The Ugly Duck

The Ugly Duckling

Hans Christian Andersen

It was summertime, and it was beautiful in the country. The sunshine fell warmly on an old house, surrounded by deep canals, and from the walls down to the water's edge there grew large burdock leaves, so high that children could stand upright among them without being seen.

This place was as wild and lonely as the''thickest part of the woods, and it was here that a duck had chosen to make her nest. She was sitting on her eggs; but the pleasure she had felt at first was now almost gone, because she had been there so long.

At last, however, the eggs began to crack, and one little head after another appeared. "Quack, quack!" said the mother duck, and all the little ones got up as well as they could and peeped about from under the green leaves. "How large the world is!" said one of the ducklings.

"Do you think this is the whole of the world?" asked the mother. "It stretches far away beyond the other side of the garden, down to the pastor's field, but I have never been there. Are you all here?" And then she got up. "No, I have not got you all. The largest egg is still here. How long, I wonder, will this last? I am so weary of it!" And she sat down again.

At last the great egg burst. "Peep, peep!" said the little one, and out it tumbled. But

oh! how large and gray and ugly it was! The mother duck looked at it. "That is a great, strong creature," said she. "None of the others is at all like it."

The next day the weather was delightful and the sun was shining warmly when the mother duck with her family went down to the canal. Splash! She went into the water. "Quack, quack!" she cried, and one duckling after another jumped in. The water closed over their heads, but all came up again and swam quite easily. All were there, even the ugly gray one was swimming about with the rest.

"Quack, quack!" said the mother duck. "Now come with me. I will take you into the world. But keep close to me, or someone may step on you. And beware of the cat."

When they came into the duckyard, two families were quarreling about the head of an eel, which in the end was carried off by the cat.

"See, my children, such is the way of the world," said the mother duck, sighing, for she, too, was fond of roasted eels. "Now use your legs," said she, "keep together, and bow to the old duck you see yonder. She is the noblest born of them all, and is of Spanish blood, which accounts for her dignified appearance and manners. And look, she has a red rag on her leg. That is considered a special mark of distinction and is the greatest honor a duck can have."

The other ducks who were in the yard looked at the little family and one of them said aloud, "Only see! Now we have another brood, as if there were not enough of us already. How ugly that one is. We will not endure it." And immediately one of the drakes flew at the poor gray youngster and bit him on the neck.

"Leave him alone," said the mother. "He is doing no one any harm." "Yes, but he is so large and ungainly."

"Those are fine children that our good mother has," said the old duck with the red rag on her leg. "All are pretty except that one, who certainly is not at all well-favored. I wish his mother could improve him a little."

"Certainly he is not handsome," said the mother, "but he is very good and swims as well as the others, indeed rather better. I think in time he will grow like the others and perhaps will look smaller." And she stroked the duckling's neck and smoothed his ruffled feathers.

"Besides," she added, "he is a drake. I think he will be very strong so he will fight his way through."

"The other ducks are very pretty," said the old duck. "Pray make yourselves at home, and if you find an eel's head you can bring it to me."

And accordingly they made themselves at home.

But the poor duckling who had come last out of his eggshell, and who was so ugly, was bitten, pecked, and teased by both ducks and hens. And the turkey cock, who had come into the world with spurs on, and therefore fancied he was an emperor, puffed himself up like a ship in full sail and quite red with passion marched up to the duckling. The poor thing scarcely knew what to do. He was quite distressed because he was so ugly.

So passed the first day, and afterward matters grew worse and worse. Even his brothers and sisters behaved unkindly, saying, "May the cat take you, you ugly thing!" The ducks bit him, the hens pecked him, and the girl who fed the poultry kicked him. He ran through the hedge and the little birds in the bushes were frightened and flew away. That is because I am so ugly, thought the duckling, and ran on.

At last he came to a wide moor where some wild ducks lived. There he lay the whole night, feeling very tired and sad. In the morning the wild ducks flew up and then they saw their new companion. "Pray who are you?" they asked. The duckling greeted them as politely as possible. "You are really very ugly," said one of the wild ducks, "but that does not matter to us if you do not wish to marry into our family."

Poor thing! He had never thought of marrying. He only wished to lie among the reeds and drink the water of the moor. There he stayed for two whole days. On the third day along came two wild geese, or rather goslings, for they had not been long out of their eggshells, which accounts for their' impertinence.

