It was a beautiful summer. A duck was hatching her eggs. The duck was puzzled to see that one of the
ducklings was not similar to the other ducklings and was very ugly. Thus, the Ugly Duckling hatched out
from the egg.
As the Ugly Duckling was quite different in shape and size in comparison with the other ducklings, the other
ducklings started to tease him.
As the Ugly Duckling was so different from the rest, even the hens were puzzled to see him. So, they teased him simultaneously.
As the Ugly Duckling felt dejected, sad and alone, he went away from the hens and chicks to avoid further humiliation.
Suddenly, the Ugly Duckling found himself surrounded by the geese and their goslings. They all stared at
him with surprise and did not accept him.
Again, the Ugly Duckling found himself alone and stayed in a field. He pondered why he was without companions.
One day, some hunters came to hunt with hounds. The poor Duckling hid
himself in the field of sugarcane to escape from the hunters.
The hunters saw the birds flying in the sky. They killed a few of them. As the Ugly
Duckling had hidden himself, the hunters could not kill him. Luckily, he was quite safe.
After some time, a farmer along with his family visited his field. He saw the Ugly
Duckling and gave shelter to him.
The Ugly Duckling spent some time at the farmer’s house. As the farmer’s children
were naughty, they began to tease him. So, the Duckling ran away from there as well.
One day, he saw some swans flying up in the sky. He wished he could also fly like them.
So far, the Ugly Duckling was without friends. Moreover, he found himself in danger at times. So,
he was very sad and lonely.
Each day was a test for the Ugly Duckling. Soon winter came and it became colder and colder. These
days were very miserable for him. He wished the end of the winter season soon.
At last, fortune favoured the Ugly Duckling. The summer season came. He saw some swans in a pond
which were friendly towards him.
Now, the Ugly Duckling had grown in size. He wanted to swim and float like
others. When he got into the water, he saw his own image in the water. To his
great surprise, he felt a swan within him. Of course, he was a swan.
The Ugly Duckling was no more ugly. But he had grown into a beautiful swan. Now, he was not alone, but he
had a number of companions. He flapped his beautiful wings and flew away with his companions.
