Once again the ugly duckling was all alone. He fled as far away as he could, and at dawn he found himself in a thick bed of reeds. "If nobody wants me, I'll hide here forever." There was plenty of food, and slowly the duckling began to feel a little happier — though he was lonely still.

One day at sunrise he saw a flight of beautiful birds wing overhead. White, with long slender necks, yellow beaks, and great wide wings, they were flying south for the winter. "If only I could look like them, just for a day!" said the duckling, admiringly.

Then winter came, and the water in the reed bed froze. The poor duckling left to seek food in the snow, until he dropped exhausted to the ground. But a kind farmer found him and tucked him into his big jacket pocket. "I'll take him home to my children. Poor thing, he's frozen!" The duckling was showered with kindly care at the farmer's house, and in this way he survived the bitterly cold winter.

By springtime he had grown so big that the farmer said, "I'll set him free by the pond!" And that was when the duckling saw himself mirrored in the still water. "Goodness! How I've changed! I hardly recognize myself!"

The flight of swans winged north again and glided down onto the pond. When the duckling came near, they welcomed him warmly. "We're swans, like you!" they said. "Where have you been hiding?" "It's a long story," replied the young swan, still astounded. And now he swam, majestic and graceful, among his own kind at last.

One day he heard children on the river bank exclaim, "Look at that young swan! He's the finest of them all!" And the swan who had once been an ugly duckling almost burst with happiness.

~ The End ~