{"id":13813,"date":"2023-04-18T04:48:58","date_gmt":"2023-04-18T04:48:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lib.sjp.ac.lk\/englishforfun\/?page_id=13813"},"modified":"2023-04-26T07:52:02","modified_gmt":"2023-04-26T07:52:02","slug":"the-ugly-duckling","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/lib.sjp.ac.lk\/englishforfun\/middle-school-stories-english\/the-ugly-duckling\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ugly Duckling"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”The Ugly Duckling” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:left|color:%23673ab7″ use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_single_image image=”9194″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Click Here to Download the MP3<\/a><\/strong>[\/vc_column_text]

<\/div>[vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]Once upon a time, a mother sat on five eggs near a river.\u00a0 She kept them warm, watching the beautiful water flow beside her.\u00a0 She was very happy.\u00a0 She waited for the babies to be born.\u00a0 She was looking forward to swimming with them in the river.<\/p>\n

On one fine day, when the sun was shinning brightly, the first egg cracked.\u00a0 A very sweet yellow duckling emerged out.\u00a0 He went chirping to his mother.\u00a0 The mother was delighted.\u00a0 Then the second egg hatched, and the third \u2013 and soon there were five bright and joyful little ducklings dancing around their mother.\u00a0 \u201cLet\u2019s go into the water,\u201d they said.\u00a0 \u201cLet\u2019s go in the water, let\u2019s go in the water,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

But there was another egg left.\u00a0 It was larger than the others and a bit darker.\u00a0 The mother looked at it and said, \u201cHmm, let\u2019s wait a bit.\u00a0 There is another one to come.\u201d\u00a0 So, they waited around watching the egg, impatiently, while the sun shine down on them and the wind blew across the reeds.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”13816″ img_size=”full”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text]And then a small line appeared on the egg \u2013 it became bigger and bigger and crack! \u2013 a bird emerged from the shell.<\/p>\n

But it was not a duckling like the others.\u00a0 It was dark and greyish and did not have the cheerful yellow that the rest of the ducklings had.<\/p>\n

\u201cEww \u2013 who is this?\u201d asked one of the ducklings.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is ugly,\u201d said another.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy does he walk so funny?\u201d asked another.[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”13817″ img_size=”full”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]Indeed, he did walk clumsily.\u00a0 His feet were large and when he moved, it didn\u2019t look sweet or graceful.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t run quickly to his mother like the other had.\u00a0 The mother said hurriedly, \u201cCome, come, into the water with all of you.\u201d<\/p>\n

They all fell into line behind her as she walked to the river, five ducklings walking smartly and one swaying clumsily after them all.<\/p>\n

In the water it was the same.\u00a0 The five yellow ducklings could swim very well after a few moments.\u00a0 The grey ugly one could only waddle around in fear.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t take long for the others to laugh at him and call him names.\u00a0 The mother tried to help him all she could, but he could not learn to swim more smoothly or walk more gracefully.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is stupid\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe cannot learn.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]\u201cHe is so ugly,\u201d were all that the ugly duckling could hear day after day.\u00a0 His mother felt sad and tried to make her other children kinder but she could not do that.\u00a0 On a particularly bad day, listening to how scornful his siblings sounded towards him, ugly duckling decided to run away.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t want to be laughed at any more.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t want to cause his mother worry anymore.\u00a0 He waddled out of the river, flapped his wings dry, and sadly walked away with his head down.<\/p>\n

He walked and he walked and he walked.\u00a0 He passed hens and cows and sheep and horses.\u00a0 Near everyone he waited for a bit hoping that they will ask him to stay and be their friend.\u00a0 But no one even looked at him.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t want to even talk to him because he looked so miserable and ugly.\u00a0 So he kept on walking.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”13819″ img_size=”full”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]The ugly duckling ended up in a small garden that belonged to an old woman who lived there with her hen and her cat.\u00a0 They discovered the ugly ducking in the corner of the yard cold and shivering in the rain.\u00a0 The old woman thought she will be able to get more eggs if she kept this duck with her.\u00a0 So she carried the trembling bird inside her house, kept it near the fire, and gave it some food.\u00a0 The ugly ducking soon felt better.\u00a0 The cat and the hen looked at this bird curiously.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]\u201cCan you lay eggs?\u201d asked the hen.\u00a0 \u201cNo,\u201d said the ugly duckling.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan you purr and make the old woman happy?\u201d asked the cat.\u00a0 \u201cNo,\u201d said the ugly duckling.<\/p>\n