"Hark ye," they said, "you are so ugly that we like you very well. Will you go with us and become a bird of passage? On another moor, not far from this, are some dear, sweet wild geese, as lovely creatures as have ever said THE UGLY DUCKLING `hiss, hiss.' It is a chance for you to get a wife. You may be lucky, ugly as you are.''

Just then a gun went off and both goslings lay dead among the reeds. Bang! Another gun went off and whole flocks of wild geese flew up from the rushes. Again and again the same alarming noise was heard.

There was a great shooting party. The sportsmen lay in ambush all around.

The dogs splashed about in the mud, bending the reeds and rushes in all directions. How frightened the poor little duck was! He turned away his head, thinking to hide it under his wing, and at the same moment a fierce-looking dog passed close to him, his tongue hanging out of his mouth, his eyes sparkling fearfully. His jaws were wide open. He thrust his nose close to the duckling, showing his sharp white teeth, and then he was gone—gone without hurting him.

"Well! Let me be thankful," sighed the duckling. "I am so ugly that even a dog will not bite me."

And he lay still, though the shooting continued among the reeds. The noise did not cease until late in the day, and even then the poor little thing dared not stir. He waited several hours before he looked around him, and then, although it had gotten very windy and was starting to rain, he hastened away from the moor as fast as he could.

Toward evening he reached a little hut, so wretched that he knew not on which side to fall and therefore remained standing. He noticed that the door had lost one of its hinges and hung so much awry that there was a space between it and the wall wide enough to let him through. Since the storm was becoming worse and worse, he crept into the room and hid in a corner.

In this room lived an old woman with her tomcat and her hen. The cat, whom she called her little son, knew how to set up his back and purr. He could even throw out sparks when his fur was stroked the wrong way. The hen had very short legs, and was therefore called Chickie Shortlegs. She laid very good eggs and the old woman loved her as her own child.

The next morning the cat began to mew and the hen to cackle when they saw the new guest.

"What is the matter?" asked the old woman, looking around. Her eyes were not good, so she took the duckling to be a fat duck who had lost her way. "This is a wonderful catch," she said. "I shall now have duck's eggs, if it be not a drake. We must wait and see." So the duckling was kept on trial for three weeks. But no eggs made their appearance.

Day after day the duckling sat in a corner feeling very sad, until finally the fresh air and bright sunshine that came into the room through the open door gave him such a strong desire to swim that he could not help telling the hen.

"What ails you?" said the hen. "You have nothing to do, and therefore you brood over these fancies. Either lay eggs or purr, then you will forget them."

"But it is so delicious to swim," said the duckling, "so delicious when the waters close over your head and you plunge to the bottom."

"Well, that is a queer sort of pleasure," said the hen. "I think you must be crazy. Not to speak of myself, ask the cat—he is the wisest creature I know whether he would like to swim, or to plunge to the bottom of the water. Ask your mistress. No one is cleverer than she. Do you think she would take pleasure in swimming, and in the waters closing over her head?"

"You do not understand me," said the duckling.

"What! We do not understand you! So you think yourself wiser than the cat and the old woman, not to speak of myself! Do not fancy any such thing, child, but be thankful for all the kindness that has been shown you. Are you not lodged in a warm room, and have you not the advantage of society from which you can learn something? Come, for once take the trouble either to learn to purr or to lay eggs."

"I think I will take my chance and go out into the wide world again," said the duckling.

"Well, go then," said the hen.

So the duckling went away. He soon found water, and swam on the surface and plunged beneath it, but all the other creatures passed him by because of his ugliness. The autumn came. The leaves turned yellow and brown. The wind caught them and danced them about. The air was cold. The clouds were heavy with hail or snow, and the raven sat on the hedge and croaked. The poor duckling was certainly not very comfortable! One evening, just as the sun was setting, a flock of large birds rose from the brushwood. The duckling had never seen anything so beautiful before. Their plumage was of a dazzling white, and they had long, slender necks. They were swans. They uttered a singular cry, spread out their long, splendid wings, and flew away from these cold regions to warmer countries across the sea. They flew so high, so very high! The ugly duckling's feelings were very strange. He turned round and round in the water like a wheel, strained his neck to look after them, and sent forth such a loud and strange cry that he almost frightened himself.

