The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly

Sprout hopes that the brace of ducks will reject Baby once and for all, rather than him continuing to suffer from cruel exclusion. She wants him to return to her so that they can continue living together in the reservoir.

The farmer’s wife grabs Baby and ties him to a stump. He’s distressed, as is Sprout, who is watching from the reservoir. As she rushes to the yard, the weasel approaches her, taunting her by saying that it will soon kill Baby, whom the farmer’s wife tied to the stump in order to fatten him up and thereby weaken him and prevent him from flying away. Sprout is shocked to learn that she blinded the weasel in one eye when they fought.

The weasel takes and kills the cockerel, the hen’s only chick that survived to adulthood. The farmer tells his wife that leaving Baby tied up in the yard is attracting the weasel, and she goes to move Baby into the barn, still tying him up. At that moment, Sprout attacks the farmer’s wife, pecking at her furiously and flapping her wings. The farmer’s wife, in her fright, drops Baby, and Sprout yells at him to fly away, which he does, though the cord is still tied to his foot.