ugly duckling in modern english

7/30/2019 Ugly Duckling in modern English

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The Ugly Duckling

by

Hans Christian Andersen

(1844)

It was a nice summer day and all the plants looked very pretty. The birds walkingaround and chattering and tweeting. The fields were surrounded by large forests

with ponds and lakes in the middle of them. It was fun to walk in the country. In a

sunny spot there was a nice old farm-house close to a deep river, and from the

house down to the water side big leaves grew so high that a child could stand up

straight under the tallest of the leaves. The spot was as wild as the center of a

forest. In this comfy place, a duck sat on her nest and waited for her ducklings to

hatch. She was starting to get tired of doing this, and the little ones still had

a long time before they broke out of their shells, and she didnt have many other

animals come to see her. The other ducks liked to swim in the river better than to

climb the smooth and slippery banks, and sit under a leaf, and to talk with her.

Finally, one shell cracked, and then another, and a duckling came from each shell

and cried, Peep, peep. Quack, quack, the mother said, and then they all quacked

very well and looked at the leaves around them. Their mother let them look as much

as they wanted to, because green is good for the eyes. The world is so big, said

the young ducks, when they saw how much more room they had now than when they were

inside the egg-shell. Do you think this is the whole world? asked the mother.

Wait until you have seen the garden. It stretches farther than to that field, but

I have never gone so far. Are you all out? she said, her voice getting louder No,

I say, the largest egg still lies there. I wonder how long this will take, I am

tired of waiting. and she sat down on the nest again.

Well how are you? asked an old duck, who came to see the duck that lived under

the leaves.

One egg hasnt hatched yet, said the duck, it will not break. Just look at all

the others, arent they the prettiest little ducklings you ever saw? They are the

picture of their father, who is not nice because he never comes to see me.

Let me see the egg that will not break, said the duck; Im sure it is a turkeysegg. I was asked to hatch some once, and after all my care and time with the young

ones, they were afraid of the water. I quacked and clucked, but it was no good. I

could not get them to go in the water. Let me look at the egg. Yes, that is a

turkeys egg. Listen to me and leave it where it is and teach the other children

to swim.

I think I will sit on it a little more. said the duck; I have sat on it so long

already, a few days will be nothing.

Whatever, said the old duck, and she went away.

Then the large egg cracked, and a duckling came out, Peep, peep. It was very

large and ugly. The duck stared at it and shouted, It is very large and doesntlook like the others. I wonder if it really is a turkey. Well find out soon when

we go to the water. It will go in, if I have to push it myself.

The weather was very pretty the next day, and the sun shone brightly on the green

leaves. The mother duck took her young children down to the water, and jumped in

with a splash. Quack, quack, she cried, and the little ducklings jumped in one

after the other. The water came over their heads, but they came up again soon, and

swam prettily. The ugly duckling was in the water with them too.

Oh, said the mother, that is not a turkey, he uses his legs so well, and he


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holds himself up so straight! He is my child, and he isnt so ugly really if you

look at him right. Quack, quack! Come with me now, I will take you to meet

everyone, but you have to stay close to me or you could be stepped on. Always

beware of the cat.

When they reached the farmyard, there was a loud noise because two families were

fighting for a snakes head that had been taken by the cat. See, children, that is

how things are, said the mother duck. Come, now, use your legs, and let me see

how well you can act. You have to bow your heads to that old duck over there. Sheis the oldest and most respected of everyone, so she is well off. See the red flag

tied to her leg? That is something very special. It is a great honor for a duck,

and it shows that everyone doesnt want to lose her because she can be recognized

by men and other animals. Come on. Dont turn your toes, a good duckling spreads

his feet wide apart, just like his father and mother. Here, look, like this and

now bend your neck. Say quack.

The ducklings did like their mother told them, but the other duck stared. It said,

Look, here comes another mother and her ducklings, like there werent enough of us

already! One of them looks weird to. We dont want him here, and then one flew

out and bit him on the neck.

Leave him alone, said the mother; he is not doing anything wrong.

Yes, but he is so big and ugly, said the mean duck so he doesnt need to be

here.

The others are very pretty children, said the old duck, with the rag on her leg,

except that one. I wish his mother could make him look a little better.

I cant do that, your grace, the mother said back; he is not pretty; but he has

a very good mood and swims as well or even better than the others. I think he will

grow up pretty, and perhaps be smaller; he stayed too long in the egg, and so his

body doesnt look right. Then she rubbed his neck and smoothed the feathers,

saying, It is a boy, and so it doesnt matter as much. I think he will grow up

strong and able to take care of himself.

The other ducklings are not clumsy, said the old duck. Now make yourself at

home, and if you can find a snakes head, bring it to me.

They made themselves comfortable, but the poor duckling, who had come out of his

shell after all his brothers and sisters and looked so ugly, was bitten and pushed

and made fun of by all the birds. He is too big, they all said. The turkey, who

really thought of himself as a king, puffed himself out and flew at the baby duck.