He could not forget them, those noble birds! Those happy birds! The duckling did not know what the birds were called, or where they were flying, yet he loved them as he had never before loved anything. He did not envy them. It would never have occurred to him to wish such beauty for himself.

He would have been quite content if the ducks in the duckyard had just endured his company.

And the winter was so cold! The duckling had to swim round and round in the water to keep it from freezing. But every night the opening in which he swam became smaller and the duckling had to make good use of his legs to prevent the water from freezing entirely. At last, exhausted, he lay stiff and cold in the ice.

Early in the morning a peasant passed by and saw him. He broke the ice in pieces with his wooden shoe and carried the duckling home to his wife.

The duckling soon revived. The children would have played with him, but he thought they wished to tease him and in his terror jumped into the milk pail, so that the milk was splashed about the room. The good woman screamed and clapped her hands. He flew next into the tub where the butter was kept and then into the meal barrel and out again.

The woman screamed. The children tried to catch him and laughed and screamed, too. It was well for him that the door stood open. He jumped out among the bushes, into the newfallen snow, and lay there as in a dream.

But it would be too sad to relate all the trouble and misery he had to suffer during that winter. He was lying on a moor among the reeds when the sun began to shine warmly again. The larks were singing and beautiful spring had returned.

Once more he shook his wings. They were stronger and carried him forward quickly. And, before he was well aware of it, he was in a large garden where the apple trees stood in full bloom, where the syringas sent forth their fragrance, and hung their long green branches down into the winding canal. Oh! Everything was so lovely, so full of the freshness of spring!

Out of the thicket came three beautiful white swans. They displayed their feathers so proudly, and swam so lightly! The duckling knew the glorious creatures and was seized with a strange sadness.

"I will fly to them, those kingly birds!" he said. "They will kill me, because I, ugly as I am, have presumed to approach them. But it does not matter.

Better be killed by them than be bitten by the ducks, pecked by the hens, kicked by the girl who feeds the poultry, and have so much to suffer during the winter!" He flew into the water and swam toward the beautiful creatures. They saw him and shot forward to meet him. "Only kill me," said the poor duckling and he bowed his head low, expecting death. But what did he see in the water? He saw beneath him his own form, no longer that of a plump, ugly, gray bird. It was the reflection of a swan!

It does not matter to have been born in a duckyard if one has been hatched from a swan's egg.

The larger swans swam around him and stroked him with their beaks. He was very happy.

Some little children were running about in the garden. They threw grain and bread into the water, and the youngest exclaimed, "There is a new one!" The others also cried out, "Yes, a new swan has come!" and they clapped their hands, and ran and told their father and mother. Bread and cake were thrown into the water, and everyone said, "The new one is the best, so young and so beautiful!" and the old swans bowed before him. The young swan felt quite ashamed and hid his head under his wing.

He remembered how he had been laughed at and cruelly treated, and he now heard everyone say he was the most beautiful of all beautiful birds. The syringas bent down their branches toward him, and the sun shone warmly and brightly. He shook his feathers, stretched his slender neck, and in the joy of his heart said, "How little did I dream of so much happiness when I was the ugly, despised duckling!" 

Taken from : http://www.childrenstory.info/childrenstories/theuglyduckling.html?cPath=52

Peterpan The Lost Boy

Peter Pan

James Matthew Barry  

Wendy, John, and Michael Darling lived in London. One night, Wendy woke to find a strange boy sitting on the floor who was crying.

"My name is Wendy," she said. "Who are you? Why are you crying?

"I'm Peter Pan," the boy replied. "I'm crying because my shadow won't stick to me."

"Don't cry," Wendy said. "We can fix that." And she sewed Peter's shadow to the tips of his shoes. Peter was delighted.

"Fly back to Neverland with me and my fairy, Tinker Bell," Peter begged. "You could be our mother and take care of us."

"Can you teach me to fly?" Wendy asked. Peter nodded.

"Let's wake John and Michael," Wendy said. "You can teach us all to fly and then we

will leave for Neverland !"

The children were soon flying around the room. then—Swoosh ! Out the window they all flew.

Wendy, John, and Michael flew behind Peter Pan and Tinker Bell, following the golden arrows that pointed the way to Neverland. Finally, they were flying over the island.

"The lost boys live with me and Tinker Bell. I'm their captain," Peter said. "The Indians live over there, and the mermaids live in the lagoon. And there are pirates too, led by Captain Hook."

