The Ugly Duckling
Name: ………………………………………………
On a beautiful summer day, a family of ducks is taking a
swim, while another is enjoying a stroll by the bank. But
one duck is sitting on her eggs among the tall
__________ (1).
- I wonder when my babies are going to come out. They
are taking so long to hatch!! It is so lonely, no one has
the time to visit me.
But Mommy Duck didn´t have to wait too long. Soon the
eggs started cracking and the little ducklings started
taking small __________ (2) steps out of the shells.
- Quack quack, quack quack. Oooh, my babies are so
beautiful!! Now come and line up here all of you.
One.. Two.. Three.. Four.. Five.. Hey, there should be
one more.
Mother Duck looked around, and saw one egg which had
not yet hatched.
- I think I will have to sit again on this egg till it
hatches. It seems pretty large.
Soon the last egg hatched, but the duckling that crept out
was large and ugly.
- This little __________ (3) doesn´t look like his
brothers and sisters.
The next day, Mother Duck leads her brood to the water.
- Oh! I am proud today that my ducklings are
swimming so well!! And how well the youngest one is
swimming. Come on kids, that´s enough for today.
We must get to the farm before it turns dark.
The duck family makes its way to the __________ (4),
where there are lots of other ducks.
- What is that strange looking creature doing here? The
other ducklings are so cute but this one is so big and
ugly.
- He is ugly. We don´t want him here.
- That´s not a nice thing to say. He is still small, and I
´m sure he will grow up to be beautiful, too.
But the other ducklings continued to __________ (5) and
make fun of the ugly duckling.
- I hope the ducklings stop this nonsense. I can´t bear to
see that poor child looking so sad.
But as days went by, things started becoming worse for
the ugly duckling. Wherever he went, everyone was
__________ (6) to him.
- Have you ever seen anything uglier than this?
- Uff!! Seeing this creature in the morning, my day will
also be as ugly as he is.
- Ha, ha. He seems to be getting uglier by the day.
The Ugly Duckling just wanted to __________ (7)
somewhere and cry. Even his brothers and sisters were
rude to him. Mother Duck was very sad to see everyone
treat the ugly duckling so badly.
- Nobody wants to talk to me or play with me, because I
am ugly. I will run away from here.
So, the ugly duckling __________ (8) over the fence of
the farmyard, and continued flying till he spotted a large
moor. He decided to spend the night there.
- I am so tired. I think I´ll spend the night here.
Next morning, the ugly duckling woke up to the sound of
loud quacking. He opened his eyes and saw a flock of
wild ducks.
- Who are you? What are you doing here?
- Can I please stay here for a while? I have nowhere to
go.
- You are ugly. Stay here, but don´t get in our way.
The Ugly Duckling stayed on the moor for a few days.
He felt lonely, but no one __________ (9) him or hurt
him because of his looks. One morning, the duckling
heard a noise like a big bang. He lay still, too scared to
move. When he finally lifted his head and looked around,
all the other ducks had fled. The ugly duckling also fled
from the moor as fast as it could. It flew as fast as its
young wings would take him. However, suddenly there
was a thunder and lightning, scaring the little duckling.
- Brrr! I am so wet and cold. The cottage there looks
warm, maybe I can take __________ (10) there.
The cottage belonged to an old lady, who lived with her
tomcat and hen, who found the duckling the next
morning. Cluck cluck, meow meow.
- What is happening here? Why are you making so
much noise? What is this we have here? Looks like a
duck, though a very ugly one. I know what I will do. I
will keep it with me, and wait for it to lay eggs. Then I
will have eggs from my hen and from this duck, too.
Ah, but I do hope this is a duck and not a drake.
So, the ugly duckling stayed with the old lady in her
cottage. But here also, the tomcat and the hen made its
life so miserable!
- Hey you, don´t you get scared when you see your face
in the mirror? Look at me. My __________ (11) is so
silky. Look at my whiskers, so long and beautiful. The
mistress says my walk is so graceful.
