The ugly duckling

Mother duck was on her nest, watching for her young brood to hatch.

One shell cracked, and then another, and from each egg came a duckling that lifted its head and cried, “Peep, peep.”

One egg, the biggest is not hatched yet.

At last the egg broke, and a new duckling came and cried, “Peep, peep.”

It was very large and ugly.

He was different, so big and ugly, that even his brothers and sisters were unkind to him

The whole farmyard laughed at him.

He felt miserable, so at last he ran away.

“What sort of a duck are you?”, said two wild ducks. “You are exceedingly ugly”.

In a moment a large terrible dog passed quite near, without touching him.

“Thankful I am for being so ugly, even a dog will not bite me.”, he thought.

“I want to swim on the water. It´s so delightful” “What an absurd idea,” said the hen.

In a cottage he met a cat, and a hen.

“Nobody understand me”, said the duckling. He left the cottage.

Time passed. Autumn came, Winter approached.

One evening, a flock of beautiful birds came out of the bushes. They were swans.

The duckling had never seen any like them before. He wished to be as lovely as these beautiful creatures.

One day, he could see his own image in the clear water of a stream. Hes was a graceful and beautiful swan.

He had been persecuted for his ugliness, and now he was the most beautiful of all the birds. He was so happy!

The EndThe EndHe never dreamed of such happiness as this, while he was an ugly duckling.