The turkey got very red in the face, and the poor little duck did not know where to

go and was very sad because he was so ugly and laughed at by the whole farmyard.

This went on every day and got worse and worse. The poor duckling was chased by

everyone. Even his brothers and sisters were not nice to him, and would say, Ah,

you ugly creature, I wish the cat would get you. His mother said she wished he

had never been born. The ducks poked at him with their beaks, the chickens beathim, and the girl who fed all the birds kicked him with her feet. So he ran away,

scaring the little birds in the bush as he flew over the fences.

They are scared of me because I am ugly, he said. So he closed his eyes, and flew

even farther, until he came to a large hill where some wild ducks lived. He stayed

the whole night, and he felt very tired and sad.

In the morning, when the wild ducks were getting ready to fly, they stared at their

new friend. What kind of a duck are you? they asked.

He bowed to them, and was as nice as he could be, but he did not answer their

question. You are very ugly, said the wild ducks, but that will not matter if


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you do not want to marry one of our family.

Poor thing! He had not thought of marriage; all he wanted was to be able to lie in

the flowers, and drink some of the water on the hill. After he had been on the hill

two days, two wild baby geese, or goslings came. They were very rude. Listen,

friend, said one of them to the duckling, you are so ugly, that we like you a

lot. Will you go with us, and become a bird of passage? That means you will move

around or migrate with all the other birds. Not far from here is another hill and

there are some pretty wild geese, all unmarried. It is a chance for you to get awife. You may be lucky as ugly as you are.

Pop, pop, they all heard, and the two wild geese fell dead in the flowers, and

there was blood in the water. Pop, pop, was heard all over, and whole flocks of

wild geese got up from the flowers. The sound kept going in every way. The hunters

were all over the hill, and some were even sitting on branches of trees, looking

down at all the flowers in the water. The blue smoke from the guns rose like clouds

over the dark trees. As it floated away across the water, a few hunting dogs

jumped in to the water. They scared the poor little duckling! He turned away his

head and hid it under his wing. At the same time a big scary dog ran by him. His

mouth was open, his tongue hung from his mouth, and his eyes looked scary. He

pushed his nose close to the duckling, showing his sharp teeth. Then, splash,

splash, he went into the water without touching him, Oh, sighed the duckling,

Im so glad Im ugly, even a dog will not bite me. He laid still, while the gun

shot bounced through the flowers, and lots of guns were fired over him. It was

afternoon before it was quiet again, but even then the poor young thing was too

scared to move. He waited quietly for several hours and then after looking around

him, he got away from the hill very fast. He ran over fields until it started

raining and storming very hard, and it was hard for him to keep going. When it was

almost nighttime, he came a small house that looked like it was about to fall. The

storm didnt stop and the duckling couldnt go any farther. He sat down by the

house, and noticed that the door wasnt closed all the way because it was broken.

There was a small hole near the bottom that was big enough for him to get through.

He crawled through very quietly and had somewhere to stay for the night. A woman, a

cat, and a chicken lived in the house. The cat, who the woman called, My little

son, was liked very well. He could raise his back, and purr, and could even throw

out sparks from his fur if he was petted the wrong way. The chicken had very shortlegs, so she was called Chickie short legs. She laid good eggs, and the woman

loved her like she had been her own child. In the morning, the duckling was

discovered, and the cat began to purr, and the chicken started to cluck.

What is all that noise for? said the old woman, looking around the room, but she

could not see very well. Because she couldnt see well, when she saw the duckling

she thought it must be a fat duck that had gotten lost. Oh what a prize! she

shouted, I hope it is not a boy. I want some ducks eggs. I must wait and see.

So she let the duckling stay for three weeks, but there were no eggs. Now the cat

was the master of the house, and the chicken was mistress, and they always said,

We and the world, because they thought they were half the world, and the better

half too. The duckling thought other animals might not think so, but the chicken

would not listen. Can you lay eggs? she asked. No. Then be nice enough not totalk. Can you raise your back, or purr, or throw out sparks? said the cat. No.

Then you shouldnt speak when smart people are talking. So the duckling sat in a

corner, feeling very sad, until the sunshine and the fresh air came into the room

through the open door. Then he started wanting to swim in the water, but he had to

tell the chicken.

What a silly idea, said the chicken. You dont have anything to do, so you have

silly ideas. If you could purr or lay eggs, you wouldnt have them.

But it is so fun to swim on the water, said the duckling, and its so nice to

feel it come over your head, while you dive down to the bottom.


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Fun, indeed! said the chicken, you must be crazy! Ask the cat, he is the

smartest animal I know, ask him if he would like to swim in the water, or to dive

under it. I will not say my own opinion. Ask our mistress, there is no one in the

world smarter than the old woman. Do you think she would like to swim, or to let

the water come over her head?

You dont understand me, said the duckling.

