The Ugly Duckling

It was lovely summer weather in the country. The corn-fields and meadows were surrounded by large forests, in the midst of which were deep pools. In a sunny spot stood a pleasant old farmhouse, and from the house down to the water side grew thick bushes. Here sat a duck on her nest, watching for her eggs to hatch; she was beginning to get tired, for the little ones were a long time coming out of their shells.

At last one shell cracked, and then another, and from each egg came a living creature that lifted its head and cried, “Peep, peep.” “Quack, quack,” said the mother, and then they all quacked as well as they could, and looked about them on every side at the large green leaves. “How large the world is,” said the young ducks, when they found how much more room they now had than while they were inside the egg-shells. “Do you imagine this is the whole world?” asked the mother; “Wait till you have seen the garden. Are you all out?” she continued, rising; “No, the largest egg lies there still. I wonder how long this is to last, I am quite tired of it;” and she seated herself again on the nest.

An old duck visited her and asked “Well, how are you getting on?”

“One egg is not hatched yet,” said the duck, “But just look at all the others, are they not the prettiest little ducklings you ever saw?”

“Let me see the egg that will not break,” said the duck; “Maybe it is a turkey’s egg. I once had to hatch a few, and after all my care and trouble with the young ones, they were afraid of the water. Let me look at the egg. Yes, that is a turkey’s egg; take my advice, leave it where it is and teach the other children to swim.”

“I think I will sit on it a little while longer,” said the duck.

“Please yourself,” said the old duck, and she went away.

At last the large egg broke, and a young one crept forth crying, “Peep, peep.” It was very large and ugly. The duck stared at it and exclaimed, “It is very large and not at all like the others. I wonder if it really is a turkey. We will find it out when we go to the water.”

On the next day the weather was good, and the sun shone brightly. The mother duck took her ducklings down to the water, and jumped in with a splash. “Quack, quack,” cried she, and one after another the little ducklings jumped in. And the ugly duckling was also in the water swimming with them.

“Oh,” said the mother, “that is not a turkey; how well he uses his legs, and how upright he holds himself! He is my own child. Come with me now, I will take you into grand society, and introduce you to the farmyard. But you must keep close to me.”

When they reached the farmyard, the mother duck told them: “Come, now, use your legs, and let me see how well you can behave. You must bow your heads prettily to that old duck over there. Do you see she has a red flag tied to her leg? That means that everyone is anxious not to lose her. Come now! Spread your feet wide apart, just like his father and mother, in this way; bend your neck, and say ‘quack.’”

The ducklings did as they were bid, but the other duck stared, and said, “Look, new ducklings, as if there were not enough of us already! And look at that one; we don’t want him here,” and then one of the older ducks bit the ugly duckling in the neck.

“Leave him alone,” said the mother; “he is not doing any harm.”

“Yes, but he is so big and ugly,” said the duck “and he must be turned out.”

“The others are very pretty children,” said the old duck, with the rag on her leg, “all but that one.”

The mother replied: “He is not pretty; but he swims as well or even better than the others. I think he will grow up pretty,” and then she stroked his neck and smoothed the feathers, saying, “I think he will grow up strong, and able to take care of himself.”

“The other ducklings are graceful enough,” said the old duck. “Now make yourself at home.”

And so they made themselves comfortable; but the poor duckling was bitten and pushed and made fun of, not only by the ducks, but by all the poultry. “He is too big,” they all said. The poor little thing did not know where to go, and was very sad because he was so ugly and laughed at by the whole farmyard.

Over time, it got worse and worse. Even his brothers and sisters were unkind to him. The ducks pecked him, the chickens beat him, and the girl who fed the poultry kicked him with her feet. So at last he ran away.

He flew farther, until he came to a large moor, inhabited by wild ducks. Here he remained the whole night.

In the morning, when the wild ducks rose in the air, they stared at their new comrade. “What sort of a duck are you?” they all said, coming round him. He bowed to them, and was as polite as he could be, but he did not reply to their question.

After he had been on the moor two days, there came two wild geese. “Listen, friend,” said one of them to the duckling, “not far from here is another moor, in which there are some pretty wild geese, all unmarried. It is a chance for you to get a wife; you may be lucky, ugly as you are.”

