The Quackling

The Quackling, from France, is an odd fable in which not only is the main character a talking animal, but it's taken for granted that inanimate objects can talk as well. It involves quite a suspension of disbelief, even to the point that in the original story there is no explanation given for why the duck doesn't just fly or swim to solve his problems. This story is of the type in which the main character makes clever use of what appear to be useless objects in order to get out of a jam, and win fame and fortune. This motif occurs not only in folktales, but also in other types of fiction. As we mention, it was used with a great deal of originality in the science fiction film Paycheck. This is yet another illustration of how even the most inventive modern stories are derived from folktales many centuries old.
We come to you from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, having just driven from Atlanta, where we landed after a monthlong tour of Europe. This included 6 days in Paris, where we not only visited