We dont understand you? Who can understand you, I wonder? Do you think youresmarter than the cat, or the old woman? I wont say what I think. Dont think about

silly things like that child and be glad that the old woman took you in and let you

live here. Youre in a warm room, and you are around people who could teach you

something. You talk too much though and being around you is not very fun. Believe

me, I am only saying this for your own good. I dont tell you lies even when you

want to hear them, but that shows that I am a good friend. Thats why Im telling

you now to lay eggs, and learn to purr fast.

I think I need to leave and go out into the world again, said the duckling.

You do need to, said the chicken. So the duckling left the house, and found water

where he could swim and dive. He was avoided by all other animals because he

looked so ugly. Fall came, and the leaves in the forest turned to orange and gold.

As winter came, the wind caught the leaves as they fell and spun them in the cold

air. The clouds hung low in the sky because of the hail and snow-flakes. The raven

stood on the leaves saying, Croak, croak. It made other animals scared to look at

him. All this made the poor little duckling very sad. One night a large flock of

beautiful birds came out of the bushes. The duckling had never seen any birds like

them before. They were swans, and they bent their pretty necks. They had feathers

that amazed people with their whiteness. They cried once, as they spread their

wings and flew away to get away from the cold weather to warmer places across the

water. As they flew higher and higher in the air, the ugly little duckling felt

weird as he watched them. He spun himself in the water like a wheel, stretched out

his neck towards them, and cried so strangely that it scared himself. Could he ever

forget those beautiful, happy birds? When they were gone, he dived under the

water, and came up again very happy. He didnt know the names of these birds, or

where they had gone, but he felt different to them than he had to any other bird.He was not jealous of those pretty birds, but he wanted to be as beautiful as they

were. Poor, ugly, little bird, he would have been glad to live with the ducks even,

if they had let him. It got colder and colder in the winter, and he thought he was

supposed to swim in the water to keep it from freezing. Every night the space

where he swam got smaller and smaller though. It froze so hard that the ice in the

water crackled as he moved, and the duckling had to paddle with his legs as hard as

he could to keep the space from closing. He got tired though, and lay still and

couldnt get out, frozen in the ice.

Early in the morning, a farmer who was passing by saw what had happened. He broke

the ice in pieces with his wooden shoe and carried the duckling home to his wife.

The warm house brought the poor little duckling back to life, but when the children

wanted to play with him, the duckling thought they would hurt him. He got veryscared, fell into the milk-pan, and splashed the milk all over the room. Then the

woman clapped her hands, which scared him more. He flew into the butter, then into

a bucket, and out again. The poor little bird was in trouble! The woman screamed

and hit him, and the children laughed and screamed, and tumbled over each other as

they tried to catch him. The duckling was lucky though, and got away. The door

was open, and the poor bird just got out the door, and laid down very tired in the

newly fallen snow.

It would be very sad, if I told you wall the sadness and troubles the bird had to

go through during the winter. When the winter was over, he was on a hill in the


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flowers. He felt the warm sun shining, and heard the birds singing. He saw that

it was spring time. Then the young bird felt that his wings were strong, as he

flapped them against his sides, and rose high into the air. They took him to large

garden, before he knew how it had happened. The apple-trees were blooming, and the

sweet-smelling trees bent their long green branches down to the river that went

around a smooth yard. Everything looked pretty in the newness of early spring. From

the woods close by three beautiful swans came, swimming over the smooth water. The

duckling remembered the pretty birds, and felt more unhappy than ever.

I will fly to those royal birds, he yelled, and they will kill me, because I amso ugly, and come to them. It does not matter. It is better be killed by them

than pecked by the ducks, beaten by the hens, pushed around by the maiden who feeds

the chickens, or hungry in the winter.

Then he flew to the water, and swam towards the beautiful swans. The moment they

saw the stranger, they hurried to meet him with open wings.

Kill me, said the poor bird; and he bent his head down to the water, and waited

for death.

But what did he see in the clear water below? Himself. No longer a dark, gray

bird, ugly to look at, but a beautiful swan. It doesnt matter if he was born in a

ducks nest because he was a swan. He felt glad now for suffering from sadness and

trouble, because it let him like the happiness around him even better. The great

swans swam round the new swan, and rubbed his neck with their beaks, as a welcome.

Then a few little children came into the garden, and threw bread and cake into the

water.

See, cried the youngest, there is a new one. The other children were very

happy and ran to their father and mother, dancing and clapping their hands, and

shouting, Another swan has come.

Then they threw more bread and cake into the water, and said, The new one is the

most beautiful. He is so young and pretty. And the old swans bowed their heads

before him.

Then he felt nervous, and hid his head under his wing because he did not know what

to do. He was so happy, but not at all proud. He had been chased and hated for hisugliness, and now he heard them say he was the most beautiful of all the birds.

Even the elder-tree bent down its branches into the water in front of him, and the

sun shone warm and bright. Then the swan moved his feathers, bent his thin neck,

and cried happily, from the depths of his heart, I never dreamed of such happiness

as this, while I was an ugly duckling.

ugly duckling in modern english

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