The Secret of Feathers

Written by: Asma Kakar

Once there was a hen a duck who were close friends, and living in a village. One-day they wanted to go and collect some seeds for eating and promised not to separate from each other. They went far from the village and found something for eating. A fox chased them and wanted to hunt them. they saw the fox and they hid behind a tree but the fox went near to them. they ran toward a nearby river.

The duck dived into the water and want the hen to accompany her but the hen was afraid of water and didn’t want to enter. The duck pulled her into the water and asked her to catch her wing. Thus, the duck rescued the hen. They went out the water. The hen thanked the duck for she rescued her from the fox. The hen was wet but the duck was dry. The hen asked the duck that why her feathers do not get wet in water.

The duck said that under our tails, there are two glands. These glands produce a kind of oils which keeps our feathers greasy and because of that, we would not sink in the water.