THE CHAMPION DUCK
There lived thousands of ducks around a lake. These ducks organized different competitions and competed gently and they awarded the ones who came first. Gadro was winning all the competitions which were organized for the last few years. He was coming first an all competitions such as swimming, diving, walking beautifully etc. many years ago while his friends were playing around; Gadro was training alone and was very ambitious about being the champion one day. He didn’t attend any of the competitions without being sure of himself and he came first in all the games that he attended.
Recently, Gadro started to say his friends that he was planning to migrate somewhere far away. In fact he wasn’t happy there. It was such a small place and he thought that the world was so big. His aim was to be famous all around the world. Being famous in that place was not enough for him. He wanted to be a world famous duck.
One day Gadro left his homeland without telling anyone. He was walking so fast and what is more he didn’t turn back to look at the places where he was born and grew up once more. As he was going away from his homeland that was by the lake he realized that a pain in his heart was growing bigger and bigger. Whenever he saw some animals on his way through the woods he immediately went near them but when he realized that those animals were behaving him as if he was an ordinary duck and they were laughing at him when he told them about some of his plans. So that he was really unhappy and desperate.
After a while Gadro realized that other animals were laughing at even the way he walked so his unhappiness grew more and more. He thought that they were a few stupid animals and he found it ridicules how they could dare to laugh at a champion duck that was really talented and could be a world famous sportsman one day.
He was known by thousands of ducks that lived by the lake and he was admired by them. What about those animals. None of them was famous and known by any other animals. They didn’t even know who or what they were. Was it possible for an animal that forgot its own name to remember Gadro, even if he was known by everyone? They were all poor, pitiable creatures.
For five years Gadro travelled and lived in lots of different places. And then he turned back to his homeland by the lake. He wasn’t walking around the lake any more as he did in the past and at nights he was training for swimming and diving in the lake. During the day he was watching the ducks that were swimming in the lake at the top of one of the hills around.
One day Gadro climbed on that hill again and to his amazement he saw that there were about forty or fifty ducks by the lake and five of them started competing in the lake. Rarely could he hear some of the ducks were applauding the competitors. Gadro thought they must be training. After a short time Gadro realized that an old duck was approaching him. He pulled down his hat on his eyes in order to be unknown by this old duck. After greeting Gadro the old duck sat next to him.
‘This year very few ducks are showing interest in competitions’ the old duck said. ‘As you see only five ducks are competing and hardly fifty ducks are watching and trying to courage them.’
Gadro was confused.
‘What did you say? Are they competing at the moment? I don’t believe it. I thought they were training!’ replied Gadro.
‘They are really racing my son. What is more this is the most important competition of the year. The duck which comes first in swimming will get the big prize. There used to be amazing competitions in this lake. This hill, those hills and the ones behind used to be full of spectators and hundreds of ducks used to attend the competitions which lasted for days and all the competitors tried to do their best. The ones that came first became perceptible in the competitions which were held on the next day and they used to get their awards while everybody was applauding them. After Gadro left here, the excitement of the competitions ended. If it goes on this way, in a few years time there will be nobody attending the races. It is really hard to find a duck to compete if there is no spectator.’ the old duck explained sadly.
Gadro was really touched while listening to the old duck and there were tears in his eyes. He pulled up his hat a bit to clean his tears. The old duck who had seen Gadro many times while he was competing and training around the lake realized that the duck sitting next to him was Gadro. He was the champion of all the games. It was unbelievable. Ha turned back to his homeland many years later. At first Gadro denied that he was the champion duck but in the end he confessed that he was because the old duck insisted on him a lot. Also he accepted to publicize his being back to other ducks.
The next day, thousands of ducks gathered by the lake. They were all waiting for Gadro so that he didn’t make them wait for too long. He came there and he started swimming in the lake with the old duck and he met all the ducks in the lake and greeted them, made some compliments and a short speech to the ducks.
