As if there were not enough of us here
already!
WHITE GOOSE (_likewise displeased_). True enough,--I can scarce find a
corner for my afternoon nap!
RED ROOSTER. It seems to me, Madam Duck, that you should not have brought
us a new brood this summer.
MADAM DUCK. What is that you are saying?
TURKEY. It seems to all of us, madam, that there is no room here for a new
brood.
PLYMOUTH ROCK HEN. Friends, be just. Madam Duck has a perfect right to
bring her ducklings here. Besides, the children are quite pretty.
MADAM DUCK. They are beautiful! You shall all see that for yourselves.
Come, children, into a row with you!
[_The Ducklings form themselves into a row. The Ugly Duckling is last._]
MADAM DUCK. Legs wide apart! Toes out! Now speak prettily to my old
friends.
DUCKLINGS (_all but the last_). Quack! Quack!
MADAM DUCK. There now--are they not charming?
GRAY GANDER (_looking down row_). Why, yes, they all seem graceful
enough--here--wait a moment! Does that last one there belong to you?
[_All the fowls look at the last Duckling._]
MADAM DUCK. Oh yes! He is larger than the others and perhaps not so pretty,
but--
TURKEY (_interrupting_). Make no excuses for him, madam.
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