The Ugly Duckling

Mother duck looked at the last egg. It had always been a little odd. Instead of white; it was grey. Instead of small; it was big!

Find out who is hiding inside the egg. Why is he a little different? Notice how all the other birds react. How does this make the duckling feel? Follow him as he runs away. Hear how he gets lost. Discover what happens to him on his journey. Meet the old woman. Welcome the beginning of spring. Find out what he discovers in the end.

This is a really famous fairy tale written by Hans Christian Andersen. He wrote this as the story of his life. Have you ever felt a bit like the ugly duckling?

Download The Ugly Duckling mp3 fairy tale audio story now!

The Ugly Duckling

A Tales of Time adaptation of the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen

One little, fluffy, yellow duckling.

A tiny baby duckling kicked himself out of his egg and looked at her.

"Quack" said the little, fluffy, yellow duckling.

"Quack" replied his mother with a smile.

One more little fluffy yellow duckling.

This one pushed the top of his egg off with his head and blinked at his new world.

"Quack" said the little, fluffy, yellow duckling.

"Quack" replied his mother with a wink.

Another little fluffy yellow duckling.

This duckling pecked the egg with his beak until it fell away. Then he turned to his mother.

"Quack" said the little, fluffy, yellow duckling.

"Quack" replied his mother with a wiggle.

Three lovely little fluffy yellow ducklings.

"Quack Quack" they all said as mother duck swept them all up in her wings and hugged and kissed them.

Mother turned to look at the last egg. It had always been an odd egg. Instead of white, it was grey. Instead of small, it was big.

Mother and her three little fluffy yellow ducklings gathered round to greet the last arrival.

He was having some trouble climbing out of his big grey egg. He got the top off, but as he was trying to climb out, the egg went rolling off down the hill.

"Quack" they all cried as they ran along behind it.

The egg fell against a rock – leaving their very dizzy brother sitting on his head.

"Quack" said his mother as she rushed to help him up.

"Quack" said his brothers as they dusted him off.

"Quack" they all said with a welcoming smile.

"Honk!"

The first little fluffy yellow duckling looked at the second little fluffy yellow duckling and the second little fluffy yellow duckling looked at the third little fluffy yellow duckling and then all the little fluffy yellow ducklings looked a mother duck who said
"Quack" and she scooped up her new son with her wings and hugged and kissed him.

Her family was complete. Mother duck was so proud that she wanted to introduce her brood to the whole pond.

So she led them past the geese. "My, you have three lovely yellow ducklings!  But what is that grey thing at the back?"

Mother duck looked back to see her last duckling waddling along behind his brothers. He did look a little grey.

"He’s my son" she quacked back and, with her head held high- she led her brood on.

She led them past the coots.

"My, what a beautiful family you have. Except that one at the back – he’s very ugly. What is that?"

Mother duck looked back to see her last duckling pecking at a leaf. He did look very big for a duck.

"He’s my son" she quacked back and, with her head held high- she led her brood on.

She led them past the other ducks.

"My, what a handsome brood" they called "Quack, Quack"

The mother duck called back "Quack".

The three little fluffy yellow ducklings called "Quack".

The last duckling waved at them and called "Honk".

The ducks looked at the coots. The coots looked at the geese and the geese looked at the ducks. Then they all looked at the big, grey, ugly duckling and they laughed.

The first little fluffy yellow duckling, the second little fluffy yellow duckling and the third little fluffy yellow duckling shook their heads with embarrassment. The birds on the pond were laughing and pointing at their brother. The Ugly Duckling.

The poor little ugly duckling looked at his mother who yelled "Quack!"

The birds promptly stopped their laughter, though a few sniggers got through.

"He’s my son" she said. And, with her head held high, she led her brood away from the pond.

The next day was swimming day. Mother duck took her family to the pond and showed them how to get into the water.

Three fluffy yellow ducklings carefully followed their mother’s advice and walked their webbed feet down the bank slowly. The Ugly duckling was so excited, that he took a long run and jumped into the pond. He sent water splashing all over his nervous brothers.

"Quack!" they complained.

But mother duck laughed. She was amazed at how confident he was! She couldn't wait to tell all her friends at the farm gathering that evening.

She got the family all ready and smart. Then in a perfectly straight line, she waddled them into the barn.

"Quack" She said to announce their arrival.

The whole barn turned to greet her and her new family.

"My! What lovely little fluffy yellow ducklings!" said the cow

"So handsome!" agreed the horse.

Mother duck was so proud. She beamed back towards her brood. But, where was...

"What is that?" called the sheep

The whole barn turned to see the ugly duckling finally making his way into the barn. He had been distracted by a moth and was a long way behind his brothers.

"Oh dear, what a shame!" said the cow.

The ugly duckling was looking at his feet. He thought they looked great. They were huge and black and CRASH! He walked straight into the donkey!
Well, the whole barn burst out laughing.

"What a sight!" called the cockerel, crowing with delight!

The poor ugly duckling was so embarrassed and so upset that he ran right out of the barn. He ran into the field. He ran down the hill. He ran past the pond and into the meadow. He ran through the meadow, under the stile and on towards the moor!

This moor was home to the wild ducks.

