A2. The Ugly Duckling

The Ugly Duckling

Part 1:

On a warm summer day, Mother Duck sat on her eggs. She waited and waited. Finally, the eggs began to crack. Out came five cute yellow ducklings. But one egg, bigger than the others, was still not open.

Mother Duck waited some more. At last, the big egg cracked. Out came a strange-looking bird. It was big and gray, not small and yellow like the others.

That can't be a duck! But, she loved all her children. She took them all to the pond to swim.

The yellow ducklings jumped in easily. The big gray one jumped in too. It swam even better than the others!

But life was hard for the gray duckling. The other animals in the farm were mean to him.

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"You're too big!" said the yellow ducklings.

"You're too ugly!" laughed the chickens.

"Go away!" honked the geese.

The poor duckling felt very sad and alone. Even Mother Duck couldn't stop the others from being mean.

Part 2

Every day, the duckling wished he looked like his brothers and sisters.

One day, he couldn't take it anymore. "I'll run away," he thought, with tears in his eyes. "Nobody wants me here."

That night, the duckling left the farm. He walked and walked until he found a big marsh, where other birds lived.

The ugly duckling swam in the new marsh. Other birds lived there, but they didn't want to be his friend either.

"You're too ugly!" they all said.

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Autumn came, then winter. The ugly duckling lived alone and was cold and hungry. He almost froze in the icy marsh. But he survived.

Finally, spring arrived. The duckling saw beautiful white birds flying above. They're so lovely, he thought. I wish I could be like them.

He didn't know these were swans, the most beautiful birds of all.

Part 3

The swans flew to a new lake and he followed them. He felt shy, but he wanted to be near them. He started to swim towards those beautiful white birds.

As he swam, he saw something strange in the water. A beautiful white bird was looking at him!

He turned his head, and the white bird did too. Then he realized - the reflection in the water was him! He wasn't an ugly duckling anymore. He had grown into a beautiful swan!

The other swans came to welcome him. "Join us," they said kindly.

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Children on the lake shore pointed at him. "Look at that swan!" they said. "He's the most beautiful of them all!"

I never dreamed I would be this happy. I just needed time to grow. I'm glad I didn't give up.

From that day, he lived happily with his new friends. And, he was always kind to others, no matter what they looked like.

Being different isn't bad. And sometimes, it just means you need time to become who you're meant to be.