But then I began to think that although that road had brought me to my father’s hut it had not brought me back to a life that was as it had been before. What had happened after I had come back to the hut had brought me farther away than that road could have led to. Perhaps the writing on the pillar was not lying, after all. It had said: They who take the road to the right will come at last to their fortune. Perhaps my fortune was farther away than I had thought.
Then I said to myself that my journeys were not[Pg 88] yet ended, and that if I went on I should yet come to what the writing on the pillar had promised. I sat still for a while with this thought in my mind, and then I rose up and went through the wilderness, going straight on toward a star that was still in the sky.
I left the wilderness with its low shrubs3 at last, and I came out on a wide, green plain. Before going on that plain I ate again of the wild fruit that was on the bushes and I brought some of the wild fruit with me. I went on and on over the miles of grass. And when it was midday I saw a whiteness upon the plain before me.
I went toward that whiteness and in a while I saw that it was all in movement. There were white living creatures there. I went on, and I came near to where there was a hollow in the plain, and I saw in that hollow a mighty4 flock of ducks. They were tame, for they did not rise up and fly as I came near.
I looked on them with great astonishment5. I had never seen so many ducks together. I looked them all over and I made a guess that there were[Pg 89] a thousand ducks there. And I had never seen such beauty in ducks before. For these ducks were of a gleaming whiteness, and moreover they had a shapeliness that I had never seen in such creatures before. I thought and thought, but I could not think how they had come into this unpeopled plain in such a vast flock.
I sat down on the grass and I watched them feeding, thinking surely that some one would come and drive the flock to some market or to some great farm. I watched, and the ducks ate and ate in the hollow where they stayed. When the darkness came the thousand ducks put their heads each under a wing and settled down on the ground. I pulled grass to make a bed for myself, and ate the fruit I had brought with me, and lay down in a cold place near the hollow.
I was awakened6 by the thousand ducks quacking7 loudly, and I looked and saw that they had spread themselves over the plain and were moving in a direction. I thought I should follow the ducks, and I did, and I was able to chase away two or three foxes that would have hunted them.
[Pg 90]
They were beautiful, these thousand ducks, as they went over the green plain. They were shapely and active, and they had a wonderful soft whiteness. The drakes were not colored differently, but they had crests8 and tails that curled. When they knew I was with them they did not go straying here and there, but kept themselves together as a flock and went marching in a direction. I thought that they might bring me to my fortune. And then I thought that this great flock of ducks, so strangely without an owner, was my fortune.
I was faint and hungry, but I went on rejoicing in the beauty of the ducks. I gave them time to feed and they fed. At last I came to the gate of a town. The watcher was astonished at the greatness of the flock and he called to the townspeople to come out and fill their eyes with the spectacle. They came and asked me, “Who are you, O girl?” and I made answer, “I am the girl whose fortune is in ducks.” The people came on the walls of the town and looked over them, while the ducks spread themselves out, standing9 still. And more[Pg 91] and more the people marveled at the number and the extraordinary beauty of the ducks.
The people set a place apart for the ducks and they gave me a shelter in which I might rest and refresh myself. After a while I heard them say, “The officers of the great King of Babylon should see this girl and her ducks. There is a marvel10 here for the great King to hear about.” People came to see the ducks as a spectacle, and one would say to the other, “No prince by any river in China has such a wonderful collection of ducks.”
And then I was told that the officers of the great King of Babylon would come to look on my flock. These officers had come into the country to get for the King’s gardens birds and beasts that were remarkable11.
They came and looked on the flock, and marveled that, whether they rested or were feeding, the thousand ducks harkened to my call and went as I bade them go. They spoke12, admiring their shape and whiteness. And then a dwarf13 who had a crown of crimson14 feathers on his head came[Pg 92] amongst them and the officers spoke to him. This dwarf told me they would take the flock for the King, and that they would take me also to the great city, where I would have the office of minding the ducks in the King’s gardens.
So I brought the thousand ducks down to a great barge15 that was on the river, and I went on the barge, and the officers of the King with the dwarf that had the crown of crimson feathers on his head went aboard of it, and we sailed down the river, and we came into the great city. For two days the King had me show the wondrous16 flock in the market place as a spectacle for the people. All Babylon came and admired the number and the comeliness17 of the ducks. Afterward18 they were brought to the lake that was in the King’s gardens. As time went on many of the flock were taken by the purveyors and killed and eaten in the palace. But still they remained a wonder for their number and their comeliness. The King often came down to look on the thousand ducks, swimming on the water, or staying in their companies around the lake.
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1 wilderness | |
n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等,荒漠 | |
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2 miserable | |
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的 | |
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3 shrubs | |
灌木( shrub的名词复数 ) | |
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4 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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5 astonishment | |
n.惊奇,惊异 | |
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6 awakened | |
v.(使)醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 );(使)觉醒;弄醒;(使)意识到 | |
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7 quacking | |
v.(鸭子)发出嘎嘎声( quack的现在分词 ) | |
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8 crests | |
v.到达山顶(或浪峰)( crest的第三人称单数 );到达洪峰,达到顶点 | |
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9 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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10 marvel | |
vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异;n.令人惊异的事 | |
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11 remarkable | |
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的 | |
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12 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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13 dwarf | |
n.矮子,侏儒,矮小的动植物;vt.使…矮小 | |
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14 crimson | |
n./adj.深(绯)红色(的);vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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15 barge | |
n.平底载货船,驳船 | |
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16 wondrous | |
adj.令人惊奇的,奇妙的;adv.惊人地;异乎寻常地;令人惊叹地 | |
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17 comeliness | |
n. 清秀, 美丽, 合宜 | |
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18 afterward | |
adv.后来;以后 | |
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