
The duckling, now having fully grown and matured, cannot endure a life of solitude and hardship anymore. The duckling spends a miserable winter alone outdoors, mostly hiding in a cave on the lake that partly freezes over. When winter arrives, a farmer finds and carries the freezing duckling home, but he is frightened by the farmer's noisy children and flees the house. He is delighted and excited but cannot join them, for he is too young, ugly, and unable to fly. The duckling sees a flock of migrating wild swans. He finds a home with an old woman, but her cat and hen tease and taunt him mercilessly, and once again he sets off alone.

He wanders from the barnyard and lives with wild ducks and geese until hunters slaughter the flocks. The tale is an original story by Andersen.Īfter a mother duck's eggs hatch, one of the ducklings is perceived by the other animals as an ugly little creature and suffers much verbal and physical abuse. The tale has been adapted to various media including opera, musical, and animated film. First Collection, with three other tales by Andersen in Copenhagen, Denmark to great critical acclaim.

It was first published on 11 November 1843 in New Fairy Tales. " The Ugly Duckling" ( Danish: Den grimme ælling) is a Danish literary fairy tale by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875). Illustration by Vilhelm Pedersen, Andersen‘s first illustrator
