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The Duck King
Kai Schmidt’s action-filled animal novel is entertaining for adults and
children alike. The dramatic momentum is maintained from the first page to the
last. The book’s style and language will often remind adult readers of American
detective novels of the 1940s, and yet small children also relate well to the
thoroughly droll and lovable animal characters. The clear stroke in Sybille
Hein’s entertaining black-and-white illustrations add to the distinctive
character development of the odd figures.
The plot develops parallel at two settings: at the lake, where Lucia and
Douglas, a duck couple very much in love, are happily awaiting their first baby
ducklings; and at a nearby farm, where the gentle, old watchdog Bad Bear lives
along with his friend Carlos, a big black and white tomcat. Bad Bear’s abode is
an unusual doghouse furnished with light blue upholstered furniture and
decorated with watercolor paintings of attractive canine ladies. Carlos’s
favorite place is the farmer’s big tiled stove. He loves to lie on top of it to
watch American action films on television.
And then there’s Nanny, who sets the tone in the chicken coop and is forever
getting into arguments with Carlos, but who is basically a kindhearted hen.
The setting constantly changes back and forth over the 32 short chapters in
which Schmidt develops his fast-paced and exciting story:
Douglas, “one of the most handsome drakes on the lake and one of the smartest
and bravest besides,” gets caught in the current moving toward the drain at the
dam on the lake during his evening round of swimming. He is unable to free
himself and would certainly drown if Bad Bear does not happen to discover and
rescue him just in time. The dog carries the unconscious drake back to the farm
and lies him down on the blue sofa in his homey doghouse. Luckily, Nanny helps
out. She always knows just what to do and quickly becomes a determined nurse.
Meanwhile, Lucia misses her husband, who never returned from his swim. “How
similar they all seem to be,” she murmurs, gazing devotedly at her eggs. “And
yet totally different ducklings will emerge.” At first she doesn’t notice that
the water in the lake is rising. Bad Bear had closed the floodgates while
rescuing Douglas. Lucia has to evacuate her five eggs, bringing them to an old
car tire on higher ground. During their escape the worst case scenario happens.
She loses one of her eggs, but cannot abandon the others in order to look for
the missing one. She doesn’t know that the water in the lake has overflowed the
dam and lays the egg down in a warm, safe place. It remains there in a pot
warmed by the sun, where Frederick the fearless gopher finds and protects it.
Back in Bad Bear’s home, Douglas regains consciousness, but he does not know
where or who he is. He lost his memory in the accident. His speech is nothing
but a disjointed series of words and he is afraid of neither the dog nor the
cat. In a feverish dream, Douglas sees a duck king surrounded by duck angels. He
wakes up and mumbles “duck king,” which leads Nanny to believe she is caring for
His Majesty. From that moment on she urges the entire farm to conduct themselves
appropriately as royal subjects.
Lucia also has a dream—of William, the lost duckling. When she awakens the
old blue heron Jean-Pierre is standing at her car tire, wanting to continue a
conversation. Despite the fact that Jean-Pierre smells terribly of fish, Lucia
is taken by his charming French accent, which makes her laugh, so that she can
forget her grief for a moment. Jean-Pierre also knows what it is like to lose
someone. His wife, “a veddy beeootifool mademoiselle of old German gentry,” had
flown into a high-tension wire three years earlier. Lucia and Jean-Pierre become
friends and the heron promises to find Douglas.
In the air he is bothered by a group of cool crow youngsters, Kuno and his
pals Matisse, Tiger, Ali, and Rocky. They are out to “pester old people,” as
they put it. But Jean-Pierre doesn’t let them get away with anything, causing
Kuno to crash. He makes Kuno promise that he and his buddies will look for
Douglas and the lost egg.
While Jean-Pierre takes a shift sitting on Lucia’s eggs, Carlos tries to find
out more about the background of the alleged duck king. From the evening news he
knows that “ducks never had a monarchy.” He runs to Harvey Schroder the raccoon,
who lives at the lake with his family, and tells him what happened. Harvey is
unable to help Carlos further, but this exquisite scene portrays him as an
eloquent counterpart to the cat’s assumed role of “Lieutenant John McLaine.”
Meanwhile the royal court at the farm is taking on incredible proportions.
Nanny organizes a procession to present the kingdom to the king, complete with
shouts of “Vive le roi! Long live the King!” By chance Matisse and Tiger happen
to observe the strange processional. A short time later, after a chase scene fit
for the movies, they are confronted by Jean-Pierre. They tell him about the
surprising events at the farm and the blue heron flies off in that direction.
Lucia also hears about what is going on down at the farm when Carlos
unexpectedly appears near her tire, causing her to faint. When she awakens in
Carlos’s arms, he tells her the whole story. Desperate and “beyond her sense of
reason,” Lucia asks the tomcat to watch over her eggs, and she too takes off for
the farm. Meanwhile, Jean-Pierre causes much ado by almost crashing, in the
course of which Douglas falls from the back of the dog and loses consciousness
again. As could only be expected, this second shake-up brings back his memory.
Lucia finally arrives and the couple happily embraces, falling into each other’s
… wings.
Heike Friesel
[Translated by Allison Brown: ab@textetage.com]
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