Then he started coaching the young ducks that were getting ready for the next competitions. The did his best to make each of them good competitors. Hundreds of ducks started to attend the competitions again as it used to be in the past. Gadro entered the competitions as well. He was coming first in most of them and sometimes he let others to beat him because he wanted to courage the other young ducks and everybody knew that he was being beaten on purpose.
That year Gadro was twenty-four and he got really old. He could attend the short distance swimming competitions for the past few years. In his last competition although he had some problems at the beginning of the game he didn’t give up swimming. He came last. When the other ducks turned back after completing the race they saw Gadro. The champion duck was falling on his back as he tried to swim and he was struggling desperately. Other ducks were shocked and they knew that Gadro had done lots of things for them to be a champion. He coached them day and night. And their coach was in a difficult situation. They swam quickly back towards Gadro and they took him in their arms. He could hardly speak as he was nearly unconscious. He was saying that he had to finish the race. He managed to finish the race in the arms of other ducks while thousands of ducks were watching him silently.
Normally average life expectancy for a duck is about twenty five years but Gadro lived longer than that. He couldn’t compete any more but he was always there to support the other duck.
Written by: Serdar Yıldırım
After a while Gadro realized that other animals were laughing at even the way he walked so his unhappiness grew more and more. He thought that they were a few stupid animals and he found it ridicules how they could dare to laugh at a champion duck that was really talented and could be a world famous sportsman one day.
He was known by thousands of ducks that lived by the lake and he was admired by them. What about those animals. None of them was famous and known by any other animals. They didn’t even know who or what they were. Was it possible for an animal that forgot its own name to remember Gadro, even if he was known by everyone? They were all poor, pitiable creatures.
For five years Gadro travelled and lived in lots of different places. And then he turned back to his homeland by the lake. He wasn’t walking around the lake any more as he did in the past and at nights he was training for swimming and diving in the lake. During the day he was watching the ducks that were swimming in the lake at the top of one of the hills around.
One day Gadro climbed on that hill again and to his amazement he saw that there were about forty or fifty ducks by the lake and five of them started competing in the lake. Rarely could he hear some of the ducks were applauding the competitors. Gadro thought they must be training. After a short time Gadro realized that an old duck was approaching him. He pulled down his hat on his eyes in order to be unknown by this old duck. After greeting Gadro the old duck sat next to him.
‘This year very few ducks are showing interest in competitions’ the old duck said. ‘As you see only five ducks are competing and hardly fifty ducks are watching and trying to courage them.’
Gadro was confused.
‘What did you say? Are they competing at the moment? I don’t believe it. I thought they were training!’ replied Gadro.
‘They are really racing my son. What is more this is the most important competition of the year. The duck which comes first in swimming will get the big prize. There used to be amazing competitions in this lake. This hill, those hills and the ones behind used to be full of spectators and hundreds of ducks used to attend the competitions which lasted for days and all the competitors tried to do their best. The ones that came first became perceptible in the competitions which were held on the next day and they used to get their awards while everybody was applauding them. After Gadro left here, the excitement of the competitions ended. If it goes on this way, in a few years time there will be nobody attending the races. It is really hard to find a duck to compete if there is no spectator.’ the old duck explained sadly.
Gadro was really touched while listening to the old duck and there were tears in his eyes. He pulled up his hat a bit to clean his tears. The old duck who had seen Gadro many times while he was competing and training around the lake realized that the duck sitting next to him was Gadro. He was the champion of all the games. It was unbelievable. Ha turned back to his homeland many years later. At first Gadro denied that he was the champion duck but in the end he confessed that he was because the old duck insisted on him a lot. Also he accepted to publicize his being back to other ducks.
The next day, thousands of ducks gathered by the lake. They were all waiting for Gadro so that he didn’t make them wait for too long. He came there and he started swimming in the lake with the old duck and he met all the ducks in the lake and greeted them, made some compliments and a short speech to the ducks.
