Page:The grandmother; a story of country life in Bohemia.pdf/117

111 the poultry which she watched with the greatest delight. And what poultry! White and gray geese with goslings, ducks with ducklings, black Turkish ducks, beautiful chickens of home raising, and long legged Tyrol chickens, top-knotted and with ruffled collars, peacocks, doves, Guinea hens, turkeys with their gobbler, who strutted about and swelled as though he were the lord of all. The whole flock rushed into one heap, each striving to get the largest possible share of the supper. They stepped upon one another's heels, jumped over one another, crawled under and crept through wherever a space could be found; and the sparrows, those vagabonds, when they had their own crops well filled, walked over the backs of the foolish ducks and geese. Not far off sat the rabbits, and a tame squirrel, with its tail over its head like a helmet, looked down upon the children from a chestnut tree. Upon the fence sat the cat, having a longing eye fixed upon the sparrows. The fawn allowed Barunka to scratch its head and the dogs sat quietly near the children, for the housewife held a switch in her hand. Still when the black cock ran after the gosling that had taken his food from his very mouth and the gosling ran near Hector's nose, the dog could not refrain from grabbing at it.

"See that old loon!" cried the housewife, as her switch whizzed about the dog's ears.

Hector was ashamed that he should be thus reproved before his younger companions, and with his head down he crawled into the hall. Grandmother remarked: "Of course the son cannot be better than the father." Hector was the son of Sultan, who killed those beautiful ducklings.