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Main > Fairy tale > All authors > Andersen Hans Christian > Fairy tale "In the Duck Yard"

In the Duck Yard

"You speak of him with respect," said the Portuguese, "because he had a voice and a fine education. He was tender and soft, and that's as good in animals as in so-called human beings."

And all the Ducks gathered around the little dead Songbird. Ducks have strong passions, whether they feel envy or pity, and since there was no one here to envy, they all felt pity, and so did even the two Chinese hens.

"We'll never find such a songbird again; he was almost a Chinese," and they both wept with a great clucking noise. All the other chickens clucked, too, but the Ducks walked around with the reddest eyes.

"We have hearts," they said. "Nobody can deny that."

"Hearts!" said the Portuguese. "Yes, that we have; they're almost as tender as in Portugal."

"Let us now think about getting something in our stomachs," said the Drake. "That's the most important thing. If one of our playthings is broken, why, we have plenty more of them!"

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