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The Ugly Duckling
The Ugly Duckling
Illustrated By: Stella Wei
Chapters
Part 1: One By One
Part 2: Unlike The Others
Part 3: Get Out!
Part 4: A New Lake
Part 5: Spring
Listen While You Read Along!
Part 1: One By One
ONCE ON A FARM LONG AGO, a Mama Duck sat on her nest. “How long
must I wait for my babies to hatch? I have to sit here all by myself!” But
what could she do? A Mama duck must keep her eggs warm till they
hatch.
At last, the eggs began to crack. One yellow duckling stepped out of its
shell, then another. Each little chick shook its wings. “Quack, quack!”
“Look at you!” cried Mama Duck with joy. “You're all so cute!”
"Look at you!" cried Mama Duck with joy.
“Quack, quack, QUACK!” they said with pride.
“Come line up," said Mama Duck. "We will go down to the lake for your
very first swim.” She counted – one, two, three, four, five. “Oh dear!” she
said with a frown. “I had six eggs. I should have six ducklings.”
One large egg was still in the nest. “Well!" said Mama Duck, "it looks like
that big egg will take more time.” So she went back to sit on her nest
again and wait some more.
Part 2: Unlike The Others
The next day, the big egg started to hatch! Out popped a baby boy bird.
Yet - my goodness! How different this one looked! He was much larger
than the others. He was not yellow, but dark-gray all over. And after he
stepped out of his egg, he walked with a funny wobble.
One of the yellow ducklings pointed. “What's THAT? He can't be one of
us!”
“I have never seen such an ugly duckling!” said another.
“How can you say such a thing?” said Mama Duck in a very stern voice.
“You are only one day old! Your brother hatched from the very same
nest as you did. Now line up. We will go to the lake for your very first
swim.”
"How can you say such a thing?" said Mama Duck in a
very stern voice.
All the way the other ducklings quacked, “Ugly! Ugly! UGLY!” The Ugly
Duckling did not know why the other ducklings were yelling at him. He
fell behind to take the last spot in line.
When they got to the lake, each yellow duck jumped in and swam behind
Mama Duck. When it was his turn, the Ugly Duckling jumped in too, and
he started to paddle. “At least he can swim,” Mama Duck thought to
herself.
When the yellow ducklings got out of the water and started to play, the
Ugly Duckling tried to play with his brothers and sisters. They yelled at
him, “Go away! We will not play with you! You are ugly. And you walk
weird!”
When Mama Duck was close by, she would not let them talk this
way. “Be nice!” she would scold. But she was not always close by.
Part 3: Get Out!
One day, one of the yellow ducklings said to the Ugly Duckling, “You
know what? You would do us a big favor if you just went away!” All of
them started to quack: “GO! Go away!”
“Why won’t they let me stay with them?” thought the Ugly Duckling. He
hung his head down low. “They must be right. I should go.”
That night, the Ugly Duckling flew over the farmyard fence to the other
side of the lake. There he met two grown-up ducks.
“Can I please stay here for awhile?” said the Ugly Duckling. “I have
nowhere else to live.”
“What do we care?” said one of the ducks. “It's a big lake. Just don’t get
in our way.”
Woof! Woof!” Suddenly a big hungry dog came tearing by, chasing the
two ducks. They quickly flew up in the air, and their feathers fell down
on the ground. The poor Ugly Duckling froze in fear. The dog sniffed and
sniffed at the Ugly Duckling, then it turned around and walked away. “I
am too ugly even for that mean old dog,” said the Ugly Duckling in a
sorrowful voice.
The sky turned dark. CRACK! A bolt of lightning lit up the sky. Then
came a big storm, with heavy rains pouring down. In just moments, the
Ugly Duckling was soaked through and through. A cold wind started to
blow.
