The Ugly Duckling
© Byjus.com
One hot summer day in a farm, a mother duck sat on her
nest and wondered when her eggs would hatch. One fine
day, the eggs started cracking and hatching and tiny little
ducklings started coming out of the shells one after
another. The tiny ducklings flapped their wings and cried
"Quack, quack!" The mother duck was happy to see all her
ducklings, except for the last one which emerged as a
strange-looking duckling with grey feathers.
Mother duck called out to all her ducklings for their first
swim in the pond. She led all her children to the nearby
pond and began teaching each duckling how to become a
proper duck.
All the ducklings quacked in joy, except for the one with
grey feathers which made a crackling sound. The other
ducklings stared at him and began to laugh. The ugly one
hung his head in shame.
In due course of time, the mother duck and her ducklings
started ignoring him while the others practised quacking,
swimming, diving and splashing water in the pond. Feeling
dejected and unwanted, finally one evening the ugly
duckling decided to leave his home in winter and ran away
to live in a swamp all by himself.
On his way, the ugly duckling stumbled across a farmer
who took pity on him and offered him food and shelter.
However, the duckling was terrified of the farmer’s
mischievous children, so he escaped the place.
At last, as spring arrived the duckling was happy that he
could start swimming again in the lake. He went to the
nearby lake where he found a flock of beautiful swans
swimming and gazed at their beauty.
© Byjus.com
As the duckling had fully grown now and he approached the
swans if he could join them, completely assured of rejection.
To his surprise, the swans welcomed him warmly.
While getting into the lake, he saw his reflection in the water
and was surprised to see that he is not an ugly duckling
anymore. He had transformed into a beautiful swan. Soon he
joined the flock of beautiful swans and was happy to fly off
with his newly found swan family.
© Byjus.com
