:17:13
The hyena could have
been king of the desert.
:17:16
His jaws are stronger than those of a lion,
and he has those powerful forequarters...
:17:21
...but nature saw fit to give him
a weak and wobbly rear end...
:17:25
...and a slow, ungainly gait.
:17:27
So instead of being king of the desert,
he's a lowly trash collector...
:17:31
...who lives off the leftovers
of the lion and other hunters.
:17:35
It's just as well he's not the king,
because he's a real stinker.
:17:39
He's a coward. He's sneaky.
:17:42
He often slobbers and drools.
:17:44
He loves to roll in the rotting remains...
:17:46
...of some dead animal
to mask his own smell.
:17:49
He has a silly giggle.
:17:52
And, worst of all, he's not content
to live on garbage alone...
:17:56
...so he'll eat the babies of other animals
when he can get to them.
:18:04
The faster ones get away
because he's too lazy to exert himself...
:18:08
...but the smaller and slower ones
are in constant danger.
:18:12
Yellow-billed ducklings are fortunate...
:18:14
...because their mother
is a very clever actress.
:18:16
She also has great courage.
:18:18
When she sees a hyena prowling about,
she tells the kids to be quiet...
:18:22
...and walks towards the hyena...
:18:24
...while they start sneaking
away towards the water.
:18:28
Now she gives a quack
to get the hyena's attention...
:18:31
...and goes into her wounded-bird act.
She really hams it up...
:18:35
...because she's got to keep
him from spotting the chicks.
:18:37
So she flounders about pitifully
to convince him he can catch her easily.
:18:41
But when he gets too close,
she recovers miraculously...
:18:43
...and streaks for the water.
:18:45
For a moment, he begins to doubt
the sincerity of her performance...
:18:48
...but she quickly goes into her next act,
the pathetic drowning duck...
:18:52
...with all the cries for help
and all the "glub-glubs" the scene calls for.
:18:56
So he believes her again
and follows her at his leisure...