"I was thinking," said Ahmad: "If
they didn't feed you here, or if you
lived somewhere where there were
no human beings, how would you
find food?"
The duck answered: "We ducks
don't often leave the water when we live in the wild. We get our
food from the water."
"But I don't see any food in the water where you are swim-
ming," said Ahmad, puzzled.
The duck explained: "We get our food from the water in several
ways. Some ducks stay on the surface of the water and eat plants
and insects. Others dip their heads and the front part of their bod-
ies under the water and look for food with their tails in the air. And
still others dive right under the water and search for all their food
in that way."
Ahmad had another question: "Why do you stay in the water
all the time? Why don't you walk around on the land?"
"Our webbed feet let us swim around in the water, and we can
swim very quickly, but it is hard for us to walk on land," the duck
told him.
Ahmad then asked the duck: "When I go into the water, I al-
ways have to keep moving to stay afloat. So, I have to use water
wings to stop myself from sinking. How do you manage to stay
afloat for so long?"
"Just as you don't have to move to stay afloat when you use your
water wings, so the air in our bodies lets us stay on
top of the water," the duck answered.
Ahmad was still puzzled: "But when I wear water
wings, I can't dive under the water. How do you
27
