STORY-TELLING 



5569 



STORY-TELLING 



tell you things you won't like, and by that one 

 may always know one's true friends ! Only take 

 care that you learn to lay eggs, or to purr and to 

 give out sparks !" 



"I think I will go out into the wide world," 

 said the Duckling. 



"Yes, do go," replied the Hen. 



And so the Duckling went away. He swam on 

 the water, and dived, but he was shunned by 

 every creature because he was so ugly. 



Now came the fall of the year. The leaves in 

 the wood turned yellow and brown ; the wind 

 caught them so that they danced about, and up 

 in the air it was very cold. The clouds hung 

 low, heavy with hail and snowflakes, and on the 

 fence stood the raven, crying, "Croak ! croak !" 

 for mere cold ; yes, one could .freeze fast if one 

 thought about it. 



One evening the sun was just going down in 

 fine style there came a whole flock of great, 

 handsome birds out of the bushes ; they were 

 shining white, with long, supple necks ; they were 

 swans. They uttered a very strange cry, spread 

 forth their glorious great wings, and flew away 

 from that cold region to warmer lands, to fair 

 open lakes. They mounted so high, so high ! and 

 the ugly Duckling had such a strange feeling as 

 he saw them ! He turned round and round in 

 the water like a wheel, stretched out his neck 

 towards them, and uttered a cry, so high, so 

 strange, that he feared as he heard it. Oh ! he 

 could not forget those beautiful, happy birds ; 

 and as soon as he could see them no longer, he 

 dived down to the very bottom, and when he 

 came up again, he was quite beside himself. 

 He did not know what the birds were, nor where 

 they were flying to ; but he loved them more than 

 he had ever loved anyone. He did not envy them 

 at all. How could he think of wishing to have 

 such loveliness as they had? He would have 

 been glad if only the ducks would have let him 

 be among them the poor, ugly creature ! 



And the winter grew so cold, so cold ! The 

 Duckling had to swim about in the water, to 

 keep it from freezing over ; but every night the 

 hole in which he swam about became smaller 

 and smaller. It froze so hard that the icy cover 

 sounded ; and the Duckling had to use his legs 

 all the time to keep the hole from freezing tight. 

 At last he became worn out, and lay quite still, 

 and thus froze fast in the ice. 



Early in the morning a peasant came by, and 

 found him there ; he took his wooden shoe, broke 

 the ice to pieces, and carried the Duckling home 

 to his wife. Then the Duckling came to himself 

 again. The children wanted to play with him ; 

 but he thought they wanted to hurt him, and in 

 his terror he flew up into the milk pan, so that 

 the milk spilled over into the room. The woman 

 screamed and shook her hand in the air, at which 

 the Duckling flew down into the tub where they 

 kept the butter, and then into the meal barrel and 

 out again. How he looked then ! The woman 

 screamed, and struck at him with the fire tongs ; 

 the children tumbled over one another as they 

 tried to catch the Duckling; and they laughed 

 and they screamed ! well was it that the door 

 stood open, and the poor creature was able to 

 slip out between the bushes into the newly-fallen 

 snow. There he lay quite worn out. 



349 



But it would be too sad if I were to tell all 

 the misery and care which the Duckling had to 

 bear in the hard winter. He lay out on the moor 

 among the reeds when the sun began to shine 

 again and the larks to sing ; it was a beautiful 

 spring. 



Then all at once the Duckling could flap his 

 wings : they beat the air more strongly than be- 

 fore, and bore him stoutly away ; and before he 

 well knew it, he found himself in a great garden, 

 where the elder trees stood in flower, and bent 

 their long, green branches down to the winding 

 canal, and the lilacs smelt sweet. Oh, here it 

 was beautiful, fresh, and springlike ! and from 

 the thicket came three glorious white swans ; 

 they rustled their wings, and sat lightly on the 

 water. The Duckling knew the splendid crea- 

 tures, and felt a strange sadness, such as he had 

 never known before. 



"I will fly away to them, to the royal birds ! 

 and they will beat me, because I, that am so 

 ugly, dare to come near them. But it is all the 

 same. Better to be killed by them than to be 

 chased by ducks, and beaten by fowls, and 

 pushed about by the girl who takes care of the 

 poultry yard, and to suffer hunger in winter !" 

 And he flew out into the water, and swam toward 



NO LONGER UGLY AND HATEFUL TO 

 LOOK UPON 



the beautiful swans ; these looked at him, and 

 came sailing down upon him with outspread 

 wings. "Kill me !" said the poor creature, and 

 bent his head down upon the water, and waited 

 for death. But what saw he in the clear water? 

 He saw below him his own image ; and, lo ! it 

 was no longer a clumsy, dark-gray bird, ugly 

 and hateful to look at, but a swan ! 



It matters nothing if one is born in a duck 

 yard if one has only lain in a swan's egg. 



