The Ugly Duckling 1
On a beautiful summer day, a family of ducks is taking a swim while another is enjoying a stroll by the bank. P
But one duck is sitting on her eggs among the tall leaves. P
"I wonder when my babies are going to come out." P
"They are taking so long to hatch! P
"It is so lonely, no one has the time to visit me." P
But Mommy duck didn't have to wait too long. P
Soon the eggs started cracking and the little ducklings started taking small unsteady steps out of the shells. P
The Ugly Duckling 2
"Oh, my babies are so beautiful! P
Now come and line up here all of you." P
"One..Two..Three..Four…Five..Hey, there should be one more." P
Mother duck looked around, and saw one egg which had not yet hatched P
"I think I will have to sit again on this egg till it hatches." P
"It seems pretty large." P
Soon the last egg hatched, but the duckling that crept out was large and ugly. P
This little fellow doesn't look like his brothers and sisters. P
The Ugly Duckling 3
The next day, Mother Duck leads her brood to the water. P
"I am proud today that my ducklings are swimming so well! P
"And how well the youngest one is swimming." P
"Come on kids, that's enough for today." P
"We must get to the farm before it turns dark." P
The duck family makes its way to the farmhouse. P
where there are lots of other ducks. P
"What is that strange looking creature doing here? P
"The other ducklings are so cute but this one is so big." P
"He is ugly. We don't want him here." P
"That's not a nice thing to say." P
"He is still small, and I'm sure he will grow up to be beautiful too." P
The Ugly Duckling 4
But the other ducklings continued to bully and make fun of the ugly duckling. P
"I hope the ducklings stop this nonsense." P
I can't bear to see that poor child looking so sad." P
But as days went by, things started becoming worse for the ugly duckling. P
Wherever he went, everyone was mean to him. P
"Have you ever seen anything uglier than this? P
"Seeing this creature in the morning, my day will also be as ugly as he is." P
"Ha..Ha…he seems to be getting uglier by the day." P
The Ugly Duckling 5
The Ugly Duckling just wanted to hide somewhere and cry. P
Even his brothers and sisters were rude to him. P
Mother Duck was very sad to see everyone treat the ugly ducking so badly. P
"Nobody wants to talk to me or play with me because I am ugly." P
"I will run away from here." P
So the ugly duckling flew over the fence of the farmyard, P
and continued flying till he spotted a large moor. P
He decided to spend the night there. P
"I am so tired." P
"I think I will spend the night here." P
The Ugly Duckling 6
Next morning, the ugly duckling woke up to the sound of loud quacking. P
He opened his eyes and saw a flock of wild ducks. P
"Who are you? What are you doing here? P
"Can I please stay here for a while? P
I have nowhere to go." P
"You are ugly. Stay here, but don't get in our way." P
The Ugly Duckling 7
The Ugly Duckling stayed on the moor for a few days. P
He felt lonely, but no one bullied him or hurt him because of his looks. P
One morning, the duckling heard a noise like a big bang. P
He lay still, too scared to move. P
When he finally lifted his head and looked around, P
all the other ducks had fled. P
The ugly duckling also fled from the moor as fast as it could. P
It flew as fast as its young wings would take him. P
The Ugly Duckling 8
However, suddenly there was thunder and lightning, scaring the little duckling. P
"I am so wet and cold." P
"That cottage there looks warm, maybe I can take shelter there." P
The cottage belonged to an old lady, P
who lived with her tomcat and hen, P
who found the duckling the next morning. P
"What is happening here? P
"Why are you making so much noise? P
"What is this we have here? P
The Ugly Duckling 9
"Looks like a duck, though a very ugly one. P
I know what I will do." P
I will keep it with me and wait for it to lay eggs. P
Then I will have eggs from my hen and from this duck too. P
Ah, but I do hope this is a duck and not a drake. P
So the ugly duckling stayed with the old lady in her cottage. P
But here also, the tomcat and the hen made its life so miserable. P
Hey you, don't you get scared when you see your face in the mirror? P
The Ugly Duckling 10
"Look at me. My coat is so silky." P
