The Crow and The Duckling

Springtime brings changes of many kinds. Plants flower, couples break up, ducklings hatch, and so on and so forth in this manner. There is nothing for it but to stand back and watch the changes.

It happened one spring that an old Crow, with no relations or even friends, found himself perched in a tree watching a young boy at play in the grass below. The boy had a gold bell, and he rang it furiously to celebrate the changes of spring. The Crow wanted nothing in the world so much as he wanted the little gold bell. Being crafty, he hopped out of the tree and neared the young boy in hopes of snatching up the bell.
The boy would have none of this. Upon seeing the Crow, the young boy stopped ringing the bell and began crying loudly for his mother. Such is the way of young boys who are frightened by animals. Upon hearing her young son cry, the mother came to his side, picked him up in a tight embrace and carried him away in safety. Such is the way of young mothers when their children are frightened.
The Crow had failed, for the time being, but he was crafty, and soon he had a new plan. He left the cool, comfortable grass of the young boy’s yard and flew to a nearby stream, where he knew the ducks would be guarding their eggs. Searching out the apple tree, the Crow began to peck and tear viciously at the stem of a green apple until it broke and the apple plummeted.
There was a young mother duck sitting on her eggs. Without warning, an apple fell out of the sky, startling her into flight. In the moment during which the mother duck was in flight above her nest, the Crow dove to the eggs, snatched up the smallest one, and flew away as fast as he could.
There was no remorse in the Crow’s heart, as he heard the mother duck crying after him. She could not follow him or else leave her other eggs exposed and in danger. She cried and cried until the Crow was long out of sight, but her crying could not bring her lost egg back to her.
The Crow took the egg to an old Swan he knew. The Swan was bitter because her one true love, she would say, flew away with an Osprey. The Crow thought she was crazy, but she would help him if he brought her a treasure. He brought her the egg first, telling her that he would be back before it hatched, with a present for her if she kept it warm and safe. The Swan didn’t ask questions, and after the Crow had left she sat on the egg and slowly began to recount the long and sad tale of her lover and the Osprey.
The Crow flew to town and found the town square, where a large fountain bubbled happily at the center of the crowds of people. The crowds bubbled happily too, but in a different way than the fountain. The crow flew to the top most bowl of the fountain, where the water was shallow and refreshing. He let his thieving talons cool in the water before collecting a quarter dollar coin from the bottom of the bowl and leaving.
Back in the nest of the Swan, the Crow presented her with the quarter dollar coin, which she honked loudly about, and stashed away next to a piece of sea-softened blue glass, and a broken pair of eye glasses. She had told the egg that the glasses let her see the world for what it was, and that the blue glass showed her it was a blue world after all, and no one would ever love her.
The next night the egg began to crack. The Crow told the Swan to leave, and then waited for the Duckling to break out. Eventually he did. The first thing the Duckling remembered hearing was the words of the Swan, and the first thing he remembered seeing was the Crow, standing over him with mischief in his eyes.
Once the Duck was old enough to waddle, the Crow gave the Swan an old locket without any pictures in it. Then the Crow brought the Duckling back to his nest beneath an oak tree. The Duckling’s mind was full of the Crow’s ideas, and though he was sweet to look at, he thought no good thoughts. If the Duckling’s mother knew what her lost egg had become, she would have cried more than she did when it was stolen.
The Crow told the Duckling what he wanted him to do, and the next day the Crow led the Duckling to the grassy yard of the young Boy.
The young Boy still treasured his gold bell more than anything else in the world, and when the day was warm and inviting, he would wander into the yard and ring his bell loudly. He was ringing the bell joyously when he saw the Duckling waddling across the yard toward him. The boy did not cry, but stopped ringing the bell and ran to the Duckling. He knelt down and let the Duckling waddle right into his open arms. The Boy forgot the bell, and from then on he loved the Duckling more than anything else in the world.
For a week the Duckling lived in the Boy’s house, hiding in his room, eating food that the Boy brought him, and sleeping by the Boy’s pillow at night. The Boy thought that the Duckling was his best friend, and the Duckling enjoyed the soft bedding and free food.
On the seventh night, the Crow tapped on the Boy’s window, loudly enough to wake the Duckling, but not loudly enough to wake the Boy. The Duckling came to the window and the Crow asked him if he had the Boy’s golden bell. The Duckling responded that he did not, because it was put in a box and he could not open it. The Crow told the Duckling that if he could not bring him the bell, he should bring him something from the Boy’s mother’s jewelry box.
So, the Duckling sneaked into the mother’s jewelry box, snapped a pearl earring up in his bill, and returned to the window. The Crow told him that it was good enough for the time being, but he still wanted the gold bell. The Duckling went back to sleep at the Boy’s pillow, and thought nothing of his crime, for no mother had ever told him it was wrong.
The next day the Boy came into the room, crying, and stayed there with the Duckling. The Boy’s mother had discovered the absence of her pearl earring, and the Boy was suspected to have stolen it. The Duckling had an idea of this, but he did not concern himself with it, he just sat in the Boy’s arms while the Boy cried.
That night the Crow came to the window again and summoned the Duckling with a tap of his sharp beak. The Duckling came to the window but still did not have the gold bell. The Crow was angry and told him to bring something from the Boy’s father’s study.
So, the Duckling sneaked into the father’s study and took a pen with a silver cap. The Duckling brought the pen to the Crow, and the Crow told him that it was good enough for the time being, but he still wanted the bell. Again, the Duckling went back to sleep at the Boy’s pillow, and still he thought nothing of his crime, for no mother had ever told him it was wrong.
The next day, the Boy was in his room crying again, but there was a knock at the door, and the Boy put the Duck into his closet and then answered the knock. The Boy’s parents came in and talked to him in serious voices, and the Duckling overheard them. The Boy insisted and insisted, but still the parents were serious, and in the end they left the Boy in his room, returning only once at dusk to bring him some food and water to drink.
The Boy let the Duckling out of the closet, and shared his food and water with him. Then the Boy set the Duckling on the bed and brought out his gold bell. The Boy began to ring the bell, and the Duckling could see that with each note the Boy became happier. The Boy did not ring it loudly, but very softly and the Duckling listened to the bell ring for a long time.
Later that night, while the Boy slept and the gold bell sat on the table by his bed, the Crow tapped on the window again and the Duckling came at once. He told the Crow that the bell was on the table, and that he would bring it to him directly. The Boy slept soundly while the Duckling slowly rolled the gold bell toward the edge of the table, not letting it ring a single note. At the table’s edge, though, the Duckling had no choice, and he pushed the bell over.
It fell to the floor loudly and the Boy stirred and woke. The Duckling was on the ground by this point, and rolled the bell to the window as quickly as he could. The Boy peered over the edge of his bed and saw the Duckling stealing his gold bell. In horror the boy tried to climb out of bed, but he was caught in the bedding, and while he fumbled, the Crow pushed the window ajar with all his might, snatched up the bell and flew out into the night sky.
The bell’s notes resounded through the spring night as the Crow flew further and further from the Boy’s home. The Crow was happy because he had stolen the Boy’s one true love. He did not need the Duckling anymore, and he put him out of his mind from that point onward.
The Boy looked into the innocent looking eyes of the Duckling. The Duckling looked back up into the Boy’s wide eyes and didn’t feel bad at all. The Boy began to cry, not for his lost bell, but for his lost friend.

And this is the moral of the story of the Crow and the Duckling: Don’t trust innocent eyes, because you do not know who is controlling the mind behind them.