English Original
It was lovely summer weather in the country. The golden corn, the green oats, and the haystacks piled up in the meadows looked beautiful. The stork walking about on his long red legs chattered in the Egyptian language. In a sunny spot stood a pleasant old farm-house close by a deep river, and from the house down to the water side grew great burdock leaves. In this snug retreat sat a duck on her nest, watching for her young brood to hatch.
At length one shell cracked, and then another, and from each egg came a living creature that lifted its head and cried, "Peep, peep." "Quack, quack," said the mother, and then they all quacked as well as they could. "How large the world is," said the young ducks. "Do you imagine this is the whole world?" asked the mother. "Wait till you have seen the garden."
"One egg is not hatched yet," said the duck to an old visitor. "Let me see the egg," said the old duck. "I have no doubt it is a turkey's egg. Take my advice, leave it where it is."
"I think I will sit on it a little while longer," said the duck.
At last the large egg broke, and a young one crept forth crying, "Peep, peep." It was very large and ugly. The duck stared at it. "It is very large and not at all like the others," she exclaimed.
On the next day the weather was delightful, and the mother duck took her young brood down to the water. "Quack, quack," cried she, and one after another the little ducklings jumped in. The ugly duckling was also in the water swimming with them.
"Oh," said the mother, "that is not a turkey; how well he uses his legs! He is my own child. Quack, quack! come with me now, I will take you into grand society, and introduce you to the farmyard, but you must keep close to me."
When they reached the farmyard, there was a great disturbance. "See, children, that is the way of the world," said the mother duck. The ducklings did as they were bid, but the other ducks stared. "Look, here comes another brood," they said, "and what a queer looking object one of them is!" and then one flew out and bit him in the neck.
"Let him alone," said the mother; "he is not doing any harm."
"Yes, but he is so big and ugly," said a spiteful duck, "and therefore he must be turned out."
The poor duckling, who had crept out of his shell last of all, was bitten and pushed and made fun of, not only by the ducks, but by all the poultry. So it went on from day to day till it got worse and worse. The poor duckling was driven about by every one; even his brothers and sisters were unkind to him. So at last he ran away.
"They are afraid of me because I am ugly," he said. So he closed his eyes, and flew still farther, until he came out on a large moor, inhabited by wild ducks.
In the morning, the wild ducks stared at their new comrade. "You are exceedingly ugly," said the wild ducks, "but that will not matter if you do not want to marry one of our family."
After he had been on the moor two days, there came two wild geese. "Listen, friend," said one, "you are so ugly, that we like you very well. Will you go with us, and become a bird of passage?"
"Pop, pop," sounded in the air, and the two wild geese fell dead among the rushes. It was the sportsmen. How they terrified the poor duckling! A large terrible dog passed quite near him but went into the water without touching him. "Oh," sighed the duckling, "how thankful I am for being so ugly; even a dog will not bite me."
He ran over field and meadow till he reached a poor little cottage and slipped inside. A woman, a tom cat, and a hen lived there. The duckling was allowed to remain on trial for three weeks, but there were no eggs. Now the tom cat was the master of the house, and the hen was mistress.
"Can you lay eggs?" she asked. "No." "Then have the goodness to hold your tongue." "Can you raise your back, or purr, or throw out sparks?" said the tom cat. "No." "Then you have no right to express an opinion."
The duckling felt a great longing for a swim on the water. "What an absurd idea," said the hen. "You have nothing else to do, therefore you have foolish fancies."
"But it is so delightful to swim about on the water," said the duckling.
"We don't understand you?" said the hen. "I advise you to lay eggs, and learn to purr as quickly as possible."
"I believe I must go out into the world again," said the duckling.
So the duckling left the cottage. Autumn came, and then winter. The winter grew colder and colder; he was obliged to swim about on the water to keep it from freezing. He became exhausted at last, and lay still and helpless, frozen fast in the ice.
Early in the morning, a peasant saw what had happened. He broke the ice and carried the duckling home. The warmth revived him; but when the children wanted to play with him, the duckling thought they would do him some harm and fluttered about in terror, making a great mess before escaping back into the snow.
When the hard winter had passed, he found himself lying one morning in a moor. He felt the warm sun shining, and heard the lark singing. Then the young bird felt that his wings were strong, and rose high into the air. He found himself in a large garden. From a thicket close by came three beautiful white swans.
"I will fly to those royal birds," he exclaimed, "and they will kill me, because I am so ugly... but it does not matter: better be killed by them..."
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, gray 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. The great swans swam round the new-comer, and stroked his neck with their beaks, as a welcome.
Into the garden presently came some little children. "See," cried the youngest, "there is a new one;" and the rest were delighted. "The new one is the most beautiful of all."
Then he felt quite ashamed, and hid his head under his wing. He had been persecuted and despised for his ugliness, and now he heard them say he was the most beautiful of all the birds. 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."
