The Ugly Duckling
A Mother Duck was sitting on her nest on a farm a long time ago. “How long do I have to wait for my baby to hatch?” she speaks. “I have to sit here alone! And no one comes to visit me.” But what can she do? The mother duck must keep the eggs warm until they hatch.
Finally, the egg begins to crack. One by one, the yellow ducklings stepped out of their shells. They shook their wings and said: “Quack, quack!”
“Look at all of you!” Mother Duck said happily. “You all are so cute!”
“Quack quack!” they said.
Mother Duck said: “Come and line up. We’re going down to the lake for your first swim.” She counted one, two, three, four, five. “Oh my God!” she speaks. “I should have six ducklings!”
But a large egg remained in the nest. “Well,” said Mother Duck, “it looks like that big egg will take a little longer.” So she had to sit on her nest and wait some more.
The next day, the giant egg began to hatch. A bird boy appeared. But if one can say so, it is a seemingly odd thing. This bird is much larger than the others. He wasn’t yellow at all – he was dark gray from head to toe. And he walked with a funny sway in his step.
One of the yellow ducklings pointed. “What is that? He can’t be one of us!”
“I have never seen such an ugly duckling!” another said.
“How can you say that?” Mother Duck said in a stern voice. “You’re only a day old! Your brother hatched from the same nest as you. Now, get in line. We’ll go to the lake for your first swim.”
However, the other ducklings cried out: “So ugly! Ugly! Ugly!” The ugly duckling didn’t know why the other ducklings were scolding him. He took the last place in the line.
Each yellow duck jumped into the river and swam after Mother Duck. When it was his turn, the Ugly Duckling started rowing. “At least he can swim,” Mother Duck said to herself.
When they left the water and started playing, the Ugly Duckling also tried to play with his siblings. They shouted: “Go away! We won’t play with you! You are so ugly. And you also walk strangely!
When Mother Duck is around, she won’t let them talk like that. “Please be nice!” she will scold. But she’s not always around.
One day, one of the yellow ducklings told the Ugly Duckling: “You know what? You will be doing us a great favor if you leave here! They all started quacking, “Get out! Get out! Get out!”
“Why don’t they let me stay here?” The ugly duckling thought to himself. He lowered his head. “Ah, they’re right. I should go.”
That night, the Ugly Duckling flew over the farmyard fence. He flew until he landed on the other side of the lake. There, he met two adult ducks.
“Can I stay here for a while?” The ugly duckling said. “I have nowhere else to stay.”
“What do we care about?” said a duck. “Just don’t get in our way.”
“Woof! Woof!” Suddenly, a large, hungry dog rushed forward, chasing two ducks. They quickly fly into the air, and their feathers fall to the ground. The poor ugly duckling was stiff with fear. The dog sniffed the Ugly Duckling and then turned away. The ugly duckling bowed his head and said: “I’m so ugly; even a big, hungry dog wants it.”
The sky became dark. Cracked! A flash of lightning. Then, a big storm came, accompanied by heavy rain pouring down from the sky. In just a moment, the Ugly Duckling was soaked. Then, a cold wind began to blow.
“Brrr!” he said with both wings held close to his chest. “If only there were a place where I could stay dry.”
Suddenly, a small ray of light flashed in the distance in the forest. “Could that be someone’s hut?”
He flew to the door. “Quack?” The ugly duckling said. The hut door creaked open.
“What is all this noise?” said an old woman, looking right and left. Her eyes are not very good. Then she looked down. “Ah, look, it’s a duck!” She picked up the ugly duckling and put it in her hut. “You can stay here, but only while you lay eggs,” she said.
A tomcat and a hen crawled up to the Ugly Duckling. “Who do you think you are, barging in here and taking up space by the fire!” said the male cat.
“Claw!” said the hen. “I don’t need anyone else to lay eggs in this hut.”
“Don’t worry about it,” said the Ugly Duckling. “I’m a duck boy.”
“So why are you still here?” said the male cat. Didn’t you hear what the old lady said?
“Get out of here, you pretender!” hen clucks.
“Get out! Get out!” the male cat hissed.
The door was still ajar, so our poor Ugly Duckling snuck out and back into the storm.
“No one wants me,” the Ugly Duckling said with a tear.
The storm ended. Soon, he found a new lake. Looking into the water, the Ugly Duckling saw the reflection of a flock of large white birds flying. He looked up and couldn’t believe what he saw. Above him were the most beautiful birds he had ever seen! Their long white bodies and slim necks glide across the sky. He watched until the last bird took flight and flew out of sight.
He stayed at that lake alone, and time passed. The leaves turn deep red and yellow, then fall to the ground. Winter comes, covering everything with a layer of white snow. The cold wind and dark clouds made the Ugly Duckling even more sad.
He had to go down to the cold lake to fish, but swimming became increasingly difficult. The lake is turning into ice. One day, he could only row his boat on the stream to keep the water around him from freezing and trapping him in the lake.
“I’m so tired!” He said, rowing with all his might. The ice grew thicker and closer to him.
In an instant, two giant hands swept him up. “Lazy thinking!” said a farmer. He hugged the ugly duckling in his thick wool coat and carried the bird home.
Never has a cozy fireplace been more welcome! The farmer cared for the Ugly Duckling for the rest of the winter. Then spring comes. Green trees cover the tops of the trees. Short, showy flowers grow from the ground.
“It’s time for you to return to the pool like you were born to do,” said the farmer. He took the duckling back to the lake where he had found it and placed it carefully in the water.
“God, I feel so strong,” the baby bird said, flapping its wings. “Why, I have never felt so strong as I do now!”
He heard the sound of water splashing behind him and immediately turned around. A flock of beautiful birds he had seen in the sky before landed on the water behind him.
“Don’t worry!” he told them, holding out one wing. “I’ll go now. I won’t cause you any trouble.” A big fat tear rolled down his cheek. He turned to leave. When he opened his eyes, he saw the reflection of one of the beautiful white birds on the water. Why was it so close to him? He jumped back. And the thought also jumped back.
“What is this?” he says. He stretched out his neck, and the reflection of the beautiful bird also stretched out its neck.
“Why did you leave so early?” said one of the beautiful birds.
“Stay here with us!” another said. “We will be great friends.”
Then the bird that used to be the Ugly Duckling knew what had happened! He was no longer that ugly gray bird that staggered when he walked.
Immediately, all the swans flapped their wings and flew into the sky. “Come with us,” one called back. “Leader!” So it flapped its wings quickly and placed in front of the whole flock. All his new friends flapped their wings behind him.
“Speak!” he said, gliding and diving into the sky as he accelerated. “Who is the ugly duckling now? Surely not me!”
