at that moment there was a bang ! bang ! and both the wild geese fell dead among the reeds , and the water was stained blood red . another bang ! bang ! and whole flights of geese flew up from the reeds , and there was yet another bang ! a great shoot was afoot . the sportsmen were all round the marsh , some even sitting up among the branches of trees that stretched out over the reeds . the blue smoke drifted like clouds , in among the dark stems , and hung far out over the water . the dogs went splash ! splash ! into the mud , and the reeds and rushes swayed hither and thither ; it was terrible for the wretched duckling , who was bending his neck to get it under his wing , when all at once , close to him , there was a fearful big dog with his tongue hanging right out of his mouth and his eyes shining horribly . he thrust his muzzle right at the duckling and showed his sharp teeth -- and then -- splash ! off he went without seizing him . " oh , thank goodness , " sighed the duckling ; " i 'm so ugly , even the dog does n't like to bite me ! " but there he lay perfectly still while the duck shots rattled in the reeds and gun after gun banged out . it was well on in the day before all was quiet , but the unhappy bird dared not get up even then . he waited several hours yet , before he looked about him , and then he hurried away from the marsh as fast as ever he could , running over fields and meadows , and such a wind got up that he had hard work to get along . towards evening he was near a poor little cottage , so crazy was it that it did n't know which way to tumble down , so it remained standing . the wind howled so fiercely round the duckling that he had to sit down on his tail to keep facing it , and it grew worse and worse . then he noticed that one hinge of the door was gone , and it hung so crooked that he could slip indoors through the crack , and so he did . 
he was so ugly .
why didn't the dog want to bite the duckling ?
why didn't the dog want to bite the duckling ?