Then he started coaching the young ducks that were getting ready for the next competitions. The did his best to make each of them good competitors. Hundreds of ducks started to attend the competitions again as it used to be in the past. Gadro entered the competitions as well. He was coming first in most of them and sometimes he let others to beat him because he wanted to courage the other young ducks and everybody knew that he was being beaten on purpose.
That year Gadro was twenty-four and he got really old. He could attend the short distance swimming competitions for the past few years. In his last competition although he had some problems at the beginning of the game he didn’t give up swimming. He came last. When the other ducks turned back after completing the race they saw Gadro. The champion duck was falling on his back as he tried to swim and he was struggling desperately. Other ducks were shocked and they knew that Gadro had done lots of things for them to be a champion. He coached them day and night. And their coach was in a difficult situation. They swam quickly back towards Gadro and they took him in their arms. He could hardly speak as he was nearly unconscious. He was saying that he had to finish the race. He managed to finish the race in the arms of other ducks while thousands of ducks were watching him silently.
Normally average life expectancy for a duck is about twenty five years but Gadro lived longer than that. He couldn’t compete any more but he was always there to support the other duck.
Written by: Serdar Yıldırım
ŞAMPİYON ÖRDEK
Bir gölün çevresinde binlerce ördek yaşıyordu. Bu ördekler çeşitli yarışmalar düzenlerler, centilmence mücadele ederler ve birinci gelenleri ödüllendirirlerdi. Son birkaç yıldır yapılan yarışmalarda birinciliği Gadro kazanıyordu.Yüzme yarışı olsun, dalma olsun, güzel yürüme yarışması olsun Gadro hep önde, hep birinciydi. Gadro, arkadaşları oyun oynarken tek başına antrenman yapmış, hırsla kendini büyük bir şampiyon olacağım diyerek yetiştirmişti. Birinci olamamak diye bir şeyi düşünemezdi. Zaten her şeyden emin olmadan yarışmalara katılmamış ve girdiği ilk yarışmadan zaferle çıkmıştı.
Gadro, son günlerde arkadaşlarına yakında buralardan gideceğini söylemeye başladı. Zaten burada sıkışıp kalmıştı. Dünya bu kadar küçük değildi. Çekip gitmeli dünyaya Gadro’yu tanıtmalıydı. Gadro, bir gün ansızın çekip gitti. Hızlı adımlarla yürüyüp giderken, dönüp arkasına bakmadı. Gadro, gölden uzaklaştıkça kalbini kemirmeye başlayan huzursuzluğun gitgide büyümekte olduğunu fark etti. Ne zaman birkaç orman hayvanını bir arada görüp yanlarına gitmeye kalksa huzursuzluğu çoğalıyordu. Çünkü onlar Gadro’ya sıradan biriymiş gibi davranıyorlar, bazı konularda ileri sürdüğü fikirlere gülüp geçiyorlardı.
Gadro, bir süre sonra yürüyüşünün bile gülümsemelere neden olduğunu görünce canı iyiden iyiye sıkılmaya başladı. Bunlar da kimdi böyle? Kim oluyorlardı da onun çapında birine gülüyorlardı? O, koskoca bir şampiyondu. Göl kıyısında yaşayan binlerce ördek arasında adı bir ilah gibi anılıyordu. Ya bunları kim tanıyordu? Daha birbirlerini tanımak değil, kendi kendilerini bile tanımıyordu bunlar. Kendi adını unutmuş biri, Gadro’nun namını işitmiş olsa bile, şimdi hatırlamasına olanak var mıydı? Zavallıydı bunlar, hepsi zavallıydı.