\u201cUseless creature.\u00a0 You will not be allowed to stay here long, we are sure,\u201d they said.\u00a0 And sure enough, when the old woman saw that the ugly duckling could do nothing but stand sadly in the corner, she shooed him away with a broom after a few days.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are so ugly you make this whole house sad,\u201d she said as she tried to sweep him outside.<\/p>\n

The ugly duckling felt scared and ran away from the broom as fast as he could.\u00a0 He ran down the steps and across the yard.\u00a0 He ran down the road as far as he could from that house and hid in some reeds near the river.\u00a0 Tears were falling from his eyes.\u00a0 He heard some rustling and looked up.\u00a0 And there in the sky, were some white birds who looked more beautiful and elegant than any other animal he had seen before.\u00a0 They looked so wonderful that the ugly duckling forgot to cry and stared at them in admiration.\u00a0 He saw how they all flew together and looked like a family that liked being together.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow I wish I could be as beautiful and as happy as them,\u201d he thought, looking up at them through the reeds.\u00a0 He watched them till they flew away and passed out of sight.<\/p>\n

The ugly duckling tried to live alone near that river, hiding in those reeds.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t want anyone to see him even though he was lonely.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t want anyone to laugh at him or call him ugly.<\/p>\n

But soon the Winter came.\u00a0 The weather grew colder and colder.\u00a0 The ugly ducking found it hard to swim because the water was freezing over too.\u00a0 One day, as the thin ice trapped him in the corner of the river and he lay there shivering, thinking that he was going to die, a kind old man who was passing saw him and came to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, you poor thing,\u201d he said and picked him up gently and held the duckling against his chest.\u00a0 The man quickly took him to his farmhouse and kept him near the fire.\u00a0 The ugly duckling felt the warmth come creeping through his frozen body.\u00a0 Slowly, slowly he opened his eyes and knew that he was saved from death.<\/p>\n

That whole winter the kind old man tended to the ugly duckling.\u00a0 He gave him food.\u00a0 And more importantly he gave him kind words.\u00a0 He gave him love.\u00a0 The ugly duckling slowly grew stronger.<\/p>\n

Winter ended and Spring came.\u00a0 The snow melted away and the trees outside grew green leaves and suddenly burst into flower.\u00a0 The water of the river thawed and they could hear it gurgling down happily.\u00a0 One fine warm day the old man carried the ugly duckling to the river and let him into the water.\u00a0 The ugly duckling found that he could swim easily into the middle of the river.\u00a0 He felt strong and confident.\u00a0 Suddenly he caught sight of a beautiful while bird in the water.\u00a0 Surprised he looked up at the sky.\u00a0 Had those beautiful birds come back?\u00a0 But there was no one there.\u00a0 There was only him.\u00a0 He looked at the bird below him again.\u00a0 The beautiful bird looked back at him.\u00a0 The ugly duckling lifted a wing.\u00a0 The bird lifted a wide strong shinning white wing as well.\u00a0 That was him, the ugly duckling realized.\u00a0 That beautiful bird was him!<\/p>\n

Just then he heard the rustling of wings again and looked up.\u00a0 The group of beautiful white birds were back.\u00a0 And they all looked just like him.\u00a0 They circled above him and landed on the water next to him.\u00a0 They spoke excitedly to him and asked who he was.<\/p>\n

\u201cWill you be our friend?\u201d they asked.<\/p>\n

The ugly duckling could hardly believe it.\u00a0 \u201cYes,\u201d he said, happily.<\/p>\n

So they all opened their strong wings and rose to the sky.\u00a0 They flew as a flock over rivers and forests and sometimes towns.\u00a0 All the people who saw them could be heard exclaiming, \u201cWhat beautiful swans they are!\u201d<\/p>\n

Sometimes the ugly duckling, who was now a swan, thought he could see his old family of ducks still waddling in the water in the river.\u00a0 He never wanted to see them again, though.\u00a0 He now belonged elsewhere.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner]

<\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”The Ugly Duckling” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:left|color:%23673ab7″ use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_single_image image=”9194″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text] [\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Click Here to Download the MP3[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]Once upon a time, a mother sat on five eggs near a river.\u00a0 She kept them warm, watching the beautiful water flow beside her.\u00a0 She was very happy.\u00a0 She waited for the babies to be born.\u00a0 She was looking forward to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":13771,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-13813","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Ugly Duckling - English for Fun<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lib.sjp.ac.lk\/englishforfun\/middle-school-stories-english\/the-ugly-duckling\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Ugly Duckling - 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