Ugly Duckling: A tale from the story of Hans Christian Andersen

Author: Huang Huiming et al
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-04-01
Features: This fairy tale is also collected in New Fairy Tales. It was written during a time when Andersen was not in a good mood. At that time, he had a play titled Swallows on the Pear Tree being performed, like many of his other works at the time, it received unfair criticism. In his diary, he wrote: "Writing this story might make me feel a little better." The protagonist of this story is a "ugly duckling"—in fact, a beautiful swan—but because he was born in a duck farm, the ducks thought he was different from them and considered him very "ugly." Other animals, such as chickens, dogs, and cats, also echoed their opinions and looked down on him. They judged him based on their own life philosophies, saying, "You are truly terrible, but as long as you don't marry any duck from our kind, it doesn't matter much to us." They all believed they came from noble families and were extraordinary, yet in reality, they were quite vulgar. In contrast, the "ugly duckling" was very humble and "never thought about marriage." He felt, "I'd better go out into the vast world." One night, in the "vast world," he saw "a group of beautiful birds flying out of the bushes. They flew so high—so high—that the ugly duckling couldn't help but feel incredibly excited." These were swans. Later, the swans discovered that the "ugly duckling" was their (same kind), and they "swam over to him and kissed him with their beaks." It turned out that the "ugly duckling" himself was also a beautiful swan, and it didn't matter that he was "born in a duck farm." This fairy tale is generally considered an autobiographical work by Andersen, depicting the hardships he endured during his childhood and youth, his pursuit and longing for beauty, and the artistic achievements and spiritual comfort he gained after overcoming all the difficulties.