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The Wise Duck

A Fable

By MHMPublished about a year ago 3 min read
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Once upon a time there was a duck. This was not an ordinary duck, because this duck could talk. She was not an overly chatty duck, but she was very wise. The duck was choosy with whom she shared that wisdom. She spoke often with a boy.

This boy was very young, having just started walking when he began speaking to the duck. “It is just so hard to walk!” he would say, “I’m afraid I look weak when I try.”

The duck would shake her heard at this, as she floated in her pond, and responded by saying: “Being strong is not being able to do things that are easy for others. Being strong means being able to do things that are hard for you.” The boy remembered this, and continued to try to walk until he was a great walker.

One day the boy came to the lake after school. He brought corn to give to the duck, because he needed help. “I need a way to avoid doing my schoolwork,” the boy pleaded to the duck, “I cannot do it, so I’m trying to find a way around it.”

The duck considered this. “There is one way. To do it, you’ll have to do the best you can every time. If you do that, eventually, you won’t have to do work that’s too hard for you.”

The boy did his best every time, and eventually found the work getting easier. “How did I do that?” asked the boy to the duck, “It worked! I don’t need to do work that’s too hard anymore.” The duck just smiled, as much as a duck could smile, and ate her corn.

The duck was beginning to get older and began to prefer plain oats to the sweetness of corn. The boy returned once more to see his aging friend. The boy, now a little older himself, was almost no longer a boy. But he still came to see his friend the duck. They chatted for a bit, before the boy brought up a new problem he had. “There are other, older, boys,” he said mournfully, “They are stronger than me, and they push me around.”

The duck, squinting through half-blinded eyes, looked at the boy. “Are they stronger than you or are the just bigger?” she asked pre-emptively. The boy shrugged. “You are very strong. Even if they are bigger, it is easier to deal with bullies if you are stronger than them.” The boy remembered this message.

When he next went to school, and encountered the other boys, he was ready. He stood up to them, and, over time, the bullies realized that it was no longer easy to pick on the boy. When they stopped, the boy knew it was because he was strong.

More time went by, and the boy became a man. The man made a living helping others, no matter how hard it was. One day he was helping a boy. This boy was hurt and didn’t know what to do. The man was doing his best, which is all he ever did.

“I can’t do it!” the boy cried, tears streaming down his face, “I’m too weak.” The man held him and thought about his old friend the duck. He had not seen her for a very long time, but he remembered her words.

“You are not weak,” the man insisted firmly, “You are already doing something hard. And that makes you strong.” The boy thought about that. He had never thought of himself as strong. Knowing that he was strong gave the boy strength, and he proved himself to be even stronger.

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