One late night our noble and studious neighbor, the village doctor, Drum Duck, returned from a house call and walked up the wooden steps that led to his home and office. As he climbed the steps, one step cracked. This was a sound he heard frequently, for the steps were old and felt weak underneath his feet. "I should fix that step," he thought to himself. But the prudent idea quickly vanished, for the good doctor was consumed with his work and rarely thought of such things.

A week later, a mother brought her duckling to Dr. Duck's office after the duckling injured his right wing in a fall. Dr. Duck tended to the patient in a professional manner, wrapping the wing with the greatest care and diligence. Soon the duckling was prepared to leave. But as the mother escorted him down the wooden steps, the weak step finally snapped, and the duckling plummeted to the ground and broke his right foot.

Fables           Next