The Ugly Duckling Part Three

In this touching finale of the well-known story, by Hans Christian Andersen, the duckling endures a hard winter but wakes in the spring transformed. He soon finds himself in the company of beautiful creatures who love and accept him.

Music by Julius H.

Transcript

Hello, It's Mandy here again. Thanks so much for joining me. Tonight we're going to listen To the third and final part of The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen. So whatever kind of a day you've had, It's time to switch off now. There's no where you Need to be except here. There's no one you have to deal with right now. You've nothing To do except listen to my voice and let yourself gradually settle while your busy mind, Hard At work all day, Finds a simple and rewarding focus in tonight's story. So, Whether you're Sitting or lying, Go right ahead and make yourself really comfortable. And we'll begin. The Ugly Duckling, Part three. As winter approached, The wind caught the leaves as they fell and whirled them in the Cold air. The clouds, Heavy with hail and snowflakes, Hung low in the sky and the raven Stood on the ferns crying, Croak, Croak. It made one shiver with cold just to look At him. All this was very sad for the poor little duckling. One evening, Just as the Sun set amid radiant clouds, There came a large flock of beautiful birds out of the Bushes. The duckling had never seen any like them before. They were swans and they curved Their graceful necks while their soft plumage shone with dazzling whiteness. They uttered A singular cry as they spread their glorious wings and flew away from those cold regions To warmer countries across the sea. As they mounted higher and higher in the air, The Ugly little duckling felt quite a strange sensation as he watched them. He wailed himself In the water like a wheel, Stretched out his neck towards them and uttered a cry so strange That it frightened him. Could he ever forget those beautiful, Happy birds? And when at Last they were out of his sight, He dived under the water and rose again, Almost beside Himself with excitement. He knew not the names of those birds, Nor where they had flown, But he felt towards them as he had never felt for any other bird in the world. He was not Envious of these beautiful creatures, Though he wished to be as lovely as they. Poor ugly Creature, How gladly he would have lived even with the ducks, Had they only given him encouragement. The winter grew colder and colder. He was obliged to swim about on the water to keep It from freezing, But every night the space on which he swam became smaller and smaller. At length it froze so hard that the ice in the water crackled as he moved, And the duckling Had to paddle with his legs as well as he could to keep the space from closing up. He became exhausted at last and lay still and helpless, Frozen fast in the ice. Early in the morning a peasant who was passing by saw what had happened. He broke the ice In pieces with his wooden shoe and carried the duckling home to his wife. The warmth revived the poor little creature, But when the children wanted to play with him, The duckling thought they would do him some harm. So he started up in terror, Fluttered into the Milk pan and splashed the milk about the room. Then the woman clapped her hands, Which frightened him Still more. He first flew into the butter cask, Then into the meal tub and out again. What a condition he was in! The woman screamed and struck at him with the tongs. The children Laughed and screamed and tumbled over each other in their efforts to catch him, But luckily he Escaped. The door stood open. The poor creature could just manage to slip out among the bushes And lie down quite exhausted in the newly fallen snow. It would be very sad were I to relate all the misery and privations which the poor little Duckling endured during the hard winter, But when it had passed he found himself lying one morning In a moor among the rushes. He felt the warm sun shining and heard the lark singing and saw that All around was beautiful spring. Then the young bird felt that his wings were strong As he flapped them against his sides and he rose high into the air. His wings bore him onwards Until he found himself in a large garden before he well knew how it had happened. The apple trees were in full blossom and the fragrant elders bent their long green Branches down to the stream which wound around a smooth lawn. Everything looked beautiful in The freshness of early spring. From a thicket close by came three beautiful white swans Rustling their feathers and swimming lightly over the smooth water. The duckling remembered the lovely birds and felt more strangely unhappy than ever. I will fly to those royal birds, He exclaimed, And they will kill me because I am so ugly And dare to approach them, But it doesn't matter. Better to be killed by them than pecked at by the Ducks, Beaten by the hens, Pushed about by the maiden who feeds the poultry, Or starved with Hunger in the winter. Then he flew to the water and swam towards the beautiful swans. The moment they espied the stranger they rushed to meet him with outstretched wings. Kill me, Said the poor bird, And he bent his head down to the surface of the water And awaited death. But what did he see in the clear stream below? His own image. No longer a dark grey bird, Ugly and disagreeable to look at, But a graceful and beautiful swan. To be born in a duck's nest in a farmyard is of no consequence to a bird if it is hatched from A swan's egg. He now felt glad at having suffered sorrow and trouble because it enabled him to enjoy So much better all the pleasure and happiness around him. For the great swans swam around the Newcomer and stroked his neck with their beaks as a welcome. Into the garden presently came some Little children and threw bread and cake into the water. See, Cried the youngest, There's a new one And the rest were delighted and ran to their father and mother, Dancing and clapping their Hands and shouting joyously, There is another swan come, A new one has arrived. They threw more bread And cake into the water and said, The new one is the most beautiful of all, He is so young and pretty And the old swans bowed their heads before him. Then he felt quite ashamed and hid his head under His wing for he didn't know what to do, He was so happy and yet not at all proud. He had been Persecuted and despised for his ugliness and now he heard them say he was the most beautiful of all The birds. Even the elder tree bent down its boughs into the water before him and the sun shone warm And bright. Then he rustled his feathers, Curved his slender neck and cried joyfully from the depths Of his heart, I never dreamed of such happiness as this while I was an ugly duckling.

Reviews

It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish! Thanks Mandy 🙏🏻

Sweet ending— again, you’re rocking it with the music!❤️❤️❤️