The Ugly Duckling

The Ugly Duckling Story

It was the end of summer. Near an old hut, Ms. Duck built her nest by the lake. She thought to herself:

“I have been sleeping on these eggs for a long time…”

Little by little, the eggs started to move and little ducklings broke the egg shell with their beautiful little tips.

They came out one by one but they were still wet and couldn’t stand on their feet very well.

Soon the ducklings stood on their feet and started shaking themselves.

until their feathers were dry!

Ms. Duck looked at a big egg and said to herself:

“Oh no, one of the eggs is still here!”

The old duck came next to Ms. Duck. He looked at the egg and said:

“Maybe this egg is a turkey’s egg. This happened to me once. That turkey could not even go near the water. I suggest that you let him go!”

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Then the old duck slowly swam away.

Ms. Duck thought to sit a little longer on this egg. After some time, he heard faint sounds from inside the egg and soon the little chick came out of the egg.

The mother looked at the chicken for a while, it looked strange with its gray feathers, and this worried Ms. Duck. But when he looked at his feet she realized that this is not a turkey. But it was a big and ugly duckling.

The next day, the mother took her chicks to the lake. The ducklings jumped into the water one by one. Soon they were all floating on the water, even the ugly duckling.

Then the mother took her chickens to the yard. She bowed her head in front of the old duck as a sign of respect and said:

“The strip between the legs of this duckling shows that it is not a turkey.”

A turkey who was walking near them raised his head and said:

“I have never seen such a big and ugly duckling.”

This was just the beginning of the duckling’s problems. The animals were not friendly with him because he was so ugly.

The other ducklings did not play with him and bothered him. The chickens pecked at him and all the animals laughed at him.

The poor duckling was very sad and lonely, and as time passed, he became more upset than before. Although his mother tried to comfort him.

He felt that no one loved him and wondered why he was different from the rest of his brothers.

One night, when the ugly duckling could no longer bear all this discomfort, he left the stable yard and ran as far as he could and reached the forest.

The further he went, the harder it was to find the way. But he kept running until he came near a marsh where wild ducks lived.

The duckling hid behind a tree and felt very lonely and tired.

In the morning, when some ducks were preparing to fly, they noticed the newly arrived duckling and stopped to greet him. They asked him:

“Who are you?”

The ugly duckling said:

“I am a farm duck. Have you ever seen a duckling like me with gray feathers?”

He looked for a long time at the wild ducks, which were very different from the farm ducks.

They said:

“A duck? But we have never seen a duckling like you. But it does not matter . You can stay here because this swamp has enough room for all of us.”

The ugly duckling was happy to be able to rest by the marsh and be away from the cruel farm animals.

The weather was cold, the ugly duckling looked at the leaves of the trees, which were golden and red. As he was looking for food, two young wild geese fell from the sky beside him.

“Hello, would you like to be one of us? We are flying to another marsh, a little further from here, where many young geese like us live.”

The ugly duckling was happy about this, but before he could do anything, he heard a gunshot and the goose fell into the swamp. A big dog jumped into the water to catch them.

The guns began to rattle around the marsh, another dog came towards the duckling through the reeds, the dog looked at him for a moment and then walked away.

The ugly duckling said:

“Thank you, God! I am so ugly that even a dog does not want me.”

He stayed in the reeds all day.

Finally, when the sun went down, the dogs went away and the shooting stopped. He made his way from the edge of the lake to the middle of the forest.

As he walked in the dark, a strong wind was blowing. Suddenly he found himself in front of a very old hut.

A weak light could be seen through the hole in the door. The duckling thought that I should go inside and get rid of the wind.

Therefore, he entered the house with difficulty through a hole and spent the night in a corner.

An old woman lived in this hut with her cat and chicken.

The next morning, when the old woman saw the duckling, she asked herself:

“What is this? Where did it come from?”

The duck stayed with the old woman, but he was sad, remembering the joy of swimming on the water. He said to the chicken:

“I want to go to the wild world.”

The chicken said to him:

“You are crazy. But I can’t keep you here.”

The duckling looked around and found a big pond. and floated under the sunlight.

The next day, he suddenly saw a group of big white birds with long and attractive necks flying. He had never seen such beautiful birds until that day.

He thought to himself:

“I wish I could be friends with them. These birds are migrating to the south.”

The winter season has started…

The duckling had to paddle hard with his legs to protect himself from freezing.

One morning, his feet were frozen and a passing farmer saved him. He took the poor bird to his warm home.

But then the farmer’s children scared the duckling and he flapped his wings and jumped into the kitchen. When the door opened for a moment, he flew out.

In short, the duckling survived the winter. One morning, he felt the heat of the sun when he was sleeping on the reeds. He stretched his wings and flew to the sky. He flew towards a garden with a large pond in the middle.

He saw three beautiful white birds on the water that were swimming very gracefully and softly. They were swans, but he didn’t know it.

He flew very softly without flapping his wings and bowed his head in respect. He saw another beauty in the reflection of strong water.

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Two small children ran towards the garden and shouted:

“Look, another one. This one is more beautiful than the others!”

That ugly duckling had now become a swan, and his heart was full of love for other swans, and he understood what had happened, and he was an ugly duckling before, and he never thought that such a thing would happen and become so beautiful.

Moral: True beauty comes from within, and everyone deserves to be valued for who they are.