The Ugly duckling waddled up and sat among the reeds. He tried to hide, but plenty of ducks saw him and he heard them say.

“Ugh, see how ugly he his!”

He buried his sad face under his wing, took a deep breath and feel asleep.

In the morning, while he was searching for something to eat, he heard some geese flying over head. He looked up.

“Get out of here! It is dangerous. There are men with guns around here. You must leave!”

The ugly duckling wasted no time in climbing back up the bank and off through the long grass. He didn’t know where he was going. He was scared and lonely.

“Why did I leave the farm?” he thought “At least I was safe!”

He carried on and on and on. He walked all day, finding little bits of food along his way. He curled up in the grass or the reeds at night and tried to stay warm. He often thought of his Mother.

“How worried she must be” he sobbed.

He didn’t talk to any birds he met. He knew they’d just laugh at his honk. But he watched as they all practiced flying in ‘V’ shape. They all looked beautiful.

“I wonder why they are practising” thought the duckling.

The days were getting colder and colder and the nights were unbearable. He imagined his brothers all snuggled up in the barn together and he felt rather sorry for himself.

One cold morning, he came across a cottage. There was a fire in the fireplace and the whole place looked lovely and warm. So he snuck inside, sat by the fire and he was so comfortable that he fell fast asleep.

But when he awoke, he was not by the fire and he was not at all comfortable. He thought there must be something wrong with his eyes, as every where he looked; he could little strips of crisscrossed metal. He was in a cage! The old woman who lived here couldn’t see very well and thought that the ugly duckling was a girl duck and so she hoped he would lay eggs. But he couldn’t. She waited three weeks, but the duckling laid no eggs. So she decided there was no point keeping him. Instead she would have him for dinner.

He was so frightened. He needed to escape. And that night, he managed to sneak under the cage walls and he fled off through the fields.

The poor ugly duckling was alone again and he was lost. The trees were starting to lose their orange and red leaves and the ground was becoming hard. Some of the moors he found were covered in ice and he just couldn’t keep warm.

There were no other birds around now. They had all travelled of somewhere together and he was all alone and freezing cold.

One particularly wintry day, he was so cold and so hungry that he just couldn’t go on. His eyes closed, his breathing slowed, he body fell to the floor and he stopped moving altogether.

A peasant was walking past the moor that afternoon and found the bird’s body nearly covered in snow.

“Poor thing!” he said. So he picked him up and took him home.

The ugly duckling didn’t wake up for a few days. And when he did, he felt very much better. He stayed a while with the peasant and when he was quite well again, he left, so as not to be a nuisance.

He understood a lot more about the world now. He learned that if he flapped his wings like the other birds, he could lift himself off the ground and he could fly. He knew to be wary of the men with guns. But he knew that not all men had guns and some would bring him food. He knew what fish to eat and how to catch them. He found a warm place to stay and he stayed there the whole winter through. He watched as the snow slowly melted. He tasted the colourful little food that grew in the grass, but learned they were flowers.  The trees became covered in fruit and the air became warm.

And soon enough, the moor was full of birds again. There were ducks and geese. There were herons and coots. There were... what are those?

The ugly duckling had never seen such beautiful winged creatures in all his travels. They looked like angels. They were tall and elegant. They wore a cloak of shimmering white feathers. They held their heads in a graceful bow and they were perfect! They were swans.

“Wow” he said, without realising that he had swum right up to them. “You’re so beautiful”.

They all turned to him and smiled.

“You’re new!” said the tallest. “Would you like to swim with us?”

“But, I can’t. I mean, you’re swans” he said.

“That’s why we asked! Said the smallest, “birds only swim with their own kind”

The ugly duckling was very confused. Couldn’t they see that was a grey, ugly duck?

He decided to do something he had tried not to do all year long. He lowered his head to look at his reflection in the water. And what did he see?

He was tall and elegant, he wore a cloak of shimmering white feathers and his head was in the most graceful bow. He was perfect. He was a SWAN!

He opened his long yellow beak and let out a deafening ‘HONK!” and his new friends honked too. He started flying round and round the moor with the other swans laughing and following close behind him. He swooped low and skimmed the glittering water with his long beautiful wing. He landed like an angel and nearly burst with happiness.

“Oh I never thought I could feel this happy! I’ve always been an ugly duckling.”

“But don’t you see?” said the others. “You were a swan all along – you just didn’t know it!”

They swans spent the rest of the day playing in the pond. And when some children came to give them bread, he heard them say. ‘Look at him; he’s the most beautiful swan of all!”

One lovely summer day, he decided to visit his family. His mother recognised him at once and was so proud of him. He had been through such a hard time, but he was still as kind and funny as when he was her little ugly duckling.  His brothers cheered when they saw him. They were not little fluffy yellow ducklings any more. They were brown, red and green and they all looked happy. They all wanted to know about the world outside of the farmyard. They were so proud that their brother was an adventurer. And a swan for that matter.

He loved them, but he knew he didn’t belong there. He and his friends were leaving to find new moors in new lands. As they formed a perfect ‘V’ over the farm, his family all called

“Quack”

And he called back

“Honk!”

The End.

©Tales of Time 2009