HENNY PENNY'S MISTAKE

 There was great excitement at the Old Barn Yard. A big mistake had been made. Whose fault it was no one could tell; but the fact was that Henny Penny had hatched out a brood of ducklings.

At first nobody thought anything was wrong, except that, perhaps, her little brood had very large bills and feet, much larger than those of any little chicks at the farm.

 

But one day when the whole brood waddled¹ off down to the Old Duck Pond and jumped in everybody knew that Henny Penny had little ducks and not little chickens.

 

Poor little Henny Penny! She stood upon the bank and clucked and clucked to them to come back.

 

"You'll be drowned, my darlings!" she cried. But the little ducks threw out their great brown feet as cleverly as if they had taken swimming lessons all their lives and sailed off on the Old Duck Pond, away, away among the ferns, under the pink azaleas, through reeds and rushes and arrowheads and pickerel weed, the happiest ducks that ever were born. And soon they were quite out of sight.

 

Poor little Henny Penny. She didn't know how to swim, so she sat down on the bank and waited for her little ducks to come back. Now and then she wiped her eyes on her downy breast feathers.

 

"Don't cry," said Cocky Doodle kindly².

 

"Don't worry," said Rosy³ Comb. "Your children seem to know how to swim as well as Ducky Waddles⁴."

 

Just then across the Old Duck Pond came a chorus of quacks⁵, and at a distance was seen the little brood swimming home, their feathers gleaming in green and gold.

 

"Such a splendid time we've had," they all cried as they waddled up the bank. "And we know now how to get our own living, for there are lots of little fish and flies out there on the Old Duck Pond. We can take care of ourselves, so don't worry any more about us, Mother Henny Penny."

 

"They are little ducks, not chickens," said Ducky Waddles.

 

"Are you sure?" asked Henny Penny tearfully, wiping her eyes with a tiny yellow handkerchief.

 

"Of course I am," replied Ducky Waddles. "Don't I know a duck's foot when I see it?"

 

"Dear, Oh dear!" sighed the poor little hen, "there has been a dreadful mistake!"

 

But whose mistake it was no one could tell, for the Kind Farmer never confessed that he put duck eggs in Henny Penny's nest.

 

1 waddled   

v.（像鸭子一样）摇摇摆摆地走( waddle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A family of ducks waddled along the river bank. 一群鸭子沿河岸摇摇摆摆地走。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The stout old man waddled across the road. 那肥胖的老人一跩一跩地穿过马路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

3 rosy   

adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的

参考例句：

• She got a new job and her life looks rosy.她找到一份新工作，生活看上去很美好。
• She always takes a rosy view of life.她总是对生活持乐观态度。

4 waddles   

v.（像鸭子一样）摇摇摆摆地走( waddle的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A goose waddles aimlessly. 一只鹅在摇摇摇摆漫无目的地走着。 来自互联网

5 quacks   

abbr.quacksalvers 庸医，骗子(16世纪习惯用水银或汞治疗梅毒的人)n.江湖医生( quack的名词复数 )；江湖郎中；（鸭子的）呱呱声v.（鸭子）发出嘎嘎声( quack的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• I went everywhere for treatment, tried all sorts of quacks. 我四处求医，看过了各种各样的江湖郎中。 来自辞典例句
• Hard-working medical men may come to be almost as mischievous as quacks. 辛勤工作的医生可能变成江湖郎中那样的骗子。 来自辞典例句