Misselthwaite Manor

The Ugly Duckling Story: Lady Mary Lennox

The first part of my chapter will be taken from the fairy tale story The Ugly Duckling written by Han Christian Anderson (1805-18775)

on a Farrm long ago, a Mama Duck sat on her nest. "How long must I wait for my babies to hatch?" she said. "I have to sit here all alone! And no one comes to visit me." But what could she do? A Mama duck must keep her eggs warm till they hatch.

At last, the eggs began to crack. One by one, yellow ducklings stepped out of their shells. They shook their wings and said, "Quack, quack!"

"Look at all of you!" said Mama Duck with joy. "You are all so cute!"

"Quack, quack!" they said.

Mama Duck said, "Come and line up. We will go down to the lake for your very first swim." She counted – one, two, three, four, five. "Oh dear!" she said. "I should have six ducklings!"

But one large egg was still in the nest. "Well," said Mama Duck, "it looks like that big egg will take more time." So, she had to go sit on her nest again and wait some more.

The next day, the big egg started to hatch. Out came a baby boy bird. But if one may say so, it was an odd-looking thing. This bird was much bigger than others. He was not yellow at all - he was dark gray from his head to his feet. And he walked with a funny wobble.

One of the yellow ducklings pointed. "What is THAT? He cannot be one of us!"

"I have never seen such an ugly duckling!" said another.

"How can you say such a thing?" said Mama Duck in a stern voice. "You are only one day old! Your brother hatched from the very same nest as you did. Now line up. We will go to the lake for your very first swim."

Yet the other ducklings quacked, "Ugly! Ugly! Ugly!" The Ugly Duckling did not know why the other ducklings were yelling at him. He took the last spot in the line.

Each yellow duck jumped in the river and swam behind Mama Duck. When it was his turn, the Ugly Duckling jumped in and started to paddle, too. "At least he can swim," Mama Duck said to herself.

When they left the water and started to play, the Ugly Duckling tried to play with his brothers and sisters, too. They yelled, "Go away! We will not play with you! You are ugly. And you walk weird, too!"

When Mama Duck was close by, she would not let them talk in this way. "Be nice!" she would scold. But she was not always close by.

One day, one of the yellow ducklings said to the Ugly Duckling, "You know what? You would do us a big favor if you just went away from here!" All of them started to quack, "Get out! Get out! Get out!"

"Why won't they let me stay here?" said the Ugly Duckling to himself. He hung his head down low. "Ah, they are right. I should go."

That night, the Ugly Duckling flew over the farmyard fence. He flew till he landed on the other side of the lake. There he met two grown-up ducks.

"Can I please stay here for awhile?" said the Ugly Duckling. "I have nowhere else to be."

"What do we care?" said one of the ducks. "Just don't get in our way."

"Woof! Woof!" Suddenly a big hungry dog came tearing by, chasing the two ducks. They quickly flew up in the air, and their feathers fell down on the ground. The poor Ugly Duckling froze in fear. The dog sniffed and sniffed at the Ugly Duckling, then turned away. "I am too ugly even for the big hungry dog to want," said the Ugly Duckling with his head hung low.