The Ugly Duckling

Hello,

My name is Kimberly Newing and it is my pleasure to read you a bedtime story.

This is the tale of the ugly duckling,

A little one's journey of self-discovery by Hans Christian Anderson.

Perhaps you heard this story when you yourself were a child or perhaps it will be your first time hearing it.

Whatever the case,

My invitation to you,

Beautiful listener,

Is that you allow yourself to settle in now and relax.

May my words fall upon your ears like gentle rains soaking the dry ground,

Lulling you into a deep and restorative sleep.

So go ahead now and close down your heavy eyes.

Let your body sink more fully into the comfort of your bed.

Taking in a deep breath through the nose and sighing it out through the mouth with an audible sigh.

That's right.

Letting go of any of the effort that was required to bring you to this moment in your day.

Feel the muscles on your face soften as your head relaxes further into the pillow,

Your arms and legs unwinding,

Your whole being simply melting into a state of easy,

Peaceful slumber.

There is nothing more for you to do today except open and receive this lovely story.

Just know that for the next little while I will be holding you as you gently drift off to sleep,

Wrapped in a cocoon of loving light,

Steeping you in all that you need in order to rest.

Let's begin.

The Ugly Duckling.

One day as the sun was setting,

There came a great flock of splendid birds out of the bushes.

They were pure white with long necks and a graceful nature.

They were swans.

In the lovely country,

It was summertime.

The corn fields were ripe,

The oats were green,

And the hay stood in its tall stacks.

It was a beautiful countryside with the warmth of the sun and the gentle caress of a delicate breeze.

In the midst of this beauty,

There stood an old farm with deep canals around it.

Near the water was a high wall with bushes growing thick and strong.

It was deep like a wood,

And amongst those bushes,

There upon her nest,

Sat a duck due to hatch her babies.

Day after day,

She kept at her task of sitting and waiting,

And at last,

One of the eggs began to crack.

How eagerly now the duck did watch her nest.

Another,

And then another,

As the other eggs did the same.

Peep,

Peep,

Cried the little duck as it put forth its soft downy yellow head into the world.

Wow,

What a big world,

Exclaimed the ducklings as they stood in their nest,

For surely it was larger than the confines of the eggshell.

Do you think this is all of the world?

Asked the proud mother.

Why,

This is only a glimpse of what is to come.

The world runs way up across the garden.

I have never traveled so far,

But this is quite true.

Much more awaits you all.

Now,

Is everyone here?

Mother Duck asked,

As she carefully looked about.

No?

Hmm.

That large egg is still not hatched.

How long is it to last,

I wonder?

And so she sat down again.

Good day to you,

Said an old duck,

Who heard the news of the new arrivals and had waddled down to see for herself.

How is everything going?

She asked.

This one egg is taking quite a long time,

Replied the patient mother.

It will not burst,

But just look at these little ducks.

Are they not perfect and sweet?

Let me see the egg that will not crack,

Said the old duck.

Ah,

It is a turkey egg.

I was once fooled that way.

I had great trouble,

For turkeys are afraid of the water.

They will never venture on it.

You had better leave that egg and go and teach your other children how to swim.

I'll stay a little longer,

Answered the mother.

I have sat so long that a few more days will not matter much to me.

As you please,

Said the old duck as she walked off.

At last the egg burst.

Peep peep,

Said the little one,

And out it crept from the shell.

But something about it was not like the others.

Can this be a turkey chick?

Wondered the mother.

For surely this was quite an ugly duckling.

Perhaps I can tell when I take it to the water.

The next day was bright and clear.

The mother duck went early to the pond with all of her little ones in tow.

What a pretty sight it was.

Splash into the water she went.

Quack quack,

She called,

Beckoning for her babies to join her.

As they entered,

The water closed around them,

But they did not care.

Their legs went as easily as could be.

Nothing felt as natural to them as this.

And there,

In amongst them,

Was the ugly little duckling,

Swimming just as easily as the rest.

This cannot be a turkey chick,

Thought the mother.

It is surely my very own child.

It is not so ugly,

Perhaps just different to the others.

Come,

My dears,

I will take you to the barnyard and show you the great world.

Now keep close to me.

Someone might tread on you.

