A self-conceited Duck, one day,   Was waddling from her pond away:
  "What other race can boast," she cried,
  "The many gifts to ours allied?
  Earth—water—air—are all for us.
  When I am tired of walking thus,
  I fly, if so I take the whim,
  Or if it pleases me I swim."
  A cunning Serpent overheard
  The boasting of the clumsy bird,
  And, with contempt and scorn inflamed,
  Came hiss............