1) A mother duck hatched five eggs, but one duckling was much larger and uglier than the others. 2) The other ducklings bullied and rejected the ugly duckling. Animals on the farm also mocked the duckling for its appearance. 3) The ugly duckling fled the farm after the cat threatened to eat it. It came upon two swans who showed it kindness. Looking at its reflection, the duckling realized it had grown into a beautiful swan.

1. The Ugly Duckling
Once upon a time there was a farm very far away. It was the home of many birds and animals
who lived there. It used to be a very extraordinary farm till the day when there appeared a duck
that was hatching 5 eggs and was waiting for the ducklings to come out.
Mother-duck: My darlings, I want to see you smiling so much! I want you to come out as soon
as possible.
The duck just finished to talk, and four little and nice heads appeared and started to quack.
Mother-duck: My babies, look at you! How beautiful you are!
First duckling: But, mom, look at this one! She is so ugly. We don’t want to sit next to her.
Mother-duck: My darlings, she is your sister and we must love her even if she is not as beautiful
as we are. And now, come with me! Mommy will teach you how to swim.
Second duckling: Mom, look at her! She’s swimming so well!
Third duckling: Will I ever be able to do it as well?
Fourth duckling: When did you manage to learn to swim that well?
Ugly duckling: But I came here when you did!
Then the mother duck understood that one of her eggs was unusual and now she didn’t know
what kind of challenges would have her poor baby to face since as the time passed, she was
becoming uglier and uglier. When the mother duck decided to show her kids the farm, she asked
them to come around her and told them:
Mother-duckling: My darlings, those who live at the farm can be very mean to you. Don’t get
scared and if someone will be mean to your sister, protect her!
Duckling 1: Let her protect herself!
Duckling 2: It’s not our fault that she’s so ugly!
Duckling 3: We don’t want to fight with everyone because of her!
Duckling 4: We should hide her so that no one would see her.
All of a sudden, appeared the hen. She was always envying the duck because she was so kind.
Hen: Hi, neighbor! I came by to see your kids! What’s up?

2. Mother: I have five beautiful kids that I’m very proud of. They’re swimming, playing and
making me happy every day.
Hen: My chicks are way more beautiful than yours! But, gosh, this one is so ugly! Where did
you get it from?
Mother: It’s my child and she is the most beautiful one for me!
Hen (to the ugly duckling): The farmer is keeping me because I’m laying eggs. If you want to
live here, you have to lay eggs. But, you, ugly thing, can you lay eggs?
Ugly duckling: No, but I want to live next to my mom!
Hen: That’s impossible! If the cat comes here, that’s it for you!
Mother-duck: My darlings, this is the head of the farm. Although he is not laying eggs, he is not
sent away by the owner of the farm. Be aware and go away from him because he is the most sly
animal in our farm.
Cat: I’ve heard that we have an ugly duck. In order to make our farm be as good as it used to be,
and in order to make everyone happy, I will eat it!
Mother-duck: I will not allow you to eat my children!
And then the cat scratched the mother duck with her paw, she was trying to catch the ugly
duckling. But, the poor child ran away quickly, flying to the sky, and all those who lived at the
farm were surprised to see something like that.
Running away from home, the ugly duckling found another lake where two swans were
swimming. The ugly duckling wanted to swim next to them, but she remembered that she was
ugly and was afraid that they would laugh at her. Then she hid behind a tree and started to cry.
When the swans heard her crying, they went closer to the ugly duckling, and were very surprised
to see her there:
Swans: Why are you crying, sis?
Ugly duckling: I’m crying because I’m ugly and everybody laughs at me. And, because of me,
the cat bit my mother’s hand.
Swans: But you’re not ugly! Come here, look at yourself and you will see how beautiful you are!
Ugly duckling: Wow, I’m beautiful, indeed!
Swans: You’re even more beautiful that we are!

3. Ugly duckling: Everybody was laughing at me before now! Thank you for being so good to me!
Thank you for helping me discover that I’m not an ugly duckling anymore, but a beautiful swan.
Swans: The others laughed at you not because we are ugly, but because you were different. They
didn’t understand that all the creatures are different, and that you were special.
And then the three swans embarked on a big adventure. They became a real family.