The Beautiful Duckling

In the nest of one mother duck, hidden away in a small forest glade, lay several yellow oblong eggs, all perfectly smooth and beautiful, except for one. This one was slightly bigger, brown, and altogether ugly. When the day came that the eggs began to hatch, the ugly brown egg remained still. Mother Duck counted one - two - three - four little, grey, down-covered ducklings, and then she noticed the remaining unhatched egg. She decided that she would wait to see if it would eventually hatch. After two days it still hadn’t hatched. Just as Mother Duck was about to push the egg out of the nest, it began to stir, and not too long after an awkward, sparsely-feathered bird came tumbling out. Mother Duck saw that the little bird was ugly, but she smiled just the same.

After several weeks Mother Duck decided that it was time for her young to learn to swim. So she lined up her five little ducklings behind her and headed toward the nearby lake. The Ugly Duckling walked behind the rest of the others. He kept stumbling as his disproportionally long legs tripped him up, and he clumsily trailed several feet behind his siblings. They turned and chided him for being so clumsy and ugly, then they quickly ran to catch up to Mother Duck. Ugly Duckling tripped once more, and when he got up he couldn’t see his siblings or his mother anywhere. He continued on in the same direction they had been walking, hoping to find his family.

Ugly Duckling soon came upon a pond. He saw several great and beautiful swans swimming, but did not see his family. He sat down at edge of the pond and began to cry. One of the swans swam over to Ugly Duckling and asked, “What is the matter, little one?”

“My family and I were on our way to the lake and they left me behind because I am so clumsy and ugly,” replied Ugly Duckling. “I wish that I was beautiful like you; perhaps my family would like me. Can you help me?”

“First of all,” Swan said, “the lake where your mother and brothers are is only a short way through the wood in that direction. As for being beautiful like me, I can help you with that also. A long time ago others thought that I was ugly, too, but I ignored their tauntings and teasings, and I loved them despite their harsh words. Come back to my pond once a month and look at your reflection in the water. Eventually, you will be as beautiful as I am.”

Ugly Duckling thanked the swan and waddled off through the forest to find his family. The other swans swam over to the Beautiful Swan and asked him, “Why did you tease that ugly duckling so? He is already ugly, he does not need you to mock him.”

Beautiful Swan said, “Just wait. One day, that little ugly duckling will grow up to be beautiful just like me.

As instructed, Ugly Duckling came to the swans’ pond every month. He came with stories of his brothers’ cruel jokes and mean words. Beautiful Swan reminded him to repay meanness with kindness. And every visit Ugly Duckling gazed into the water and looked at his reflection. Then he would bid farewell to Beautiful Swan and waddle back home to his family. As time went on Ugly Duckling had fewer and fewer stories to tell about his brothers’ hurtful actions. They were growing to respect his kind heart and to love their ugly brother. The months passed and Ugly Duckling grew bigger, but much to the dismay of the other swans, he did not seem to be getting any more handsome.

One day Ugly Duckling, who had grown into an ugly duck, came to Beautiful Swan’s pond but had not stories to tell about his brothers. He didn’t even look into the pond to see his reflection. He simply thanked Beautiful Swan and left the pond content with his beauty, or rather, lack of beauty.

The other swans gathered around Beautiful Swan and asked him, “Why did Ugly Duck not look at his reflection? Was he ashamed that he was still ugly and did not grow to be beautiful like you?”

“On the contrary,” said Beautiful Swan, “he finally realized that he was beautiful and had been all along. Just as the water in the pond reflects one’s physical beauty, a person’s friends and family reflect one’s beautiful personality.”