Once the chick hatches, the other ducks throw him out of the pond because they think he is so ugly. Everywhere he goes, animals tease the poor duckling. As he wanders, he sees a group of beautiful white birds, flying in the sky, and dreams of one day being as magnificent as them….
He tries to migrate with a flock of wild swans but hasn't learned how to fly, so he spends a miserable, cold winter alone, hiding in a cave. When spring arrives, the swans arrive back at the lake and the duckling ventures out, figuring it would be better to be killed by the swans than to carry on living his miserable life of solitude, but he is amazed when the swans give him a warm welcome.
Suddenly, he understands why - during the winter, he has grown into an adult bird and it turns out he isn't a duck after all, but rather a beautiful swan.
Accepted by his new family, he takes to the air with the other swans and flies off to a life of happiness. Andersen first thought up the story in , when he was staying at the Bregentved country estate, where he enjoyed spending time watching the beauty of nature. He spent a year writing The Ugly Duckling and later told friends it was a reflection of his own life.
The literary critic, Georg Brandes, once asked Andersen whether he had considered writing his autobiography, to which the author replied it had already been written and was called The Ugly Duckling. The story recognised his own impoverished childhood and his misery after his father's death.
He later described attending school as being the most "bitter" and "darkest" experience of his life, as he said the schoolmaster bullied him, allegedly to "improve his character". He became depressed, but writing helped him to express himself and he blossomed into a swan when he became a popular published author.
The message conveyed by the much-loved story is simple: you shouldn't judge a person by their outer appearance. Even though someone may grow up feeling worthless, they can still grow up to blossom, like a beautiful swan. It's more about discovering what's inside, rather than simply by someone's appearance. And the end of the story is just perfect, making this one of the world's most uplifting and heartwarming tales. In my opinion it is Hans Christian Andersen's masterpiece. It has been translated into many languages and published around the world.
It has become his most famous story. The three great swans swam round him stroking him with their beaks Some little children came running into the garden They shouted with delight The new one is the most beautiful of all—so young and handsome! He was almost too happy but not proud, for a good heart is never vain.
He thought of how he had been persecuted and depised, and now everyone said he was the most beautiful of these beautiful birds. Hans Christian Andersen had his first glimmer of inspiration for the story in , while staying at the country estate of Bregentved, and enjoying the beauty of nature. But it took him a year to write and hone the story to his own satifaction. All the papers are praising it, everyone is reading it! No books of mine are appreciated in the way these fairy tales are!
It is not difficult to see why the author viewed this story as a metaphor for his own life. He was a tall, ugly boy, with a big nose and big feet. Although he had a beautiful singing voice and a passion for ballet and the theatre, all his life he was rejected and teased by other children. He used to boast that he was secretly a prince, and although this only led to further mockery, there is a real possibility that he was in fact the illegitimate son of Prince Christian Frederik, later to be King Christian VIII of Denmark.
The swan is historically a royal bird. Clearly, being a swan in the story was a metaphor not just for beauty and grace, but also for his secret royal lineage. It is extraordinary that this story grabs the imagination in such a feel-good way. The ugly duckling is not heroic, and apart from enduring the winter, he does not complete any of the challenges typically demanded of a fairy tale hero.
Yet we all relate to the story's positive messages about acceptance and rejection, stoicism and self-worth, and the idea that some things are worth waiting for. It is a beautiful and timeless story; one that speaks across generations, and my favourite of all Hans Christian Andersen's stories. Here's a photo I took of an "Ugly Duckling". Doesn't it just make you melt? Ahmed Ejaz. You guys know I hate Hans Christian Anderson's way of ending the stories.
I started this with the same expectations. But unexpectedly here I got the happy ending! I totally love him for this. But I like them. Nobody accepts him because of his ugliness. He goes through the cruel behaviour of world around him and sees that only beauty has the value. The old woman's cat and hen consider themselves to be superior to the Ugly Duckling, since he can neither lay eggs nor purr, and cannot understand his desire to swim. The Ugly Duckling leaves the cottage at the first available opportunity.
The Ugly Duckling finds some water on which he can swim. The other animals that live there avoid him. As winter approaches, he sees some migrating swans fly above him. He is strangely excited by the sight of the birds, which he believes are the most beautiful that he has ever seen.
The water gradually freezes and the Ugly Duckling finds himself trapped in ice. A man rescues the duckling and takes him home. However, the Ugly Duckling becomes frightened by the man's children and tries to escape. As he does so, he knocks over some food and drink, causing the man's wife to become extremely angry. The Ugly Duckling manages to escape from the man's cottage and spends a miserable winter outside.
In spring, he finds that he has large strong wings and flies away again. He arrives at a beautiful garden where he sees some more swans.
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