- You are such a loser. You cannot even lay an egg!
Look at my eggs, such lovely big and brown ones.
The ugly duckling continued to be lonely. He would sit in
front of the window looking at the small pond outside.
- How I wish I could swim in that pond. It used to be so
nice when I swam in the cool water back home.
- Are you mad? The mistress is not going to let you go.
You have a safe house, what more do you want?
Behave yourself and don´t anger the mistress, the cat,
nor even me. Want to swim, __________ (12)!
The ugly duckling felt very, very sad, wondering what to
do.
- I know this place is safe, but I feel like a prisoner
here, being punished by not being allowed to swim. I
want to swim. I want to be free to swim and fly as I
please. I have to escape from here somehow.
So, one night, the duckling __________ (13) crept out of
the cottage and went in search of a new home. Soon he
found a beautiful lake where he could swim and dive.
- Ahhhhh! This is such a lovely place. It feels so good
to swim after so long. I hope the other animals and
birds here are friendly, so, I don´t have to move away
from here also.
But alas, here too the other animals did not want to be
friends with the ugly duckling.
- Why does everybody keep avoiding me? Just because
I am ugly, it doesn´t mean everyone has be mean! No
one wants to play with me, nor even talk to me!
So, life continued in this miserable way for the ugly
duckling. Soon, the seasons changed. Autumn set in, and
the color of the __________ (14) changed from red to
orange and then gold. Winter followed. The forest turned
white, and a very cold wind set in. The dark clouds made
the duckling feeling even more gloomy and sad, so the
duckling decided to go to the lakeside. And what a lovely
sight he saw there!
- What are these beautiful birds? I don´t think I have
seen them before. How beautifully they __________
(15) their large wings!! It looks like they are not
flying but just gliding through the sky.
Though the winter grew colder and colder the duckling
continued to swim despite the __________ (16) water,
and then finally took refuge in some bushes. Finally, it
was spring again. Plants started sprouting and the sun
peeped down from the sky. The duckling was so happy
that it was becoming warm again.
- Everything around me has become so beautiful. My
wings have also become strong and I can now swim in
the pond close by.
Suddenly, the duckling once again saw the same beautiful
birds that he had seen at the start of spring, and quickly
ran and hid behind some bushes.
- Those birds are so beautiful. I better not go near them,
or they too will make fun of me. I am so __________
(17) that they might even kill me! I am so tired of
being picked on by everybody, first the ducklings at
the farm, my own brothers and sisters, the hen and
tomcat at the cottage, and everybody else. I wish I´d
never been born!!
The duckling went to a quiet spot on the lake where
nobody could see him. He was very, very sad, and big fat
tears __________ (18) down its face.
Suddenly, the duckling saw its own reflection in the lake,
and couldn´t believe its ayes! For staring at him in the
clear water below was his own reflection, no longer a
dark, grey bird, ugly and repulsive to look at. Instead, he
had turned into a graceful and beautiful swan. The ugly
duckling had transformed into a beautiful __________
(19)!! All the other swans came to greet the newcomer,
and stroked his neck with their beaks.
Finally, the ugly little thing was accepted and lovely by
his new friends, to whom he belonged, the beautiful and
graceful swans. A family with two children came to see
the swans swimming.
- Look, there is a new one. Father, mother, come here,
there is another swan. A new one has arrived. The
new one is the most beautiful of all. Oh, he is so
young and pretty!
The swan did not know how to react to so much praise.
He felt shy and tried to hide his face. After being mocked
and taunted and bullied for so long, he couldn´t believe
he was being appreciated and accepted! And he was
actually being called beautiful!!
- I never dreamt that I would see a day when someone
would call me beautiful!! I wish I had received the
same love and affection when I was the little and ugly
creature, I wouldn´t have spent such a sad
__________ (20). Why do people treat others
according to their looks? That is so, so sad!!