中文翻译
乡间正是美丽的夏天。金黄的麦子，绿油油的燕麦，牧场上堆起的干草垛，看起来美极了。鹳鸟迈着红色的长腿散步，用埃及语叽叽喳喳地叫着。阳光明媚的河畔，矗立着一座舒适的老农舍，从屋边到水边长满了高大的牛蒡叶。在这僻静的角落里，一只母鸭正坐在巢里，等待她的孩子们孵化出来。
终于，一个蛋壳裂开了，接着又是一个，每个蛋里都钻出一个小生命，抬起头叫着：“叽，叽。”“嘎，嘎，”妈妈说，于是他们也尽力地嘎嘎叫起来。“这个世界真大啊！”小鸭子们说。“你们以为这就是整个世界吗？”妈妈问，“等你们看到花园再说吧。”
“还有一个蛋没孵出来呢，”鸭子对一位来访的老鸭子说。“让我看看那个蛋，”老鸭子说。“我敢肯定那是个火鸡蛋。听我的，别管它了。”
“我想我还是再坐一会儿吧，”鸭子说。
最后，那个大蛋裂开了，一个幼雏爬了出来，叫着“叽，叽”。他又大又丑。鸭子盯着他。“他太大了，一点也不像其他孩子，”她惊呼道。
第二天天气很好，鸭妈妈带着她所有的孩子下水。“嘎，嘎，”她叫道，小鸭子们一个接一个跳进水里。那只丑小鸭也在水里和他们一起游。
“哦，”妈妈说，“他不是火鸡；他的腿划得多好！他是我亲生的孩子。嘎，嘎！现在跟我来，我带你们去见见大世面，介绍你们认识农场，但你们必须紧跟着我。”
他们来到农场时，那里正乱作一团。“看，孩子们，世界就是这样子的，”鸭妈妈说。小鸭子们照做了，但其他鸭子却盯着看。“瞧，又来了一窝，”他们说，“其中有个家伙样子真怪！”接着一只鸭子飞过来，在他脖子上啄了一下。
“别管他，”妈妈说；“他又没碍着谁。”
“是没碍着，可他太大太丑了，”一只恶毒的鸭子说，“所以必须把他赶出去。”
这只最后才爬出蛋壳的可怜小鸭，被鸭子们，也被所有的家禽啄咬、推搡和取笑。情况一天比一天糟。可怜的丑小鸭被大家驱赶；连他的兄弟姐妹也对他不好。最后，他逃走了。
“他们怕我是因为我丑，”他说。于是他闭上眼睛，继续往前飞，直到来到一片住着野鸭的荒野。
早上，野鸭们盯着这位新伙伴。“你丑得厉害，”野鸭们说，“不过只要你不打算和我们家族的任何一位结婚，那倒也没什么关系。”
他在荒野待了两天后，来了两只大雁。“听着，朋友，”其中一只说，“你丑得可爱，我们挺喜欢你的。你愿意跟我们一起走，成为候鸟吗？”
“砰，砰，”空中传来响声，那两只大雁掉在芦苇丛中死了。是猎人们。他们把可怜的丑小鸭吓坏了！一只可怕的大狗从他身边很近的地方经过，却下水游走了，没有碰他。“哦，”丑小鸭叹了口气，“我多么庆幸自己长得丑；连狗都不咬我。”
他跑过田野和草地，来到一间破旧的小屋，钻了进去。屋里住着一个女人、一只公猫和一只母鸡。丑小鸭被允许留下观察三个星期，但他没有下蛋。公猫是这家的老爷，母鸡是太太。
“你会下蛋吗？”她问。“不会。”“那就请你闭嘴。”“你能拱起背，发出呼噜声，或者迸出火花吗？”公猫问。“不能。”“那么你就没权利发表意见。”
丑小鸭内心涌起一股强烈的游泳渴望。“多么荒谬的想法，”母鸡说。“你就是闲得慌，才有这些傻念头。”
“可是在水里游泳是多么愉快啊，”丑小鸭说。
“我们不明白你？”母鸡说。“我建议你赶紧学会下蛋或者打呼噜。”
“我想我必须再次走向外面的世界了，”丑小鸭说。
于是丑小鸭离开了小屋。秋天来了，接着是冬天。冬天越来越冷；他不得不在水里游来游去防止水面结冰。他终于筋疲力尽，一动不动地躺着，被牢牢冻在冰里。
清晨，一个农民看到了这一幕。他破开冰，把丑小鸭带回家。温暖让他苏醒过来；但当孩子们想和他玩时，丑小鸭以为他们会伤害他，惊恐地扑腾起来，弄得一团糟，最后逃回了雪地里。
严冬过去后，一天早晨，他发现自己躺在荒野里。他感受到温暖的阳光，听到云雀在歌唱。这时，这只年轻的鸟儿感到翅膀充满了力量，他高高飞向天空。他发现自己来到一个大花园。附近的灌木丛中游来了三只美丽的白天鹅。
“我要飞向那些高贵的鸟儿，”他喊道，“他们会杀死我的，因为我这么丑……但这没关系：被他们杀死也比……”
于是他飞向水面，朝那些美丽的天鹅游去。他们一看到这个陌生人，就张开翅膀迎上前来。
“杀了我吧，”可怜的鸟儿说；他把头垂向水面，等待着死亡。
但在清澈的溪流下面他看到了什么？他自己的倒影；不再是一只深灰色、丑陋难看的鸟，而是一只优雅美丽的天鹅。
对于一只鸟来说，出生在农场的鸭窝里并不重要，只要它是从天鹅蛋里孵出来的。那些大天鹅围着新来的伙伴游着，用嘴轻抚他的脖子，表示欢迎。
不一会儿，几个小孩来到花园。“看，”最小的孩子喊道，“又来了一只新的；”其他孩子都高兴起来。“新来的这只是最漂亮的。”
他感到非常难为情，把头藏到翅膀下。他曾因丑陋而受迫害、被鄙视，现在却听到他们说他是所有鸟儿中最美丽的。于是他抖擞羽毛，弯曲细长的脖子，从心底里快乐地叫道：“当我还是丑小鸭的时候，我做梦也没想到会有这样的幸福！”