Children -- Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction; Children's stories; Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction
"Quack! quack! Give me back my beautiful money!"
It was night, and the Prince of the Seven Golden Cows ordered one of
his servants to take Teenchy Duck and shut her up in the hennery with
the turkeys, the geese, and the chickens, thinking that these fowls
would kill the stranger, and that her disagreeable song would forever
be at an end.
This order was immediately carried out by the servant, but no sooner
had Teenchy Duck entered the hennery than she exclaimed:
"Brother Fox, if you do not come to my assistance I am lost!"
Brother Fox came out of the satchel promptly, and worked so well at his
trade that of all the fowls he found there not one remained alive.
At break of day the servant-girl, whose business it was to attend to
the poultry-yard, opened the door of the hennery, and was astounded to
see Teenchy Duck come out, singing the same old song:
"Quack! quack! Give me back my beautiful money!"
The astonished girl immediately ran and told her master, the Prince,
what had happened, and the wife of the Prince, who had at that moment
learned all, said to her husband:
"This Duck is a Witch. Give her the money, or it will bring us bad luck."
The Prince of the Seven Golden Cows refused to listen to any advice.
He believed that the fox had only happened to enter his hennery by
accident.
Teenchy Duck made herself heard all day, and at night the Prince said
to his servants:
"Take this squaller and throw her in the stable under the feet of the
mules and horses. We will see in the morning what she will say."
The servants obeyed, and Teenchy Duck immediately cried:
"Brother Wolf, if you do not come quickly to my aid I shall be killed."
Brother Wolf made no delay, and it was not long before he had destroyed
the horses and the mules. Next morning, before day, the servants went
to get the animals to put them to the ploughs and wagons; but when they
saw them lying dead their astonishment was indescribable. In the stable
Teenchy Duck stood alone, singing, in her most beautiful voice:
"Quack! quack! Give me back my beautiful money!"
When the Prince of the Seven Golden Cows heard of this disaster he
became white with rage, and in his fury he wanted to give his servants
a thousand lashes for not having taken necessary precautions against
the Wolf. But his wife calmed him little by little, saying:
"My husband, give back to Teenchy Duck this purse you have taken, or
else we shall be ruined."
"No," cried the Prince, "she shall never have it!"
All this time Teenchy Duck was promenading up and down, to the right
and to the left, singing, at the top of her voice:
"Quack! quack! Give me back my beautiful money!"
"Heavens!" said the Prince, stopping his ears, "I am tired of hearing
this ugly fowl squall and squawk. Quick! throw her in the well or the
furnace, so that we may be rid of her."
"What shall we do first?" the servants asked.
"It matters not," said the Prince, "so long as we are rid of her."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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