“Wilt thou sail with me to-night, little Hjalmar?” said Ole-Luk-Oie; “then
we shall see foreign countries, and thou shalt return here in the morning.”
All in a moment, there stood Hjalmar, in his best clothes, on the deck of
the noble ship; and immediately the weather became fine. They sailed
through the streets, round by the church, and on every side rolled the wide,
great sea. They sailed till the land disappeared, and then they saw a flock of
storks, who had left their own country, and were travelling to warmer
climates. The storks flew one behind the other, and had already been a long,
long time on the wing. One of them seemed so tired that his wings could
scarcely carry him. He was the last of the row, and was soon left very far
behind. At length he sunk lower and lower, with outstretched wings,
flapping them in vain, till his feet touched the rigging of the ship, and he
slided from the sails to the deck, and stood before them. Then a sailor-boy
caught him, and put him in the hen-house, with the fowls, the ducks, and the
turkeys, while the poor stork stood quite bewildered amongst them.
“Just look at that fellow,” said the chickens.
Then the turkey-cock puffed himself out as large as he could, and
inquired who he was; and the ducks waddled backwards, crying, “Quack,
quack.”
Then the stork told them all about warm Africa, of the pyramids, and of
the ostrich, which, like a wild horse, runs across the desert. But the ducks
did not understand what he said, and quacked amongst themselves, “We are
all of the same opinion; namely, that he is stupid.”
“Yes, to be sure, he is stupid,” said the turkey-cock; and gobbled.
Then the stork remained quite silent, and thought of his home in Africa.
“Those are handsome thin legs of yours,” said the turkey-cock. “What do
they cost a yard?”
“Quack, quack, quack,” grinned the ducks; but, the stork pretended not to
hear.