And be sure to look out for cats.

As the ducks approached the barnyard,

The other ducks called out.

We are enough here.

There is no need for more.

Especially not that ugly one over there.

The barnyard ducks closed in around the ugly duckling,

One snapping at its little gray neck.

Get out of here,

They cried at the different looking bird.

You don't belong.

Stop,

Cried the mother.

She is doing no harm.

She is large and queer and not like the others,

Cried out the duck who had just bitten her.

Just then,

The lead duck said slowly.

Those are pretty children indeed.

But that one for sure is a failure.

She is not welcome here.

She makes us feel uncomfortable.

See to it that she is gone.

She may not be pretty like the others,

Cried the mother.

But she is very sweet and she swims as good as any.

She may grow to be like the others.

Perhaps she just needs more time.

Well,

Your other children are graceful.

Make yourself at home,

But see to it that the ugly one keeps out of trouble.

For the remainder of the day,

The others pushed and jeered at the ugly duckling.

But it did not end there.

As time went on,

Things steadily grew worse.

Her own brothers and sisters were cruel to her.

And at every turn she was made to suffer.

Even her own mother began to wish she would leave and go far away.

As she grew big,

She one day flew over the fence and the little birds became afraid of her.

There was no place she felt truly safe to be herself.

It is because I am not like everybody else,

Cried the poor little thing in despair.

Perhaps I need to go somewhere else.

One day she flew away to the wild ducks who lived out on the wild wide moor.

When the wild ducks saw her,

They said,

What sort of duck are you?

And when the poor girl tried to answer,

They laughed and told her to move on,

For surely she was not one of them.

She desperately wanted to find a home,

A home where she could rest and enjoy a peaceful drink from the pond.

She stayed two days until two geese came upon her.

Hmm,

They said,

You aren't a turkey or a goose,

Not a duck nor a hen.

We do not know what you are.

You may fly with us from place to place as our servant,

If you please.

You shouldn't be alone out here.

It is unsafe for an ugly thing such as yourself.

Piff-paff,

A shot rang out just as one of the geese fell dead in front of her.

Piff-paff,

Another gun spoke as the second goose fell into the pond.

A great hunt was going on.

The water was red with blood.

The duckling had never been so frightened.

She put her head under her wing,

And when she gathered enough courage to look out again,

What do you think she saw?

A frightful great dog with his tongue hanging far out.

He tried to snap at her,

But she knew the land was no place to be.

Into the water she went,

And the dog simply ran on.

I am so ugly,

She cried,

That even the dog runs away.

Confused and dazed,

She lay still at the water's edge by some overhanging bushes.

She listened intently as the shots grew further and further apart.

Finally,

They ceased altogether.

When she had assured herself that the hunt was really over,

She climbed up the bank and walked sadly on.

The sun sank lower in the west.

Another day was almost done.

When it had dipped below the horizon,

And even the last of its beautiful afterglow had faded,

The ugly duckling came across a small hut.

She saw that one door was partly open.

With the night there had come a storm,

And as the wind was blowing wildly,

The duckling crept into the hovel to find both shelter and rest.

Now in this hut there lived a woman with her cat and her hen.

The cat she called Sunny,

He could arch his back and purr,

And make sparks fly from his eyes.

The hen had short legs but a long name.

The woman named her Chickabitty Short Shanks,

And she laid good eggs and many of them.

Now when the cat and the hen saw the poor duckling,

The cat purred and the hen clucked.

The old woman was so glad to come across the duck,

For she had not one of her own.

What a prize,

She thought to herself.

But the hen and the cat did not like to share their home,

Selfish creatures that they were,

And they forced the duckling to sit lonely in the corner of the room.

One day she longed so to have a swim that she told the hen about it.

What a queer thought,

Scoffed the hen.

If you had more to do you would not have time to be thinking of such silly things.

But it's oh so freeing to swim on the water,

Insisted the duckling.

It truly is a joy to dive down to the bottom.

You must be crazy,

Replied the hen.

You are not sane of mind.

I am sure if you tell this to the cat,

Who is wiser than both of us,

He will agree with me that this is not a good thing to do.

