The Ugly Duckling
Once upon a time, on a peaceful farm surrounded by meadows and ponds, a mother duck sat on her nest, waiting for her eggs to hatch. One by one, the eggs cracked open, and fluffy yellow ducklings emerged, chirping and waddling about. But one egg, larger than the rest, remained unhatched.
The mother duck waited patiently, and finally, the last egg cracked open. Out came a duckling, but unlike the others, he was large, gray, and awkward. The other ducklings stared at him in surprise. “He doesn’t look like us,” they whispered. Even the mother duck was puzzled, but she said, “He may be different, but he’s still my child.”
The gray duckling tried to fit in with his siblings, but wherever he went, he was met with ridicule. The other animals on the farm teased him mercilessly. “Look at that ugly duckling!” they jeered. “He’s too big and clumsy to be a duck.”
The poor duckling felt out of place and lonely. His siblings avoided him, and even his mother, though she tried to be kind, couldn’t shield him from the cruelty of the others. One day, unable to bear the taunts any longer, the ugly duckling decided to leave the farm and find a place where he belonged.
He wandered through the meadows and marshes, searching for acceptance. Along the way, he encountered wild ducks, who laughed at his appearance. “You’re too ugly to be one of us,” they said. He met a pair of geese, who were kinder but warned him of hunters. Soon after, the hunters arrived, and the ugly duckling narrowly escaped, his heart pounding with fear.
As the seasons changed, the ugly duckling faced many hardships. He sought shelter in a cottage where an old woman lived with her cat and hen. The woman took him in, hoping he would lay eggs, but the cat and hen mocked him. “Can you purr?” asked the cat. “Can you lay eggs?” clucked the hen. When the ugly duckling admitted he could do neither, they scoffed. “Then you’re useless,” they said.
Feeling unwelcome once again, the ugly duckling left the cottage and braved the cold winter alone. He endured freezing winds and hunger, finding solace only in the quiet beauty of the snow-covered landscape. He often gazed at the sky, watching flocks of majestic birds flying overhead. “If only I could be like them,” he thought, admiring their grace and elegance.
When spring arrived, the ugly duckling’s spirits lifted with the warming weather. One day, as he swam in a pond, he noticed a group of stunning white birds gliding across the water. They were swans, the most beautiful creatures he had ever seen. Overwhelmed by their beauty, he approached them, expecting to be rejected as always.
To his surprise, the swans welcomed him with open wings. “Why are you so sad?” they asked. The ugly duckling bowed his head. “I am ugly and clumsy,” he said. “No one wants me.”
The swans smiled. “Look at your reflection in the water,” they said.
The ugly duckling hesitated but finally glanced at the water’s surface. What he saw took his breath away. The awkward, gray duckling was gone. In his place was a graceful, elegant swan with snowy white feathers and a long, slender neck. He had grown into a beautiful swan without even realizing it.
Overjoyed, the now-handsome swan joined the others, gliding across the pond with newfound confidence. The other animals who had once mocked him now admired his beauty. Children who came to the pond threw breadcrumbs and exclaimed, “Look at that magnificent swan! He’s the most beautiful of all!”
Though he appreciated the admiration, the swan remained humble. He had learned that true beauty comes from within and that everyone has their own journey to self-discovery. He was no longer the ugly duckling but a proud and graceful swan, finally at peace with himself.
