He was shunned by his
feathered family when he was just days old. Now, this ugly duckling has found an
unlikely father figure to
replace them, Barrie Hayman.
The fairytale friendship was forged when Mr. Hayman rescued the distressed duck, named Star, from his incubator.
He noticed Star was panicked when he started doing a manic "waddling dance" in an attempt to escape his
hostile siblings.
But Mr. Hayman says he knew Star was different, so he plucked the baby duckling out of the incubator and took him home.
Since then, the Indian Runner duck has become
inseparable from 65-year-old Mr. Hayman.
The 11-week-old bird follows him everywhere, from the pub to the supermarket, and even watches the rugby with him.
He said:"When he was younger, I would put him in my pocket while I did my shopping. Now he's bigger, he happily waits in the foyer of my local Tesco as I nip in. He's not fazed at all." Mr. Hayman, who used to teach scuba diving in Australia, began doing a job of looking after ducks six years ago.
"He comes to the pub, where
everyone loves him and we'll be watching his first world cup together next week," he said.
Star now has a Facebook page, under the name Star Hayman, which lists his favorite books as The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck, Animal Farm and Charlotte's Web.
"He is 11 weeks old now and going through the ugly duckling stage, but I know he will be
magnificent soon,"Mr. Hayman said.
据英国《每日邮报》9月9日报道,出生没几天,它就被家族遗弃了。而如今,这只丑小鸭找到了一个代替它亲人位置的"别样"爸爸--巴里•海曼。
他们之间的这段童话般的友谊始于海曼先生从孵化器中解救出这只名叫"星星"的可怜小鸭子。
他发现星星时,它正恐惧又狂躁地跳着"鸭步舞",试图躲避那些对它怀有敌意的兄弟姐妹们。
但是海曼先生说,他看出了星星的与众不同,所以就从孵化器中抱出了这只鸭宝宝,把它领回家了。
从那以后,这只印度跑鸭与65岁的海曼先生就成了形影不离的好朋友。
不论他走到哪,这只11周大的鸭子都跟着他,从酒吧到超市,甚至还和他一起观看橄榄球比赛。
海曼先生曾在澳大利亚当过轻便潜水教练,6年前开始从事照看鸭子的工作。他说:"在它还小的时候,我逛超市时就把它放在我的口袋里。现在它长大了,所以当我进去购物时,它就守在我们那儿乐购超市的大厅里,自得其乐,一点也不慌乱。"
他说:"它去酒吧,所有人都喜欢它,下周我们还要一起看世界杯,它长这么大,这还是头一回呢。"
现在,星星还有了脸谱主页,名叫"星星•海曼"。上面列举了它最喜欢的书,有《杰米玛鸭的故事》、《动物农场》和《夏洛特的网》。
海曼先生说:"它现在11周了,还是只丑小鸭,但是,我相信它很快就会华丽变身的。"