When the cat heard of this,

He said she should be grateful for the food and the home she has here,

And to stop such nonsense talk of swimming on water,

For this is not what they do in this place.

I think it's time I left,

Said the ugly duckling.

I am grateful for all you have given me,

But this is not my home.

I long for the water,

And even if that means I am alone,

At least my heart will feel free.

And away she went.

She soon found the water and swam and dived.

Oh,

How good it felt to be herself.

Whoever and whatever that was,

None of it mattered when she was one with the water.

But soon her reality was shattered once again,

As each bird and beast across her path either tried to hurt or avoid her.

Then came the autumn.

The leaves fell,

The clouds hung gray and low.

At last the snowflakes whirled through the chilled air.

This particular day the sun was setting,

And through the bushes came a great flock of splendid birds.

They were pure white with long necks.

Graceful and peaceful,

They glided across the water.

Indeed,

They were swans.

They gave a long,

Low cry,

Spread out their beautiful strong wings,

And flew away to warmer lands.

So high,

So high they went.

And the ugly duckling felt very out of place as she watched them go.

She turned around and around in the water,

And then gave out a long,

Low cry.

It almost made her afraid,

That cry she just uttered.

It felt strangely good and familiar,

Yet it was a sound she rarely recalled.

She could not forget the lovely white birds,

And she knew that soon she would see them no more.

She dived to the bottom of the river,

And when she came up she was almost beside herself with grief.

She knew not the name of the wonderful birds,

Nor where they had gone,

But she did know that she loved every one of them.

She did not envy them.

She could not be like them,

But oh how she loved them and yearned to be with them.

Poor little ugly duckling,

Once again alone and lost.

The winter grew cold.

The duckling had to swim around a great deal to keep the water from freezing in the river.

But in spite of her efforts,

Each night the hole in which she swam grew smaller and smaller.

She had to keep her legs going all the time,

Until at last,

Quite worn out,

She sat still,

And the water froze around her.

Early in the morning a man passing by saw the poor duckling,

And he broke the ice and carried her to his home.

The children wanted to play with her,

But they were afraid.

She flapped her wings and flew accidentally into the milk pan and the flower,

At which the mother struck her with a stick and shooed her outside.

The poor duckling flew out and dropped half dead upon the snow.

What a long and dreadful winter that was,

One she thought would never end.

Until spring came once again and the sun shone warm and the larks sang as they pierced the sky,

And the duckling could flap her weak wings again.

Each day her wings grew stronger and stronger,

And soon,

Without knowing quite how it happened,

She found herself in a lovely garden,

Where bright flowers blossomed their perfume into the air.

This was fine indeed,

Right by a lovely canal.

One morning came three dear white swans gliding gracefully through the water.

The duckling recognized them.

Had she not thought of them every day that long winter through?

She said sadly to herself,

I will fly to them and say hello,

Though I am sure they will fear me or hurt me,

But I care not more.

I would rather die than be left to live out another winter.

The duckling flew to the canal and the three swans approached with their outspread wings.

As the duckling bowed her head,

Ready to receive a blow,

What did she see?

But her own reflection in the water,

And lo!

She was no longer an ugly duckling.

The face staring back at her was one of a glorious white swan.

It did not matter if she were born in a duckyard.

She had come out of a swan egg.

The swans came near her and touched her with their beaks.

Into the garden she came with the others,

As if she was one of them all along.

Little children threw corn for them to eat,

And the youngest boy cried,

Look,

There is a new swan.

Wow,

She is the prettiest of them all.

The duckling,

Who wasn't a duckling anymore,

Was so happy,

Tears of joy rolled down her beak.

As that had passed,

Had indeed passed,

And forevermore she knew herself as the swan she always was.

The End Goodnight,

Precious one.

It's time to let the world of slumber hold you for this next many hours.

Know that as you sleep,

You are completely safe.

Know that there is nothing else you need to do except surrender.

Allow your mind and your body to receive deep,

Restorative sleep.

Breathing in and out,

And drifting off into the land of dreams and magic.

My wish for you is that you wake tomorrow morning feeling refreshed,

Renewed,

And re-energized for your day ahead.

May you know yourself as who you were born to be,

Whole and complete,

Just as you are.

Sweet dreams,

My love.

Namaste.