"Pirates?" exclaimed Wendy, John, and Michael, all in the same breath. Wendy was frightened, but Michael and John wanted to see the pirates right away.

"Hook's the meanest pirate ever," Peter warned. "But he's afraid of the crocodile. The crocodile bit off Hook's hand and liked the taste so much that it follows him, hoping for more. Luckily for Hook, the crocodile swallowed a clock. It goes 'Tick, Mock, and warns Hook when the crocodile is nearby"

"Oh, my God r" cried Wendy, not sure if she really wanted to stay in Neverlanc: after all.

Peter led Wendy, John, and Michael to his house under the woods. They entered through a door hidden in an old tree stump. When the lost boys saw Wendy, they shouted, "Hooray ! Will you be our mother?"

"I'm only a little girl," Wendy answered. "I have no experience." But the lost boys looked so sad that she said, "I'll do my best."

That night Wendy tucked the boys into bed and told them the tale of Cinderella.

Life was pleasant in the cosy house under the woods.

Wendy took care of the boys, who explored the island during the day. At night, they gathered for meals, played make- believe games, and listened while Wendy told them stories.

One day, Peter and the children went exploring near the mermaids' lagoon. Suddenly Peter yelled, "Pirates ! Take cover." The boys ran away, and Peter and Wendy hid.

Peter and Wendy could see that the pirates had tied up Tiger Lily, the Indian princess. The pirates had left her on a rock in the lagoon.

Peter was afraid that Tiger Lily would drown when the tide came in. He had to save her ! In a voice that sounded just like Captain Hook's, he shouted, "Set her free !"

"But, Captain," the pirates yelled, "you ordered us to bring her here !"

"Let her go !' Peter roared, still sounding like Hook. "Aye, aye," the pirates said, and set Tiger Lily free. She swam quickly back to the Indian camp.

When Captain Hook found out what had happened, he knew Peter had tricked his pirates. Hook became furious!

That night, Wendy told the boys a story about three children who left their parents and flew to Neverland. Their mother and father missed them very much. The children loved Neverland, but they never forgot their home.

"Did they ever go back?" the lost boys asked.

"Oh, yes," Wendy replied. "They flew home to their mummy and daddy, and everyone was happy."

The story made Wendy, John, and Michael homesick. They decided to fly home the next morning. "If you come back with us," Wendy told the lost boys, I'm sure our mother and father would adopt you."

"Hooray !" shouted the boys, jumping with joy.

Wendy asked Peter if he and Tinker Bell would come home with them too. But Peter didn't want to live where grown-ups could tell him what to do.

Peter was sad that his friends were leaving. Still, he wanted the children to arrive home safely, so he asked Tinker Bell to guide them on their trip.

Early the next morning, Tinker Bell and the children left the house under the woods. But Captain Hook's pirates were hiding nearby. They captured all the children, tied them up, and marched them towards the pirate's ship.

Tinker Bell escaped, and hurried back to tell Peter what had happened.

"It's Hook or me this time !" yelled Peter to Tinker Bell as they flew off to save Wendy and the boys.

On the pirate's ship, Captain Hook demanded, "Who wants to become a pirate?" The boys shook their heads.

"Then make them walk the plank !" Hook roared. The boys tried to look brave, but they were afraid.

Suddenly, they heard the "Tick, Tock" of the crocodile. Now it was Captain Hook's turn to be afraid.

But the "Tick, Tock" was only Peter, imitating the crocodile-. He flew onto the deck and shouted, "I've got you now, Hook !" Captain Hook jumped up and swung at Peter with his sword. Peter was quick, and stepped away. He slashed at Hook with his own sword until they came close to the edge of the ship.

Peter lunged with his sword, and Hook fell into the sea, where the crocodile was waiting for him. And that was the end of Captain. I-look!

When Peter was certain that Hook was gone forever, he and Tinker Bell set off for London with Wendy and the boys.

Wendy's parents were happy to see their children again. Mr. and Mrs. Darling hugged Wendy, John, and Michael, and agreed to adopt the lost boys. They asked Peter to stay with them also, but he said, "I'm going to stay in Neverland where I never have to grow up."

"Goodbye then, Peter. We'll miss you," everyone called. Peter Pan and Tinker Bell waved goodbye and flew home to Neverland.

