http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/1133582

The duck in the gun

"His is a reissue of the classic New Zealand children's picture Book, The Duck in the Gun (which was first published in 1969). The anti-war parable begins with the general and his men about to fire on a town they are at war with. But the Gunnar has bad news for the General they can't load the gun as there is a duck nesting inside it. Determined to not let a single duck stop an army, the General visits the Prime Minister of the town he is preparing to fight. He asks the Prime Minster if he can borrow a gun. The Prime Minister says he only has one gun but they could try sharing it! This wont work, so they decide to hold off on the war until the ducks eggs have hatched. The news of the suspension pleases the men but the general runs out of money to pay his army for sitting around doing nothing. So he asks the Prime Minister for a loan, but he instead offers to pay the men if they will do some work around the town. Which they do, spending the time during the truce painting the buildings and so on. When the ducks eggs eventually hatch, the war can begin again! But no one is happy - how can they destroy the town they have repaired - and they're also rather fond of the town's people as well. So they suspend the war indefinitely, and the general marries the prime minister's daughter."--Provided by publisher.

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