The Ugly Duckling

THE UGLY DUCKLING

I

      It was summer. The country was lovely just then. The cornfields were waving yellow, the wheat was golden, the oats were still green, and the hay was stacked in the meadows. Beyond the fields great forests and ponds of water might be seen.

      In the sunniest spot of all stood an old farmhouse, with deep canals around it. At the water's edge grew great burdocks. It was just as wild there as in the deepest wood, and in this snug place sat a duck upon her nest. She was waiting for her brood to hatch.

At last one eggshell after another began to crack. From each little egg came "Cheep! cheep!" and then a little duckling's head.

      "Quack! quack!" said the duck; and all the babies quacked too. Then they looked all around. The mother let them look as much as they liked, for green is good for the eyes.

      "How big the world is!" said all the little ducklings.

      "Do you think this is all the world?" asked the mother. "It stretches a long way on the other side of the garden and on to the parson's field, but I have never been so far as that. I hope you are all out. No, not all; that large egg is still unbroken. I am really tired of sitting so long." Then the duck sat down again.

      "Well, how goes it?" asked an old duck who had come to pay her a visit.

      "There is one large egg that is taking a long time to hatch," replied the mother. "But you must look at the ducklings. They are the finest I have ever seen; they are all just like their father."

      "Let me look at the egg which will not hatch," said the old duck. "You may be sure that it is a turkey's egg. I was once cheated in that way. Oh, you will have a great deal of trouble, for a turkey will not go into the water. Yes, that's a turkey's egg. Leave it alone and teach the other children to swim."

      "No, I will sit on it a little longer," said the mother duck.

      "Just as you please," said the old duck, and she went away.

      At last the large egg cracked. "Cheep! cheep!" said the young one, and tumbled out. How large it was! How ugly it was!

      "I wonder if it can be a turkey chick," said the mother. "Well, we shall see when we go to the pond. It must go into the water, even if I have to push it in myself."

      Next day the mother duck and all her little ones went down to the water. Splash! she jumped in, and all the ducklings went in, too. They swam about very easily, and the ugly duckling swam with them.

      "No, it is not a turkey," said the mother duck. "See how well he can use his legs. He is my own child! And he is not so very ugly either."

II

      Then she took her family into the duck yard. As they went along, she told the ducklings how to act.

      "Keep close to me, so that no one can step on you," she said. "Come; now, don't turn your toes in.       
      A well-brought-up duck turns its toes out, just like father and mother. Bow your heads before that old duck yonder. She is the grandest duck here. One can tell that by the red rag around her leg. That's a great honor, the greatest honor a duck can have. It shows that the mistress doesn't want to lose her. Now bend your necks and say 'Quack!'"

      They did so, but the other ducks did not seem glad to see them.

      "Look!" they cried. "Here comes another brood, as if there were not enough of us already. And oh, dear, how ugly that large one is! We won't stand him."

      Then one of the ducks flew at the ugly duckling and bit him in the neck.

      "Let him alone," said the mother; "he is doing no harm."

      "Perhaps not," said the duck who had bitten the poor duckling, "but he is too ugly to stay here. He must be driven out."

      "Those are pretty children that the mother has," said the old duck with the rag around her leg. "They are all pretty but that one. What a pity!"

      "Yes," replied the mother duck, "he is not handsome, but he is good-tempered, and he swims as well as any of the others. I think he will grow to be pretty. Perhaps he stayed too long in the egg."

      "Well, make yourselves at home," said the old duck. "If you find an eel's head, you may bring it to me."

      And they did make themselves at home—all but the poor ugly duckling. His life was made quite miserable. The ducks bit him, and the hens pecked him. So it went on the first day, and each day it grew worse.

      The poor duckling was very unhappy. At last he could stand it no longer, and he ran away. As he flew over the fence, he frightened the little birds on the bushes.

      "That is because I am so ugly," thought the duckling.

      He flew on until he came to a moor where some wild ducks lived. They laughed at him and swam away from him.

      Some wild geese came by, and they laughed at the duckling, too. Just then some guns went bang! bang! The hunters were all around. The hunting dogs came splash! into the swamp, and one dashed close to the duckling. The dog looked at him and went on.