Gadro, pek çok yeri gezip dolaştıktan tam beş yıl sonra göl kıyısına geri döndü. Artık eskisi gibi göl kıyısında dolaşmıyor, geceleri gölde yüzme, dalma antrenmanları yapıyor, gündüzleri ise, gölü rahatça görebileceği bir tepeye çıkarak, gölde yüzen ördekleri seyrediyordu. Gadro, bir gün yine bu tepeye çıkmıştı. Biraz sonra kırk elli ördeğin göl kıyısına gelerek, bunlardan ayrılan beş ördeğin göle girip birbirleriyle yarıştıklarını gördü. Arada bir, tek tük alkış sesleri duyuluyordu. Herhalde antrenman yapıyorlar, diye düşündü, Gadro. Aradan biraz zaman geçtikten sonra yaşlı bir ördeğin gelmekte olduğunu gören Gadro, tanınmaması için giydiği şapkasını gözlerinin üstüne kadar indirdi. Yaşlı ördek, selam verdikten sonra, Gadro’nun yanına oturdu:
“ Yarışmalara bu yıl da ilgi pek az..” dedi. “ Baksana beş ördek yarışıyor, taş çatlasa elli ördek onları alkışlayıp gayrete getirmeye çalışıyor. “
Gadro şaşırmıştı:
“ Ne dediniz?..Bunlar yarışıyorlar mı şimdi?..Hayret, ben antrenman yaptıklarını sanmıştım!.”
Bunun üzerine yaşlı ördek:
“ Yarışıyorlar evlat, yarışıyorlar. “ dedi. “ Hem bu yarışma yılın en büyük yarışması. Büyük ödülü bu yarışı birinci bitirecek uzun mesafe yüzücüsü ördek kazanacak. Eskiden bu gölde ne yarışmalar yapılırdı. Bu tepe, şu yandaki tepeler, şu gerideki tepeler, tıklım tıklım dolardı. Her yarışmaya yüzlerce ördek katılırdı. Yarışmalar, büyük bir çekişme içinde günlerce devam ederdi. Son gün yapılan final yarışmalarıyla birinciler belli olur, alkışlar arasında ödüllerini alırlardı. Ne zaman ki, O, buralardan gitti, yarışmalardaki tüm heyecan bitti. Böyle giderse birkaç yıla kalmaz, yarışacak sporcu bulunmaz. Seyirci olmayınca yarışacak sporcu bulmak zor oluyor, evlat. “
Gadro, tanımasın diye yaşlı ördeğin yüzüne bakmıyordu. Yaşlı ördek sözlerini tamamlayınca, Gadro, tanınma korkusunu unutarak başını çevirirken şöyle konuştu:
“ O gittikten sonra yarışmalardaki tüm heyecan bitti dediniz. O dediğiniz kimdi ki? “
“ Bana bu soruyu sormakta yerden göğe kadar hakkın var, evlat. “dedi yaşlı ördek.“ Zaten sen sormasan da, ben onun adını söyleyecektim. Senin yabancı olduğun, çok uzaklardan buralara geldiğin belli. Yoksa kimden söz ettiğimi anlardın. O, dediğim Gadro’ydu, evlat. Gadro, büyük bir şampiyondu.İlk girdiği yarışmadan son girdiği yarışa kadar hep birinci oldu.Herkes, Gadro’yu seyretmeye gelirdi. Binlerce seyircinin yaptığı tezahürat korkunç olurdu. O yarışırken dağ-taş ( Gadro…Gadro…) diye inlerdi.Gadro gideli beş yıl oldu ama, onu bir türlü unutamadık. Aradan bunca zaman geçmesine karşın birkaçımız nerede bir araya gelsek hemen Gadro’dan bahsetmeye başlarız. Gadro başkaydı canım, Gadro bambaşkaydı. “
Yaşlı ördek sözlerini tamamlarken Gadro duygulanmış ve göz pınarlarında biriken yaşları silmek için şapkasını biraz yukarıya kaldırmıştı. Kendisini yarışırken ve göl çevresinde gezerken pek çok defa gören yaşlı ördek karşısındakinin kim olduğunu anlamıştı. Bu, büyük şampiyon Gadro’ydu. İnanılır gibi değildi. Demek Gadro yıllar sonra geri dönmüştü. İlk anlarda inkar etmesine, Gadro olmadığını söylemesine karşın, yaşlı ördeğin uzun süren ısrarlarına dayanamayan Gadro, sonunda geri döndüğünün herkes tarafından bilinmesine razı oldu.
