Ducks

Caṇḍa Ānanda and Lilavati kept ducks and sold their eggs. They built a small house for them in the middle of their pond. There in the night the ducks were safe from stray dogs. They had a small boat to visit the duck house where they could collect the eggs. The ducks ate bugs, slugs, and snails, which otherwise would harm their crops, and, whenever he got a chance, Caṇḍa Ānanda enjoyed watching them. Ducks, to him, with their self-important waddles and stubby wings, seemed almost as improbable as human beings.