My friend Celestino bought a little duckling for his daughters, and it quickly became the center of everyone’s attention — practically another member of the family. The duck, named Paco (a very original choice), played, ate, and grew. Before long, a corner of the living room had turned into a real duck-feeding area, and Paco had become a powerful, clumsy creature that turned the entire house upside down.
What had started as a happy idea soon became a torment. Celestino decided to take Paco to his butcher friend — better that than abandoning him. When the butcher presented Paco stiff and featherless, Celestino was heartbroken. He realized what he had done — if only his daughters could see this! Seeing Paco, once one of them, now hanging from a hook beside the rest of his kind, felt like an act of cruelty.
Celestino begged his friend to at least give Paco special treatment; for nearly a year, he had been part of the family and his daughters’ beloved pet. After much thought about how to distinguish him, they decided to place Paco in a prominent spot in the shop, along with a sign that read: “Duck Paco, raised on the finest feed, surrounded by love and great care.”
Perhaps by coincidence, Paco turned out to be the first sale of the day — and at a higher price than the rest of his kind.