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The Swan
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This article is about the short story by Roald Dahl in The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More. This is the fourth of seven stories in the book. It was first published in 1976, and published again as part of the The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More in 1977.

Intro/Short Summary
The story begins with a boy named Ernie. His father gives him a .22-caliber rifle for his birthday and says to go out and catch some dinner and get beer. He calls his friend Raymond to go out and hunt rabbits. They find Peter who they know from school and threaten to kill him. They point a gun at him and force him to do things. They try to kill him by tying him up and placing him on the train tracks. They later shot him in the thigh.

Background
One might speculate that the author and Peter share some similar experiences.It seems that the author might have been tormented by people like Ernie and Raymond. The descriptions about Peter getting beat up seem to be written by someone who speaks from experience. Since the author does not share much about why he wrote this story. Perhaps this is his way of expressing how mean bullies can be to other people.

Character Summary
Ernie is a big, heavy, loutish and violent boy. He is a bully and caught small boys after school and made them say things after he twisted their arms. His best friend, Raymond is a tall, slim, and muscular boy. Peter is Ernie and Raymond's enemy. He is small, frail, smart, and wears glasses.

Plot Summary
Ernie's goal is to hurt people and animals. Ernie and Raymond are villains. They want to hurt Peter by threatening him with a gun. They put him on train tracks. They kill a swan. They cut off its wings and tie it to Peter. Ernie and Raymond want to force Peter to jump out of a tree. They finally shoot him and he falls out of the tree. Peter's mother finds him wounded.