all in the water; even the ugly gray youngster was swimming about with them.
"No, he is not a turkey," she said; "look how well he uses his legs, and how erect he carries himself He is one of my own ducklings. He is not so ugly, after all, when you look at him properly. Quack, quack! Come along with me and I will take you all out into the world and present you in the duck-yard; but keep close to me, so that no one shall tread upon you, and beware of the cat!"
"And then they came into the duck-yard, where there was a terrible noise; two families were fighting over the head of an eel, which the cat got, after all.
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"Ah, just look! that's the way of the world," said the mother, licking her beak, for she would have liked to have the eel's head herself.
"Now use your legs," she said; "just try and make haste and bow your heads to the old duck yonder. She is the grandest of them all here. She is of Spanish blood; that is why she is so fat, and you see she has a red rag round her leg. That's something particularly fine and the greatest distinction that any duck can get; it means that they don't want to lose her. Be quick! don't turn in your toes! A well-bred duckling places his legs well apart from each other, just like your father and mother. Now then. Just like this. Now bow with your neck and say. Quack!"
And this they did; but the other ducks round about looked at them and said quite loudly: "Hem! Now we shall have to put up with that riff-raff as well. Just as if there were not enough of us already: and, fie! what an ugly duckling! We sha'n't stand him!" And a duck flew right at him and bit him in the neck.
"Leave him alone," said the mother; "he won't hurt anybody."
"No, but he is too big, and is so different from the others," said the duck who had bitten the duckling; "and therefore he must be pecked."
"These are pretty children of yours," said the old duck with the rag
