Once there was a small duckling. Due to his strange appearance, he is not accepted by the other ducks or by other animals on the farm where he lives. He suffers constant verbal and physical abuse. The unhappy bird finally leaves home. He fails to find happiness anywhere else but briefly becomes excited when he sees some swans flying overhead, considering them to be the most beautiful birds he has ever seen. After suffering a miserable winter, in the spring, the ugly duckling finds that he has grown up to be a swan himself.
‘The Ugly Duckling’ is a short story for children by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published in 1843 in the fourth volume of Andersen’s fairy tales. Hans Christian Andersen considered the story to be autobiographical. As a child, he was mocked for his big nose, and large feet.
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