"Look at my whiskers, so long and beautiful." P
"The mistress says my walk is so graceful." P
"You are such a loser." P
"You cannot even lay an egg! P
"Look at my eggs, such lovely big and brown ones." P
The ugly duckling continued to be lonely. P
He would sit in front of the window looking at the small pond outside. P
"How I wish I could swim in that pond." P
"It used to be so nice when I swam in the cool water back home." P
The Ugly Duckling 11
"Are you mad? P
"The mistress is not going to let you go." P
"You have a safe house, what more do you want? P
"Behave yourself and don't anger the mistress, the cat, or even me. P
Want to swim, indeed! P
The ugly duckling felt very, very sad, wondering what to do. P
"I know this place is safe, but I feel like a prisoner here, P
being punished by not being allowed to swim. P
I want to swim, I want to be free to swim and fly as I please. P
The Ugly Duckling 12
"I have to escape from here somehow." P
So one night, the duckling quietly crept out of the cottage and went in search of a new home. P
Soon he found a beautiful lake where he could swim and dive. P
"This is such a lovely place." P
It feels so good to swim after so long. P
I hope the other animals and birds here are friendly P
so I don't have to move away from here also. P
The Ugly Duckling 13
But alas, here too the other animals did not want to be friends with the ugly duckling. P
"Why does everybody keep avoiding me? P
"Just because I am ugly, it doesn't mean everyone has to be mean! P
"No one wants to play with me or even talk to me! P
So life continued in this miserable way for the ugly duckling. P
Soon, the seasons changed. P
Autumn set in, and the colourd of the leaves changed from red to orange and then gold. P
The Ugly Duckling 14
Winter followed. P
The forest turned white, and a very cold wind set in. P
The dark clouds made the duckling feeling even more gloomy and sad, P
so the duckling decided to go to the lakeside. P
And what a lovely sight he saw there! P
"What are these beautiful birds? P
"I don't think I have seen them before. P
"How beautifully they spread their large wings! P
"It looks like they are not flying but just gliding through the sky." P
The Ugly Duckling 15
Though the winter grew colder and colder, P
the duckling continued to swim despite the freezing water, P
and then finally took refuge in some bushes. P
Finally, it was spring again. P
Plants started sprouting and the sun peeped down from the sky. P
The duckling was so happy that it was becoming warm again. P
"Everything around me has become so beautiful." P
"My wings have also become strong and I can now swim in the pond close by." P
The Ugly Duckling 16
Suddenly, the duckling once again saw the same beautiful birds that he had seen at the start of spring, P
and quickly ran and hid behind some bushes. P
"Those birds are so beautiful." P
"I better not go near them, or they too will make fun of me." P
I am so scared that they might even kill me! P
I am so tired of being picked on by everybody, P
first the ducklings at the farm, P
my own brothers and sisters, the hen and tomcat at the cottage, and everybody else. P
The Ugly Duckling 17
"I wish I had never been born! P
The duckling went to a quiet spot on the lake where nobody could see him. P
He was very, very sad, and big fat tears rolled down its face. P
Suddenly, the duckling saw its own reflection in the lake, and couldn't believe its eyes! P
For staring at him in the clear water below was his own reflection, no longer a dark, P
grey bird, ugly and repulsive to look at. P
Instead, he had turned into a graceful and beautiful swan. P
The ugly duckling had transformed into a beautiful swan!! P
The Ugly Duckling 20
The swan did not know how to react to so much praise. P
He felt shy and tried to hide his face. P
After being mocked and taunted and bullied for so long, P
he couldn't believe he was being appreciated and accepted! P
And he was actually being called beautiful! P
I never dreamt that I would see a day when someone would call me beautiful! P
I wish I had received the same love and affection when I was the little and ugly creature, P
I wouldn't have spent such a sad childhood. P
Why do people treat others according to their looks? P
That is so, so sad! P