“What on earth is that!” said the old woman, looking round; but her sight was not good, and she thought the duckling was a fat duck which had escaped. “This is a capital find,” said she; “now I shall have duck’s eggs if only it is not a drake. We must find out about that!”
So she took the duckling on trial for three weeks, but no eggs made their appearance. The cat was the master of the house and the hen the mistress, and they always spoke of “we and the world,” for they thought that they represented the half of the world, and that quite the better half.
The duckling thought there might be two opinions on the subject, but the cat would not hear of it.
“Can you lay eggs?” she asked.
“No!”
“Will you have the goodness to hold your tongue, then!”
And the cat said, “Can you arch your back, purr, or give off sparks?”
“No.”
“Then you had better keep your opinions to yourself when people of sense are speaking!”
The duckling sat in the corner nursing his ill-humor; then he began to think of the fresh air and the sunshine, an uncontrollable longing seized him to float on the water, and at last he could not help telling the hen about it.