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How the Hen and the Duck Became Friends · African Jungle Tales

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  Section twenty four of African Jungle Tales by Carl Bender. This LibriVox recording is
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  in the public domain. How the hen and the duck became friends. One
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  day, the hen was getting ready for her regular after lunch snooze when she
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  saw the entire family of the birds coming toward her hut. Not knowing their
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  intentions, she naturally was very much alarmed, the more so when she saw
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  the hawk and the eagle among them. While she was still wondering what would
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  happen, the crane, stretching his neck to its full length, walked up
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  and said, Hen, we have come to the conclusion that you too belonged
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  to our clan, and we want you to come along with us. Hurry
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  and get yourself ready. The hen was satisfied. Hurriedly she got her few
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  belongings together, tied them in a neat little bundle, and marched along with
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  the rest. On the way to their town. The birds had to cross
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  a big river, so they all went into a canoe. When they had
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  come to the middle of the river, the canoe ran upon a log which
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  was hidden under the surface of the water, and it broke in two.
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  Then all the birds blamed the hen for the accident, and said, Hen,
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  you are the cause of all this. Am I really that heavy as
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  to break the canoe? I am innocent of this mishap, said the hen.
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  But the birds would not listen to the hen's protests and threw her into
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  the river. If it had not been for the duck, who took the
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  hen on her back and carried her to the opposite shore, she certainly would
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  have drowned. This explains why the hen and the duck lived together and her
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  such intimate friends. Author's note jo Kwaymie and of section twenty four read by Laura Gibbs