The Original Reading of the Ugly DucklingThe original text of Ugly Duckling was as follows:
The countryside was really beautiful in summer. Yellow wheat and green oats. Hay was piled up in the green pastures, and the stork was strolling leisurely on its long red legs, talking in Egyptian, which it had learned from its mother. The fields and pastures were surrounded by forests, and there were some deep ponds in the forest. It was a very pleasant country, and the sun was shining on a comfortable old-fashioned house, which was surrounded by a few babbling brooks, where large burdock leaves grew from the corner into the water. The leaves were so tall that a child could stand upright under the largest leaf. The scenery in the countryside was very beautiful, but this place was also as desolate as the densest forest.
In this quiet and comfortable place, a mother duck was squatting in her nest, waiting for her ducklings to hatch. However, she was already exhausted. Because it had been a long time since any guests came to see her. The other ducks liked to play in the stream and were not willing to run under the burdock to chat with her.
Finally, the eggs cracked open. "Pfft! Crack!" The eggshells cracked one by one, and a living duckling came out of each egg. They couldn't wait to stick their little heads out. "Caw! Caw!" said the mother duck. They too began to croak loudly and look around under the large green leaves. "This world is really big!" a duckling said. Indeed, compared to the eggshell of the past, the current world was very different.
"Do you think this is the entire world? No!" said Mother."It goes all the way to the other side of the garden, all the way to the clergyman's field. Even I have never been that far! I think you should all be out by now, right?" The mother duck stood up to take a look and said," No, come out. The biggest egg is still there, not moving at all. I don't even know how long I have to stay there. I'm getting a little tired of it." As she spoke, she returned to her nest.
"Well, how's the hatching going?" An old duck who came to see her asked. "One of the eggs hasn't hatched yet, and it's been a long time!" said the mother duck."He won't split. Please look at the other little ones." They were really the most adorable ducklings! He really looked like their father! That bad guy who never came to see me once!"
"Let me see that egg that won't crack," said the old guest."I think it must be a turkey egg. I've been fooled like this before. You know, those little fellows have given me so much trouble and distress. They're scared of water. I had almost no way to get them to go into the water to try. No matter what I say, it's useless! Let me take a look at this egg. Aiya! This really was a turtle-spitting chicken's egg! Don't worry about it. Go teach other children how to swim."
"I think I'd better sit a little longer," said Mother Duck."It's been sitting for so long anyway, it's nothing to sit for another week." "Then do as you please." The old duck said and left.
Finally, the big egg cracked open. The little fellow cried as it crawled outside. He was big and ugly. The mother duck looked at him and said,"This duckling is so big that it's scary. It doesn't look like other ducklings at all, but it doesn't look like a little turkey either!" Alright, let's try and find out. You must get him into the water. Even if you have to kick him, you have to kick him into the water."
The next day was a sunny day. The red sun shone on the green burdock. The mother duck took all her children to the stream. There was only a thud! The mother duck jumped into the water first. She said,"Croak!" Croak!" The ducklings also imitated their mother and jumped down one by one. The water didn't go over their heads, but they immediately emerged again, swimming beautifully. Her legs moved agilely in the water. They all jumped into the water, and even the ugly little fellow swam with them. "Oh, so he's not a turkey," said Mother Duck."Look at how nimble his legs are, and how steady he's swimming!
The last duckling to crawl out of the egg was so ugly. He was pecked, ostracized, and laughed at everywhere, not only among the ducks, but also among the chickens. "He's too big!" Everyone said. The male turkey was born with spurs on its feet, so he thought he was an emperor. He blew himself up like a windblown sailboat and came menacingly toward him, his eyes wide and his face red. The poor duckling did not know where to stand or where to go. He felt very sad that he was so ugly and that he was the laughing stock of all the chickens and ducks. This was the situation on the first day. It got worse by the day. Everyone was trying to get rid of the poor duckling; even his own brothers and sisters were angry with him. They always say,"You ugly monster, I wish the cat would catch you!" "I hope you'll go far away!" The ducks pecked him, the chicks beat him, and the maid who fed the chickens and ducks kicked him. So he flew over the fence and fled. The birds in the bushes flew into the air in horror. "This is because I am very ugly!" Little Duckling thought. So he closed his eyes and continued to run.
He ran to a swamp where many wild ducks lived. He had lain here all night, for he was very tired and dejected. At daybreak, the wild ducks flew up. They looked at their new friend. "Who are you?" they asked. The duckling dropped to one side and then to the other, bowing as respectfully as it could to everyone. "You're really ugly!" said the ducks. "But as long as you don't marry anyone in our clan, it doesn't matter to us." Poor little thing! He had never thought of marrying; he only wished that he would be allowed to lie in the reeds and drink from the marsh. He lay there for two whole days.
After that, Ugly Duckling went through many things. It was despised by other animals and fled to the small farmhouse. The hen didn't understand it, so it left the house. In winter, it was frozen in the water. The farmer saved Ugly Duckling and took it home. The children wanted to play with Ugly Duckling, but it was afraid that they would hurt it and run away again. After surviving the winter, Ugly Duckling lay in the reeds and looked forward to seeing the swans flying over. In the spring, the ugly duckling flew to the water and found that it had become a beautiful swan.
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