“Come，” said the mother one day， “Now you must learn to fly.” And all the four youngones were obliged to come out on the top of the roof. Oh， how they tottered at first， andwere obliged to balance themselves with their wings， or they would have fallen to the groundbelow.
“Look at me，” said the mother， “you must hold your heads in this way， and place yourfeet so. Once， twice， once， twice—that is it. Now you will be able to take care of yourselvesin the world.”
then she flew a little distance from them， and the young ones made a spring to followher; but down they fell plump， for their bodies were still too heavy.
“I don't want to fly，” said one of the young storks， creeping back into the nest. “I don'tcare about going to warm countries.”
“Would you like to stay here and freeze when the winter comes?” said the mother， “or tillthe boys comes to hang you， or to roast you?—Well then， I'll call them.”
“Oh no， no，” said the young stork， jumping out on the roof with the others; and nowthey were all attentive， and by the third day could fly a little. Then they began to fancy theycould soar， so they tried to do so， resting on their wings， but they soon found themselvesfalling， and had to flap their wings as quickly as possible. The boys came again in the streetsinging their song：—
“Stork， stork， fly away.”
“Shall we fly down， and pick their eyes out?” asked the young storks.
“No; leave them alone，” said the mother. “Listen to me; that is much more important.Now then. One-two-three. Now to the right. One-two-three. Now to the left， round thechimney. There now， that was very good. That last flap of the wings was so easy andgraceful， that I shall give you permission to fly with me to-morrow to the marshes. There willbe a number of very superior storks there with their families， and I expect you to show themthat my children are the best brought up of any who may be present. You must strut aboutproudly—it will look well and make you respected.”
“But may we not punish those naughty boys?” asked the young storks.
“No; let them scream away as much as they like. You can fly from them now up high amidthe clouds， and will be in the land of the pyramids when they are freezing， and have not aGREen leaf on the trees or an apple to eat.”
“We will revenge ourselves，” whispered the young storks to each other， as they againjoined the exercising.
Of all the boys in the street who sang the mocking song about the storks， not one was sodetermined to go on with it as he who first began it. Yet he was a little fellow not more thansix years old. To the young storks he appeared at least a hundred， for he was so much biggerthan their father and mother. To be sure， storks cannot be expected to know how old childrenand grown-up people are. So they determined to have their revenge on this boy， becausehe began the song first and would keep on with it. The young storks were very angry， andGREw worse as they grew older; so at last their mother was obliged to promise that theyshould be revenged， but not until the day of their departure.
“We must see first， how you acquit yourselves at the grand review，” said she. “If you geton badly there， the general will thrust his beak through you， and you will be killed， as theboys said， though not exactly in the same manner. So we must wait and see.”
“You shall see，” said the young birds， and then they took such pains and practised sowell every day， that at last it was quite a pleasure to see them fly so lightly and prettily. Assoon as the autumn arrived， all the storks began to assemble together before taking theirdeparture for warm countries during the winter. Then the review commenced. They flew overforests and villages to show what they could do， for they had a long journey before them. Theyoung storks performed their part so well that they received a mark of honor， with frogs andsnakes as a present. These presents were the best part of the affair， for they could eat thefrogs and snakes， which they very quickly did.
“Now let us have our revenge，” they cried.
“Yes， certainly，” cried the mother stork. “I have thought upon the best way to berevenged. I know the pond in which all the little children lie， waiting till the storks come to takethem to their parents. The prettiest little babies lie there dreaming more sweetly than they willever dream in the time to come. All parents are glad to have a little child， and children are sopleased with a little brother or sister. Now we will fly to the pond and fetch a little baby for eachof the children who did not sing that naughty song to make game of the storks.”
“But the naughty boy， who began the song first， what shall we do to him?” cried theyoung storks.
“there lies in the pond a little dead baby who has dreamed itself to death，” said themother. “We will take it to the naughty boy， and he will cry because we have brought him alittle dead brother. But you have not forgotten the good boy who said it was a shame to laughat animals： we will take him a little brother and sister too， because he was good. He is calledPeter， and you shall all be called Peter in future.”
So they all did what their mother had arranged， and from that day， even till now， all thestorks have been called Peter.