She lived in a small clearing, in the forest.

One day, she laid some eggs,

After warming them carefully,

the duck waited for the eggs to hatch.

Ohh! my little young ones,

how cute they would be,

As she watched three of her eggs cracked,

and three lovely ducklings came into the world.

Mother duck was overjoyed!!

But the largest egg was still there..

At last the great egg burst!!

But, Ohh!

How large and grey and ugly it was!!!

The mother duck looked at it,

Oh! No, he cannot be my baby.

How ugly he is!!

and how different from my other children!

The ugly duckling was hated by his brothers and sisters.

They would often mock at him,

How unattractive you are!!

You cannot be one of us..

The ugly duckling felt so sad,

That he ran away from home one day.

Wandering alone,

the ugly duckling came upon a house,

As he peeped inside, he saw an old woman sitting idle.

At her foot, sat a cat and a hen.

The old woman looks kind,

She has a cat and a hen as pets.

Suddenly, the woman noticed the duckling.

Who are you? Come in..

At first the woman cuddled the duckling,

But the very next moment, she screamed at him in anger

"Away from here you ugly duckling,"

That the duckling ran out of the house.

Once again the poor duckling,

went walking through the dark woods,

He spent his days, sobbing and nights crying...

He felt lonely and miserable,

but the ugly duckling was hopeful in his heart.

Then one day, the duckling saw a pond.

His eyes lit up in joy!!

as he had seen water after so many days.

Ahhh! a pond, my favourite place!

The ugly duckling hopped of joy,

And faded into the pond.

He swam to his satisfaction.

Happy days are here again..

But his happiness was short-lived..

Winter had set in,

And the cool wind had started to blow.

Due to the cold weather,

even the pond had frozen.

Now, the ugly duckling could not swim.

I wish, I had a cosy home.

A little while later,

a kind farmer, happen to pass that way.

Taking pity on the ducklings miserable condition,

He took him home.

The farmer nursed the duckling,

and soon the bird was well.

Then, the farmer left the duckling in the pond.

One morning,

the duckling saw some beautiful swans around him.

The duckling was ashamed of himself,

and bowed his head low..,

But what did he see in the water!!

He saw beneath him, his own form!!

No longer that of an ugly gray bird,

It was a reflection of a Swan..

The duckling was amazed!!!

Actually, he had grown into a beautiful swan.

Hello brother, Welcome to our Community.

You are the most beautiful among us!

The ugly duckling remembered,

how he had been laughed at and cruelly treated

and he now heard,

the Swans say, that he was the most beautiful among them.

Now, he was no more "The Ugly Duckling."