The Ugly Duckling

Once upon a time, there was a duck. She lived on an islet in the middle of a lake surrounded by tall poplars. Not only did many duck families live on the lake, but also swans, frogs, and fish.

The duck couldn’t wait to have her own family. She would often dream of what it would be like swimming with a bunch of little ducklings trailing behind her. She sat on her eggs and waited impatiently for them to hatch.

Soon, a tapping sound started coming from inside the eggs. One by one, the eggs started cracking and tiny beaks started to push themselves out into the world. Mama Duck cheered them on with loud, excited quacking. Six eggs hatched and the ducklings waddled back and forth, yellow like six shiny suns. Each one was prettier than the next!

They were very impatient and excited to see what was beyond the reeds, but mama duck would stop them with her beak when the curious little ones got too close to the edge. She waited nervously for the seventh egg to hatch. It was somewhat larger than the other six, and the duckling didn’t seem to want to come out.

After a while, she heard tapping sounds again. First, a little crack appeared, and then the whole egg cracked open as a head forced its way out. This head was bigger than the others, and grey like ashes. The duckling tumbled out of his egg and they saw that he was chubby, clumsy and stodgy, and had no trace of yellow feathers.

As soon as the other ducklings learned to speak, they started to mock their grey brother. They told him he was ugly. Mama Duck just sighed and hoped he would eventually turn yellow and look…