Taken from  : http://www.childrenstory.info/childrenstories/peterpan.html?cPath=57

Frog Prince story

There was once a handsome young prince who had the misfortune to offend a wicked fairy. To avenge herself she turned him into an ugly frog and put him into a well.

Now it happened that the well was in the courtyard of a king's palace and on fine days, when the sun shone warmly, the king's youngest daughter sometimes came there to amuse herself by tossing a golden ball high into the air and catching it as it fell. The poor frog watched her running to and fro in the sunshine. He thought she was the prettiest princess he had ever seen. One day, the princess threw the ball up so high that when she stretched out her hand to catch it the ball bounced on the stones and fell with a splash into the water. She ran to the edge of the well and gazed down. But the golden ball had sunk far, far out of sight. Only a little ring of bubbles showed her where it had disappeared. She began to cry bitterly.

The frog popped his head out of the water. "Don't cry, Princess!" he said.

"What will you give me if I bring your ball from the bottom of the well?"

"Oh, I will give you anything I have," replied the princess. "My pretty pearls, my diamonds—even my crown. Only please bring my ball back to me!"

"I do not want your pearls or your diamonds or your crown," said the frog. "But if you will promise to love me, and let me eat from your plate, and drink out of your cup, and sleep on your bed, I will bring your ball safely back to you."

And the princess promised. For she said to herself, "What a silly frog! As if he could ever get out of the well and walk all the way to the palace! He will never find me."

The frog dove to the bottom of the well and presently came up with the golden ball in his mouth.

The princess had no sooner snatched it from him than she forgot all about her promise and ran back to the palace laughing with joy.

The next day, as she sat at dinner with the king and his courtiers, something came flopping up the great staircase—flip flap, flip flap!

And a voice said:

"From the deep and mossy well,

Little princess, where I dwell,

When you wept in grief and pain

I brought your golden ball again."

The princess dropped her spoon with a clatter on her plate, for she knew it was the frog who had come to claim her promise.

"What is the matter, daughter?" asked the king. "There is someone knocking at the door and your rosy cheeks are quite pale."

Then the princess had to tell her father all that had happened the day before how she had dropped her golden ball into the well, and how the frog had brought it up for her, and of the promises she had given him.

The king frowned and said, "People who make promises must keep them. Open the door and let the frog come in."

The princess opened the door very unwillingly and the poor frog hopped into the room, looking up into her face with his ugly little eyes.

"Lift me up beside you," he cried, "that I may eat from your plate and drink out of your cup." The princess did as he asked her and was obliged to finish her dinner with the frog beside her, for the king sat by to see that she fulfilled her promise. When they had finished, the frog said, "I have had enough to eat. Now I am tired. Take me up and lay me on your pillow, that I may go to sleep."

Then the princess began to cry. It was so dreadful to think that an ugly frog, all cold and damp from the well, should sleep in her pretty white bed.

But her father frowned again and said, "People who make promises must keep them. He gave you back your golden ball and you must do as he asks."

So the princess picked the frog up between her thumb and finger, not touching him more than she could help, and carried him upstairs and put him on the pillow on her bed. There he slept all night long. As soon as it was light he jumped up, hopped downstairs, and went out of the palace.

Now, thought the princess, he is gone and I shall be troubled with him no more.

But she was mistaken, for when night came again she heard tapping at the door of her bedroom. When she opened it, the frog came in and slept upon her pillow as before until the morning broke. The third night he did the same. But when the princess awoke the following morning, she was astonished to see, instead of the frog, a handsome prince standing at the head of her bed. He was gazing at her with the most beautiful eyes that ever were seen.

He told her that he had been enchanted by a wicked fairy, who had changed him into the form of a frog, in which he was fated to remain until a princess let him sleep upon her bed for three nights.

"You," said the prince, "have broken this cruel spell and now I have nothing to wish for but that you should go with me to my father's kingdom, where I will marry you and love you as long as you live." The princess took him to her father and he gave his consent for them to marry. As they spoke a splendid carriage drove up with eight beautiful horses decked with plumes of feathers and golden harness. Behind rode the prince's servant, who had bewailed the misfortune of his dear master so long and so bitterly that his heart had almost burst. Then all set out full of joy for the prince's kingdom. There they arrived safely and lived happily ever after.
Taken from : http://www.childrenstory.info/childrenstories/thefrogprince.html