醜小鴨

It was summer in the countryside, and a mother duck was sitting on her nest by the edge of a pond. One by one, her eggs cracked open, and out came her ducklings – small, yellow and fluffy. But the biggest egg took much longer to hatch. When at last it opened, out tumbled a large, grey, clumsy-looking bird. "What an ugly duckling," said the other ducks. From that day on, life was hard for him. The ducks pecked at him, the hens chased him and the girl who fed the poultry kicked him out of the way. Even his brothers and sisters said, "We wish the cat would get you!" At last, he couldn't bear it any longer, and he ran away. He wandered through marshes and fields, alone and unwanted. Wherever he went, other animals laughed at him or chased him off. One autumn evening, he saw a flock of beautiful white birds flying overhead, with long, graceful necks and great shining wings. They were heading south for the winter. The duckling stared after them and felt a strange longing, though he didn't know why. The winter was long and bitterly cold. The duckling had to keep swimming round and round in a small patch of water so that it wouldn't freeze over. One morning, he was so weak and tired that he got stuck in the ice. A farmer found him, broke the ice and carried him home. But the farmer's children frightened him, and he escaped into the snow again. He spent the rest of the winter hiding among the reeds, cold and miserable. At last, spring came. The sun grew warm, and the birds began to sing. The duckling stretched his wings and found that they were strong. They lifted him into the air, and before he knew it, he was flying over a beautiful garden with a lake. On the lake, he saw three of those white birds again. "I'll go to them," he thought, "even if they peck me to death for being so ugly." He landed on the water and bowed his head, waiting. But as he looked down, he saw his reflection in the water. He was no longer a clumsy grey duckling. He was a swan. The other swans swam around him and stroked him with their beaks. Some children on the bank called out, "Look! There's a new swan, and he's the most beautiful of all!" He was too happy to feel proud. He remembered how he had been laughed at and chased away, and now everyone was saying he was beautiful. He ruffled his feathers, lifted his slender neck and thought, "I never dreamed of such happiness when I was the ugly duckling."