Here's a favorite story
of birds everywhere.
It's called The Ugly Duckling.
It was springtime,
and nestled away in
a thick cover of weeds
close to the bank of a river,
a mother duck was sitting on her nest.
She had been hatching her eggs
for some time
and was getting very tired.
There had been few visitors.
Most of her friends had spent their
time
swimming in the nearby river.
At last, the eggs began to crack,
and soon five little ducklings
were running around.
Peep, peep, they said,
what a big world this is!
Quack, quack, said their mother,
it's a very big world,
so you must stay right here.
There is still one large egg left that
has not hatched.
So she settled down
once again on the nest.
Finally, there was a crack,
and the big egg opened.
Beep, said the new arrival.
The mother duck looked
at him with surprise
and said to herself,
I must say that he is the biggest and ugliest
duckling
that I've ever seen.
The next morning,
the mother duck
and her new family
marched down to the river.
Quack, quack, she said,
and jumped into the water.
One by one, they followed her,
and soon they were all swimming
in a straight line up and down the river.
The ugly duckling
brought up the rear.
As the days went by,
the ducklings grew bigger and
bigger.
They were all introduced
to the other farm animals
by their mother.
At first, the ugly duckling
was happy to
walk over to the barnyard
with his brothers and sisters,
but soon he became
very unhappy.
The chickens laughed at him,
the cows would walk away,
the turkeys gobbled,
and the pigs oinked
as he came near.
Even his brothers and sisters
began to call him names.
One day he could stand it no longer,
and so he walked out of the barnyard,
through the hedges,
and down to the river.
He began to swim.
He let the current carry him
past the big bend in the river.
He had never been this far from home.
After a while, he came to a large marsh
where some wild
ducks were feeding.
He swam over to them.
What kind of duck are you?
they asked.
The ugly duckling bowed his
head.
Well, you're certainly ugly,
they said,
and off they flew.
The duckling spent
the rest of the day
in the marsh
eating the wild rice that grew
there.
As it began to grow dark,
he walked through the marsh
until he reached the river.
He jumped in and began to swim.
For the next few weeks,
the ugly duckling
stayed close to the river,
swimming and drifting with
the current.
On his way, he was greeted
with shouts of laughter
from all the animals he met.
He was really sad and lonely.
Soon it was autumn.
The leaves on the trees turned
red and yellow
and fi nally fell to the ground.
The duckling had to stop his wandering
and make a warm nest
to keep out the cold
winds that began to blow.
One afternoon,
a flock of beautiful birds
flew overhead.
The duckling had never seen birds
so lovely.
They were gleaming white
with long, graceful necks.
They were on their way
to warmer lakes and ponds.
The duckling wished he could go with them,
but he was too ashamed
of his ugliness.
Winter arrived, and it was very cold.
The duckling had to swim round
and round in the water
to keep it from freezing over.
Food was scarce.
Then, one day, the sun began to feel
warm again on his feathers.
The ice melted,
and in the nearby trees,
the birds began to sing.
Spring had returned.
He stood and stretched his
wings.
They felt stronger than ever,
and soon he was flying over the
woods and meadows.
Looking below,
he saw a lovely pond
surrounded by a large garden.
He came down and rested
on the surface of the pond.
From the far side,
three white swans swam
out
from the overhanging branches
of a weeping willow tree.
The duckling recognized the birds
as the same ones he'd seen
flying south in the autumn. him.
I wish I could make friends
with those beautiful birds,
he thought, but I'm so ugly they'll
laugh at me and swim away.
The swan swam towards him,
ruffling their feathers.
The ugly duckling bowed his head
and waited for the laughter.
As he looked down,
he saw a reflection
in the clear water of the pond.
It was a large white bird
with a long, graceful neck.
Suddenly, he realized he was
looking at his own re flection.
He was no longer awkward and ugly,
he was a beautiful swan.
The other swans swam around him,
bowing their heads
and stroking him with their beaks.
At first, he felt quite shy
and hid his head under his wing.
At last, he lifted up his slender neck
and looked around at his new home.
Some children had come
to the edge of the pond
and were throwing bread
and corn into the water.
As the other swans fell in line behind him,
he swam towards the children.
Look at the swans,
the children cried.
Aren't they beautiful?
But the ugly duckling
was the most beautiful of them all. you
