orange fairy book

Chapter 3 The Ugly Duckling (1)

It's summer in Denmark, and while the other seasons here are unremarkable, this time of year is beautiful.The wheat is golden, the oats are green, and the piles of hay exude a fragrant smell. From the abandoned old house to the edge of the canal, tall burdock grass grows densely, even if there are a large group of children playing in the grass , and no one will find out.

A mother duck built a warm nest among these burdock grasses. There were six lovely eggs in the nest. In order to let the ducklings hatch as soon as possible, the mother duck lay on it almost all day long.Five of the six eggs are white, and there is one that is bigger but gray, and the mother duck is often puzzled by this—why is this egg different from the others?Other birds might think that the mother duck swims in the water every morning and evening to stretch her legs, and that some lazy mother must have laid her eggs in the mother duck's nest at that time.But ducks are often stupid and unscrupulous, so the mother duck didn't care about this problem, but treated each egg equally, so that they could get her body temperature.

This is her first brood of eggs, so she was very excited and proud. At first she laughed at the other mother ducks, thinking that they always neglected their responsibilities and only cared about chatting with others, or they often went swimming. Swimming twice in the morning and evening is enough to keep healthy.But later on, too, she got tired of sitting in the nest all day, and she thought, "It really takes too long for the eggs to hatch." She, too, longed for some diversion.But she also knew that if the ducklings in the eggs died because she left, her friends would ignore her, so she stayed in the nest, but got up a few times a day to check for shells. Cracked - maybe that's why the eggshells were so slow to crack.

She looked at it no less than 150 times, but to her delight, two of the eggs were already a little cracked.So she crawled back into the nest again, brought all the eggs closer together and sat on them again, and never left them all day.The next morning, she was delighted to find cracks in all five eggs. By noon, two little yellow heads poked out of the egg shells. Feeling both excited and comforted, the mother duck opened the shells with her mouth. , Let the two little lives get rid of the shackles of the eggshells.She continued to stay in the nest for a whole night, and before the sun rose the next day, all five egg shells were empty, and ten eyes were timidly looking at the green world.

The ducklings began to grow under the careful care of the mother duck.They don't like dirt, and it's uncomfortable to sit or walk on broken eggshells, so the mother duck simply pushes the broken eggshells out of the nest.She thought it would be nice to have these little guys talking to her before the big egg hatched.But day by day, the big egg showed no signs of cracking, and the mother duck became more and more impatient. She really wanted to discuss it with the father duck, but he never came.

The mother duck called a neighbor over and complained to her, "I can't figure out what's going on, I can use the same time to incubate this egg to incubate two broods!"

"Let me see," said the old neighbor, "ah, I think it's a turkey egg. I was tricked once when I was young, and I hatched a brood of turkey eggs. Can't swim. It annoys me just thinking about it."

"Anyway, I'll give him another chance," said the mother duck with a sigh. "If he doesn't come out of his shell in another day, I'll leave him alone. I'll teach the other little ones how to swim and find their way." Food. I really can't do two things at the same time." After speaking, she shook her wings and pushed the egg to the middle of the nest.

The next day, she sat in the nest all day and gave up her morning swim because she was worried that a sudden cold wind would ruin the egg.In the evening, she ventured to move away and take a peek, and saw a thin crack appearing on the top of the eggshell.Full of hope, she went on with her duties, so excited that she barely slept through the night.When she woke up in the first rays of the morning sun, she felt something move under her body, ah, it really hatched- when she moved away, a big, awkward thing fell headfirst to the ground .

He was undeniably ugly, even the mum had to admit, though all she said about him was that he was "big" and "strong".The mother duck glanced at the dark brown down on his back and the long, smooth neck, and was very surprised. She said to him, "It looks like you can swim as soon as you hit the water, so you don't need to be taught." It turns out that he really didn't need to be taught. Will be able to swim, although he doesn't look as cute as those little yellow pompoms that follow the mother duck.

When they came back, they saw the old neighbor waiting for them on the shore, ready to take them to the chicken and duck farm. "He's definitely not a turkey," the old neighbor leaned close to the mother duck's ear and said confidently, "Although he is very thin and his coat color is not good-looking, but he has a noble temperament, you see, his head Always held high."

At this time, the mother duck also vaguely felt his cuteness, and replied, "Thank you for praising him like this. In fact, although he is a little different from other little guys, when you look at him alone, you will feel that he is cute. They look okay. After all, no one can expect every child of theirs to be beautiful!"

As soon as the words were finished, they arrived in the middle of the farm.An old Spanish duck was sitting there, she was the most prestigious of all chickens and ducks, and everyone respected her.

The mother duck nodded to the old duck, and then whispered to her children: "You must go forward and bow to her deeply. And you must spread your legs as far as possible, just like me. Well-bred little Ducks can't put their feet together, that's a sign of poor parenting."

The ducklings tried their best to move their small and fat bodies, imitating their mother's movements.The old hen duck was very satisfied with them, but the other watching ducks talked dissatisfiedly. One of them said:

"Oh my God, there are so many ducks again, the place is full! Look at that tall and big thing, have you ever seen anything as ugly as him? He is a disgrace to our duck family, and I will Get him out!" After she finished speaking, she spread her wings and ran to gnaw the ugly duckling's neck.

The poor ugly duckling quacked loudly as he tasted pain for the first time.When the mother duck heard his call, she ran over quickly.

"Let him go," said the mother duck angrily, "or I'll call his father. The little fellow didn't mess with you."

The strange duck replied: "He didn't provoke me, but he is so ugly and stupid that I can't bear it." Although the ugly duckling didn't understand what he meant, he felt that he was being blamed. So even more uneasy.At this time, the old Spanish duck also interjected:
"It's a pity indeed, he doesn't look like the other pretty little ones. If only he could be hatched again!"

The poor little guy lowered his head and didn't know where to look. At this moment, the mother duck spoke:
"Maybe he's not as good-looking as the other ducklings, but he's a better swimmer and has a strong body. I'm sure he'll do well in the future, just as good as the others."

After listening to his mother's words, the ugly duckling felt a little comforted.

"Okay, don't be polite here, treat it as if you were at home." The old man staggered away after saying that.So they didn't feel restrained anymore, except for the ugly duckling, who was always picking on him when the mother duck wasn't looking.Every time a big turkey passed by him, he was always sarcastic. His brothers and sisters didn't notice any difference in him at first, but after hearing what others said, they also bullied him.

(End of this chapter)