Once upon a time,
in a far away country,
a mother duck sat on her nest,
patiently waiting for her six eggs to hatch.
One day, she noticed that one of the eggs was bigger than the others.
I'm pretty sure that the duckling that comes out of this egg will be the most beautiful duckling that anyone has ever seen.
Even though she convinced herself there was nothing wrong,
the mother duck was still worried because this was the first time she had seen such a big egg.
Finally,
the eggshells began to crack and one after another,
the ducklings started coming out with joy as they were quacking.
They all hatched but one!
There was no movement in the big egg.
I guess it didn't get it warmed enough.
Now I'm going to sit on it again to see if it hatches.
The ducklings sat beside their mother as she sat on the nest warming the big egg.
Finally, the egg hatched.
Everyone was curiously watching it.
They were surprised at what they saw:
A gray colored ugly duckling which looked nothing like his siblings.
They were all staring at him.
Oh my! This duckling doesn't look like the others.
The rest of my ducklings are so cute, why is he so different?
Mother duck was very sad.
She console herself hoping that one day he might look like his siblings.
But at the same time, she told herself that no matter what, he was her duckling too.
Days passed and the ugly duckling was still the same.
When they went for walks with their mother and wandered around, his siblings always left him behind.
What an ugly duckling you are!
You don't look like us.
Go away,
we can't even play with you!
We don't like you.
We don't want you hanging out with us!
The ugly duckling was really upset.
He always walked with his head down, looking sad.
One day, he went to the lake and as he cried he talked to himself:
My mother is very sad and my siblings don't even want me.
Why am I so ugly?
I'm so lonely!
Nobody loves me.
As he looked into the water, he saw his reflection.
My siblings are right.
I'm really a strange-looking duck.
My mother hasn't even kissed me once!
I can't live with them any more.
So he decided to leave his family and went to the forest to start a new life by himself.
He walked for a long time and went very far.
From time to time, he would stop to rest under a tree.
If he found a body of water, he would swim to continue on his journey.
Days and months passed and the weather got colder.
The ugly duckling was shivering and couldn't even find a decent meal.
It also started snowing so much
that the whole forest was now all white.
He could barely walk.
Luckily, that's when he spotted a farm.
Excited, he went inside the coop,
but the hens didn't want him either.
What kind of a duck are you? Get out of our coop, now!
He spotted a dog house in the farm.
When he tried to go in, a huge dog confronted him.
Hey, where do you think you're going?
This isn't your house!
Who said that we are friends?
This time, the poor ugly duckling wanted to go inside the barn.
We sure don't want to see an ugly duckling like you among us.
Your face is so ugly that we might stop producing milk altogether.
Get out!
At that time, the owner of the farm was looking out the window.
She felt sorry for the ugly duckling shivering and running from place to place, seeking shelter.
The lady dried him, and wrapped him up with a clean towel,
and brought him inside the house.
She then placed him next to the fireplace so he could warm up.
Thank you for taking me in, ma'am.
You warm up now duckling.
Let me bring some food for you.
The lady also had a house cat;
he was staring at the ugly duckling from afar.
The cat got very jealous because his owner was now taking care of the duckling.
While the ugly duckling was trying to warm up by the fireplace,
the cat got close to him to taunt and scratch him.
The poor ugly duckling had to endure the cat's taunting a few days.
He just wanted to rest and be able to eat something to regain his strength.
After some time, the ugly duckling decided to leave.
Thank you for having me as your guest ma'am,
but I need to go now.
I do not wish to impose on you or cause any trouble.
The ugly duckling started his journey again.
By then, the snow had melted and spring had come.
On his way, he came across a little lake.
He jumped in and as he happily swam, he saw his reflection in the water.
Oh, who's this?
This is not me or,
could it be?
Last time I looked in the winter,
I was an ugly-faced duckling!
He flapped and flapped his wings, and when he saw his huge shadow in the water he shouted joyously.
Good heavens!
How much I've grown and how handsome I've become.
I wonder, how would my mother and siblings treat me if they saw me now?
Suddenly, two swans that looked like him swam towards him.
Hi! Welcome to our lake.
We're swans just like you.
Are you lost?
You can join us if you'd like.
You're one of us.
At last, the ugly duckling knew the truth!
It turns out that his egg had accidentally rolled over to his mother's nest.
So he decided to stay with his own kind.
He was very happy:
He swam and swam in the calm waters of the lake, admiring his own beauty.
However, no matter how happy he was, the ugly duckling couldn't forget his mother.
As time passed by, he missed his mother and started thinking that he should of never left.
I was a swan egg that accidentally got mixed with my mother duck's eggs.
My mother never separated me from the others and kept me warm so that I could hatch like my siblings.
I owe her my life.
The ugly duckling told the story to his swan friends.
He thanked them for everything, said goodbye, and headed back to the farm where he was born.
When he arrived, he ran to his mother and siblings.
Don't you recognize me?
I'm the ugly duckling.
Actually, I'm a swan.
I turned into a handsome swan.
How do I look?
His mother was shocked but happy to see her son again.
Welcome back home!
I was so worried about you. I am so sorry for all the pain we cause you, my son.
His siblings were so ashamed.
We judged you based on you appearance.
Can you forgive us?
We broke your heart.
We will never make such a mistake.
Come on!
Let's swim together like the good ol' days.
They all jumped into the water joyfully.
They swam in tandem with Mother duck at the front, followed by her five ducklings.
And in the back, the beautiful white swan the Ugly Duckling…
Swimming all together, they lived happily ever after.