The Ugly Duckling

Amid gentle summer fields and quiet ponds, where grasses waved in the breeze, tall nettles and broad burdock leaves grew wild. There, beneath an old, abandoned mill, a duck had built her nest. On a sunny day she sat patiently on her eggs, waiting with hope - for she was a loving mother.

One by one, the eggs began to crack open, and out came tiny, yellow, fluffy ducklings. “Peep! Peep!” their little voices chirped. They stretched their necks and looked around at the big, green world. Their mother taught them how to wade bravely through water, how to bear the sun and the chill, how to sit neatly in a row and be good little children.

“Are they all hatched?” asked an older duck, peering curiously.

But the mother noticed that the largest egg was still unbroken. It was bigger than all the rest, and when at last it cracked, out came a chick unlike the others - large, awkward, and grey, with a long neck and clumsy feet. Everyone stared at it, and the mother shivered, wondering if perhaps a turkey had left it there. Yet it had lain in her own nest - so it must be her child.

The very next day, the ducklings paddled across the lake under their mother’s watchful eye. Neighbors and relatives came to admire the new brood, but when they saw the strange, grey one, they whispered:

“Oh, how big and ugly it is! And that color - so strange! Is it really a duck?”

An old duck pecked it sharply on the neck, while the other ducklings laughed and teased, pushing it away. The farmyard hen clucked with scorn, and the turkeys puffed up in anger. Even its own brothers and sisters began to mock it, saying cruelly:

“You’re so ugly! Go away!”

The ugly duckling felt more and more lonely. Hurt and sad, it fled from the farmyard, swimming through reeds and rushes until it reached a wild marsh where other ducks lived. It tried to ask them for shelter, but they only said:

“Look at you - so ugly! Go away!”

A note of sorrow echoed in the duckling’s heart. There seemed to be no place for it in the world. Summer faded, and the days grew cold and wet. One night it heard the thunder of hunters’ guns. Frightened animals fled, and the duckling crouched among the bushes, trembling with cold and hunger.

By luck, it found a small hut where an old woman lived with her cat and her hen. The woman hoped the duckling would lay eggs for her, but of course, it could not. The cat mocked it for not knowing how to purr, and the hen scolded it for not laying eggs. Once again, the duckling was rejected and forced to leave.

It wandered over open fields and lonely heaths, where the wind blew cold against its bare back and the rain drummed on its delicate feathers.

Then came a harsh and endless winter. Lakes froze solid, reeds bent under heavy frost, and the duckling had to swim in icy water, struggling to move until at last it grew weak and froze fast to the ice. It would surely have died had not an old man seen it and carried it home. But even there, frightened by the children and the dog, it soon had to flee again. It grew larger, greyer, and lonelier than ever.

The months passed. The duckling endured hunger and cold and pain, yet it grew strong and patient. At last, spring returned. Warm sunshine melted the ice, and the duckling flew to a wide river. There it saw a flock of the most beautiful birds it had ever known - tall, graceful swans with shining white feathers and long, elegant necks.

Filled with wonder and longing, it thought sadly, “How poor and lonely I am. I could never be like them.”

Watching the swans glide proudly across the water, it felt an irresistible desire to draw near, even if only for a moment. “Better to be struck down by their beaks than to suffer more mockery and shame,” it thought.

But to its surprise, the swans swam toward it gently. And when the ugly duckling looked down into the water, it saw not a grey, clumsy creature - but a beautiful white swan. It had grown into one of them - proud, graceful, and radiant.

All the sorrow, pain, and loneliness melted from its heart. The other swans circled around it gracefully, welcoming it into their flock.

Soon, children and villagers came to the riverbank. They cried out in joy, throwing bread and crumbs, admiring the new swan. No one laughed anymore at the awkward grey chick. The once-rejected duckling had become the pride of the flock - the most beautiful swan of all.

It spread its wings, soared high into the blue sky, and its heart overflowed with gratitude. “I never dreamed of such happiness,” it thought, “when I was just a poor, ugly duckling.” And though many had mocked it in its early days, fate rewarded its patience and gentle heart — washing away its tears, turning them into pearls of beauty and triumph. And so ends the tale of the ugly duckling, who humbly endured hardship and grew into the most perfect of swans.