Ertesi gün gölde binlerce ördek toplanmıştı.Hepsi, büyük bir sabırsızlıkla Gadro’yu bekliyordu. Gadro, onları fazla bekletmedi, geldi, göle girdi, yanında yaşlı ördek olduğu halde, ördeklerle tanıştı, hal hatır sordu, iltifatlar etti, onlarla kısa süren konuşmalar yaptı, gönüllerini aldı. Daha sonra düzenlenen yarışmaya kadar Gadro, genç ördeklere gölde antrenman yaptırdı. Onların iyi birer yarışmacı olmaları için sonsuz gayret gösterdi. Düzenlenen her yarışmaya Gadro da katılıyordu. Eskiden olduğu gibi, yine her yarışmaya yüzlerce ördek katılıyor, yine yarışmaları binlerce ördek seyrediyor, yine dağ-taş ( Gadro…Gadro... diye inliyordu. Gadro yarışmalarda birincilikler alıyordu fakat bazı final yarışmalarında Gadro’nun geçildiği görülüyordu ve bunu Gadro’nun yeni şampiyonlar ortaya çıkması için yaptığını herkes biliyordu.
Gadro, yirmi dört yaşına girmiş ve iyice yaşlanmıştı. Birkaç yıldır sadece kısa mesafeli yüzme yarışlarına katılıyordu. Son yarışında ilk metrelerde fenalık geçirmesine karşın, yarışı bırakmadı. En geride kalmıştı. Diğer ördekler yarışı tamamlayıp geriye dönüp baktıklarında Gadro’yu gördüler. Efsanevi şampiyon Gadro, ileri doğru yüzmeye çalıştıkça sırtüstü düşüyor, kendini kaybetmiş bir halde debelenip duruyordu. Yarışmacıların hepsinin üstünde Gadro’nun emeği vardı.O, gece gündüz demeden kendilerini bu yarışa hazırlamıştı. Hoca zor durumdaydı. Yardım etmeliydi. Yarışmacı ördekler, bir çırpıda Gadro’nun yanına gelip, onu kucakladılar. Yarı baygın durumdaki Gadro mırıldanıyordu.“Yarışı bitirmem lazım çocuklar, yarışı bitirmem lazım…” Gadro, binlerce ördeğin derin bir sessizlik içinde ayakta izlediği son yarışını diğer yarışmacıların kolları arasında bitirmeyi başardı.
Normalde bir ördeğin ortalama yaşam süresi yirmi beş yıldı. Fakat Gadro daha uzun yıllar yaşadı. Yarışmalarda yarışamasa bile yarışmalar yapılırken Gadro hep oradaydı.
Yazan: Serdar Yıldırım
Diğer İngilizce Hikayelerimiz;
İngilizce Hikaye 1: The Grass Eating Tiger (Türkçe Tercümesiyle Birlikte)
İngilizce Hikaye 2: The Little Whale and Sharks (Türkçe Tercümesiyle Birlikte)
İngilizce Hikaye 4: Swallow And Sparrow (Türkçe Tercümesiyle Birlikte)
İngilizce Hikaye 5: The Jackal (Türkçe Tercümesiyle Birlikte)
İngilizce Hikaye 2: The Little Whale and Sharks (Türkçe Tercümesiyle Birlikte)
İngilizce Hikaye 4: Swallow And Sparrow (Türkçe Tercümesiyle Birlikte)
İngilizce Hikaye 5: The Jackal (Türkçe Tercümesiyle Birlikte)
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