The Ugly Duckling
The Ugly Duckling
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| The Ugly Duckling |
Quack! Quack!
"Soon my eggs will open, and my baby ducklings will be here," she thought.
She was right.
Crack went one egg, and a baby bird inside said, "Cheep! Cheep!"
Crack! Went another egg and another. . .
"Cheep! Cheep!" said the baby ducklings who came out of their eggs.
There was one more egg to open.
And it was a big egg!
The mother duck did not know why this egg was so big.
Why it different?
The next day, Mother duck saw the egg move.
C_c-c-c-ccrack!
Another duckling came out.
It was big and gray and . . . very . . . ugly!
"What an ugly duckling!" mother duck said.
"Quickly!" mother duck said,
"Let's go to the river."
The little baby ducklings and the big ugly duckling walked behind mother duck to the river.
Two white ducks watching them laughed.
"Look at that ugly duckling!"
At the river, a frog saw the ugly duckling.
It laughed loudly because he was different.
"You are an ugly duckling!" It said as it swam in the water.
They went to the farm. There were hens, gees, and a big turkey.
They asked the ugly duckling,
"What kind of duckling are you? Oh, you are ugly!"
The ugly duckling felt so sad that he went back to the river and swam away as fast as he could.
"I'm so ugly," he thought. "Nobody likes me."
Just then, two wild geese saw the ugly duckling.
"What's the matter?" they asked.
"I'm so ugly. Nobody likes me."
"Don't cry. You can stay with us,"
Said the geese.
So that night the ugly duckling stayed with the two gees.
They were kind. He felt a little happier.
He was so tired that he went to sleep very quickly.
Bang! Bang!
The ugly duckling woke up suddenly.
"What was that noise?" he thought.
The two wild geese? Flew away.
The ugly duckling could not fly.
He was so scared.
Suddenly, the long grass in front of him moved.
A big dog with big teeth found the ugly duckling and looked at him for a long time. . .
. . . then ran away.
The ugly duckling was scared.
He ran and ran as fast as he could.
He came to a house.
Here lived an old woman, a hen, and a cat.
The old woman gave the poor ugly duckling some food and water.
She was very kind, but the cat and the hen did not want the ugly duckling to stay.
"Go away!" they said.
"I can't stay here," he thought.
"I like the old woman, but the cat and hen don’t like me, I'm afraid." So, the next morning he ran away again.
Later that day, the ugly duckling heard a noise.
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| The Ugly Duckling |
Squawk! Squawk!
He looked up into the sky and saw three big white birds flying high.
"What beautiful birds," he thought.
"Where are they going?" he thought.
It started to rain and It was getting cold.
Winter was coming. The ugly duckling did not want to be cold and alone.
Winter came, and it was very cold and there was ice in it.
The ugly duckling was hungry.
He wished he had a home.
Just then, a kind man saw him there. He picked up the ugly duckling, made him warmer inside his coat, and smiled.
"You need some food, my little friend."
The man looked after the ugly duckling.
He gave him food to eat and water to drink.
The ugly duckling was warm.
He lived with a family.
Soon he grew stronger.
The man had two daughters. Sometimes, the girls played with the ugly duckling all over the house.
The ugly duckling made o lot of noise.
Squawk! Squawk! Squawk!
The ugly duckling was big for the house.
"Watch out!" shouted the girls as they played one day.
"Oh no!" cried the girls.
Their mother was not happy.
She opened the window.
"Get out!" she shouted at the ugly duckling.
The poor ugly duckling fell out of the window.
He was aloe again.
Spring came and it got warmer.
The ugly duckling was bigger and stronger because he was older.
And he could fly!
One day, he saw some beautiful white birds swimming on a lake.
The ugly duckling flew down to the lake to look at them.
The beautiful white birds were swans. He thought they were pretty.
Then, he looked into the water.
The water was like a mirror and he could see a beautiful swan's face in it.
"Who's that?" the ugly duckling thought.
He stopped Swimming.
"It can't be!"
But it was. It was him!
He had grown into a beautiful swan.
The swans swam to him.
They smiled and said, "Hi! You're new.
This is our favorite lake. Do you like it?
Why don't you stay with us?"
They did not say, "You're ugly!"
There were three children by the lake.
They pointed to the ugly duckling and said,
"Look, a beautiful new ugly duckling.
He was very happy.
