The Ugly Duckling

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. 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.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.
One of the yellow ducklings pointed. “What's that? He can't be
one of us! I have never seen such an ugly duckling!”
“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.”
The Ugly Duckling did not know why the other ducklings were
yelling at him everytime he tried to play with his brothers and sisters.
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!”
“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 a while?” 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.”
Suddenly a big hungry dog came tearing by, chasing the two
ducks. They quickly flew up in the air, and left the poor Ugly Duckling
froze in fear. The dog sniffed and sniffed at the Ugly Duckling,
surprisingly it turned around and walked away. “Am I too ugly even for
that mean old dog,” said the Ugly Duckling in a sorrowful voice.
The sky turned dark. Then came a big storm, with heavy rains
pouring down. In just moments, the Ugly Duckling was soaked true and
true. A cold wind started to blow. He held both wings close to his chest.
“If only there was someplace I could dry out.”
All at once, a tiny light blinked far off in the woods. Could it be
someone’s hut?
The Ugly Duckling flew to the door. “Quack?” said he. The door
of the hut creaked open. “What is all this noise?” said an old woman,
looking right and left. Her eyes were not that good, but she could hear.
She looked down. “A duck!” She picked up the Ugly Duckling and
dropped him inside her hut. “You might as well stay here," she said.
"But mind you, I expect you to lay eggs.”
A hen crept up to the Ugly Duckling. “Who do you think you are?
I'm the only one around here who lays eggs. You don't know the first
thing about laying eggs.”
“You got that right,” said the Ugly Duckling. “I'm a boy duck.”
“Then why are you here?” Didn't you hear what the old woman said?”
“Imposter! Get out of here!” yipped the hen.
The door was still a bit open, so the poor Ugly Duckling crept out the
door and back into the storm. “No one ever wants me,” said the Ugly
Duckling with a tear in its eye.
The storm ended. Finally he found another lake. Looking in the
water, the Ugly Duckling saw a reflection from above - a flock of large
birds were flying overhead, above him. He turned to admire them. They
were the most beautiful birds he had ever seen. Their long bodies and
slender necks winged through the sky with ease and grace. He watched
until the very last one had disappeared from view.
The Ugly Duckling stayed at the lake as the days grew shorter. Winter
came, setting its blanket of white snow. The cold wind blew and the
clouds darkened. He became terribly tired.
In a moment, two giant hands swept him up. “You poor thing!”
said a farmer. He held the Ugly Duckling close to his thick warm wool
jacket. "You didn't fly south with the others?" The farmer was carrying
him someplace.
The next months were lovely. For the rest of the winter, the farmer
cared for the Ugly Duckling. At last, spring came.
“It's time for you to go back to the lake to swim again, as you were
born to do,” said the farmer. He took the duckling back to the lake
where he had found him and set him on the water.
“I feel good!” said the young bird, flapping his wings. “Why, I don't
think I ever felt as strong as I do right now!”
Spring passed, then summer. One day, the Ugly Duckling heard
quiet splashing sounds behind him. He turned around. A flock of those
same beautiful birds he had once seen winging through the sky now sat
on the lake. “Don't worry!” he said to the beautiful birds, holding out
one of his wings. “I am leaving. I won't make trouble for you.” When he
happened to glance down at the lake, he saw a reflection in the water
that looked like one of those beautiful birds. Why was the bird so close
to him? He jumped back. The reflection jumped back, too.
“What's this?” he thought, puzzled. He stretched his neck and
strangely, the reflection of the beautiful bird in the lake stretched its
neck, too.
“Why are you leaving so soon?" called out one of the beautiful
birds. "Come back!” said another. “Stay with us!” said yet another
swan. “We’ll be friends.”
Then, the bird who used to be the Ugly Duckling realized what had
happened. He was no longer an ugly gray bird. He had grown into a
beautiful swan! All the other swans came to greet the newcomer.
Finally, the ugly little thing was accepted and loved by his new friends,
to whom he belonged, the beautiful and graceful swans. The End.
Don’t judge a book by its cover. This sentence forms the essence
of this beautiful short story. The moral of The Ugly Duckling story is to
accept people for their qualities, their values, their friendship, and their
humility. Do not judge others because of how they look. Appearances
are misleading, and it is always better to accept a person not based on
physical looks.