But the ugly duckling didn’t want to stay with the geese. So he went away. Eventually, he reached a poor little cottage. It seemed ready to fall, and only remained standing because it could not decide on which side to fall first. By this time, a storm has started, and the duckling could go no farther. He sat down by the cottage, and then he noticed that the door was not quite closed. There was a narrow opening near the bottom large enough for him to slip through, which he did very quietly.

A woman, a tom cat, and a hen lived in this cottage. The tom cat, whom the mistress called, “My little son,” was a great favorite. The hen had very short legs, so she was called “Chickie short legs.” She laid good eggs, and her mistress loved her as if she had been her own child. In the morning, they found the duckling.

The old woman’s sight was not very good. She saw the duckling and thought it was a fat duck that had strayed from home. “Oh what a prize!” she exclaimed, “I hope it will have some duck’s eggs. I must wait and see.” So the duckling was allowed to stay for three weeks, but there were no eggs. The hen and the cat didn’t like him and never listened to anything he said. So the duckling sat in a corner, feeling very sad. The sunshine and the fresh air came into the room through the open door, and then he began to feel such a great longing for a swim on the water, that he could not help telling the hen.

“It is so delightful to swim about on the water,” said the duckling, “and so refreshing to dive down to the bottom.”

“Why you must be crazy!” said the hen. “Ask the cat, he is the cleverest animal I know, ask him how he would like to swim about on the water, or to dive into it.”

“You don’t understand me,” said the duckling.

“We don’t understand you? Who can understand you, I wonder? Do you consider yourself more clever than the cat, or the old woman? Are you not in a warm room, and in society from which you may learn something? I advise you to lay egg and make yourself useful.”

“I believe I must go out into the world again,” said the duckling.

So the duckling left the cottage, and soon found water on which it could swim and dive, but was avoided by all other animals, because of its ugly appearance. Autumn came, then winter approached. All this was very sad for the poor little duckling. One evening, just as the sun was setting down, there came a large flock of beautiful birds out of the bushes. The duckling had never seen any like them before. They were swans. They uttered a singular cry, as they spread their glorious wings and flew away from those cold regions to warmer countries across the sea. As they rose higher and higher in the air, the ugly little duckling felt strange. He stretched out his neck towards them, and uttered a cry so strange that it frightened himself. He knew not the names of these birds, nor where they were going, but he felt towards them as he had never felt for any other bird in the world.

The winter grew colder and colder; the duckling had to swim about on the water to keep it from freezing, but every night the space on which he swam became smaller and smaller. He became exhausted at last, and lay still and helpless, frozen fast in the ice.

Early in the morning, a peasant, who was passing by, saw what had happened. He broke the ice and carried the duckling home to his wife. The warmth revived the poor little creature; but when the children wanted to play with him, the duckling thought they would do him some harm. He clapped his wings in terror, and splashed the milk about the room. Then the woman clapped her hands, which frightened him more. The children laughed and screamed, and tried to catch him; but luckily he escaped. The door stood open; the poor creature hid in the bushes, and lied down very tired in the snow.

A lot happened during the winter. When it had passed, the duckling found himself lying one morning in a moor. He felt the warm sun shining. He felt that his wings were strong, and so he flapped them against his sides, and rose high into the air. He flew onwards, until he found himself in a large garden. It was early spring and everything here looked beautiful. Three beautiful white swans were swimming in the pond.

The duckling remembered the lovely birds. He flew to the water, and swam towards the beautiful swans. But he was afraid to speak, so he lowered his head down to the surface of the water.

But what did he see in the reflection below? He was no longer a dark, gray bird, but a graceful and beautiful swan!

Into the garden came some little children, and threw bread into the water.

“See,” cried the youngest, “there is a new one;” and the rest were delighted, and ran to their father and mother, dancing and clapping their hands, and shouting joyously, “There is a new swan!”

Then they threw more bread into the water, and said, “The new one is the most beautiful of all; he is so young and pretty.” And the old swans bowed their heads before him.

Then he felt quite ashamed, and hid his head under his wing; for he did not know what to do, he was so happy.