The Choicest Dish

A prince had a young, lovely daughter. When there was bright sunshine she alone with her

governess would sit by the side of the pond to learn her lessons. A Duck would swim out of the pond and stand besides the little princess and listen to her lessons. Thus, the Duck too learned to read.

The other ducks in the pond would make fun of her, saying, "Whoever heard of a duck who could read!"

The Duck would reply, "Oh, you can never tell. My learning may be helpful to me some day."

It was almost the end of summer when the prince orgainized a banquet. He asked the Cook to prepare the finest of dishes. The Cook took out a sheaf of old papers his father had given him. While going through it beneath a tree, he noticed one of the recipes titled "The choicest dish." "Fine," he said, "I'll keep it until the last." So he put the paper on the grass.

Just then the Duck waddled by. On the paper he read: "First roast a fat duck. ..' Without troubling to read further he grabbed the paper and swallowed it. The Cook seized the Duck by the neck and shouted, "Give me my recipe!" The Duck who had also learned to talk said, "You need not worry as I have read the recipe before swallowing it."

The Duck began: First roast a large pumpkin ..." The cook wrote down the recipe and said, "How fortunate I am that you could read and talk. I promise that you'll get the best scraps from the prince's table everyday."

Moral: Knowledge is power, ignorance a weakness.

(Once Upon A Time Vol. 1, Dhingra, Delhi-India)