Волшебство страны Оз
15. The Lonesome Duck
"Thereasonforathingisneversoimportantasthethingitself,sothere’snouserememberinganythingbutthefactthatI’mlonesome."
"Iguessyou’dbehappierifyoutriedtodosomething,"assertedTrot."Ifyoucan’tdoanythingforyourself,youcandothingsforothers,andthenyou’dgetlotsoffriendsandstopbeinglonesome."
"Nowyou’regettingdisagreeable,"saidtheLonesomeDuck,"andIshallhavetogoandleaveyou."
"Can’tyouhelpusany,"pleadedthegirl."Ifthere’sanythingmagicaboutyou,youmightgetusoutofthisscrape."
"Ihaven’tanymagicstrongenoughtogetyouofftheMagicIsle,"repliedtheLonesomeDuck."WhatmagicIpossessisverysimple,butIfinditenoughformyownneeds."
"Ifwecouldonlysitdownawhile,wecouldstanditbetter,"saidTrot,"butwehavenothingtositon."
"Thenyouwillhavetostandit,"saidtheLonesomeDuck.
"P’rapsyou’veenoughmagictogiveusacoupleofstools,"suggestedCap’nBill.
"Aduckisn’tsupposedtoknowwhatstoolsare,"wasthereply.
"Butyou’rediff’rentfromallotherducks."
"Thatistrue."Thestrangecreatureseemedtoreflectforamoment,lookingatthemsharplyfromitsroundblackeyes.Thenitsaid:"Sometimes,whenthesunishot,Igrowatoadstooltosheltermefromitsrays.Perhapsyoucouldsitontoadstools."
"Well,iftheywerestrongenough,they’ddo,"answeredCap’nBill.
"Then,beforeIdoI’llgiveyouacouple,"saidtheLonesomeDuck,andbeganwaddlingaboutinasmallcircle.