      "Well, I can be thankful for that," sighed he. "I am so ugly that even the dog will not bite me."

      When all was quiet, the duckling started out again. A storm was raging, and he found shelter in a poor hut. Here lived an old woman with her cat and her hen. The old woman could not see well, and she thought he was a fat duck. She kept him three weeks, hoping that she would get some duck eggs, but the duckling did not lay.

      After a while the fresh air and sunshine streamed in at the open door, and the duckling longed to be out on the water. The cat and the hen laughed when he told them of his wish.

      "You must be crazy," said the hen. "I do not wish to swim. The cat does not; and I am sure our mistress does not."

      "You do not understand me," said the duckling. "I will go out into the wide world."

      "Yes, do go," said the hen.

      And the duckling went away. He swam on the water and dived, but still all the animals passed him by because he was so ugly; and the poor duckling was lonesome.

III

      Now the winter came, and soon it was very cold. Snow and sleet fell, and the ugly duckling had a very unhappy time.

One evening a whole flock of handsome white birds rose out of the bushes. They were swans. They gave a strange cry, and spreading their great wings, flew away to warmer lands and open lakes.

      The ugly duckling felt quite strange, and he gave such a loud cry that he frightened himself. He could not forget those beautiful happy birds. He knew not where they had gone, but he wished he could have gone with them.

      The winter grew cold—very cold. The duckling swam about in the water to keep from freezing, but every night the hole in which he swam became smaller and smaller. At last he was frozen fast in the ice.

      Early the next morning a farmer found the duckling and took him to the farmhouse. There in a warm room the duckling came to himself again. The children wished to play with him, but he was afraid of them.

      In his terror he fluttered into the milk pan and splashed the milk about the room. The woman clapped her hands at him, and that frightened him still more. He flew into the butter tub and then into the meal barrel.

      How he did look then! The children laughed and screamed. The woman chased him with the fire tongs. The door stood open, and the duckling slipped out into the snow.

      It was a cruel, hard winter, and he nearly froze. At last the warm sun began to shine, and the larks to sing. The duckling flapped his wings and found that they were strong. Away he flew over the meadows and fields.

      Soon he found himself in a beautiful garden where the apple trees were in full bloom, and the long branches of the willow trees hung over the shores of the lake. Just in front of him he saw three beautiful white swans swimming lightly over the water.

      "I will fly to those beautiful birds," he said. "They will kill me because I am so ugly; but it is all the same. It is better to be killed by them than to be bitten by the ducks and pecked by the hens."

      So he flew into the water and swam towards the beautiful birds. They saw the duckling and came sailing down toward him. He bowed his head saying, "Kill me, oh, kill me."

      But what was this he saw in the clear water? It was his own image, and lo! he was no longer a clumsy dark-gray bird, but a—swan, a beautiful white swan. It matters not if one was born in a duck yard, if one has only lain in a swan's egg. The other swans swam around him to welcome him.

      Some little children came into the garden with corn and other grains which they threw into the water. The smallest one cried, "Oh, see! there is a new swan, and it is more beautiful than any of the others."

      The ugly duckling was shy and at first hid his head under his wing. Then he felt so happy that he raised his neck and said, "I never dreamed of so much happiness when I was an ugly duckling."

The Ugly Duckling Read Along by Little Readers

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Dunking Ducks

      These little ducks are soaking wet but they love the rain! You will need to design, draw, and cut a few ducks from sturdy white poster board. Students may then trace a selection of wet ducks with a permanent (ink) orange markers; this type of pen will insure that the inks do not smear or run while the students are gluing things onto the image later. Teachers may choose to do this part of the process in advance for very young students. But do not do this for children age 6 and up. It is good for little people to manipulate art materials as much as possible if they do not need assistance. This promotes self-confidence and small motor coordination. 

      Next you will need to mix water with white glue in order to cover the surface of the poster board with a thin coat of watery, tacky, messy mixture. 

      Students may now lay down a variety of torn yellow and orange tissue papers on top of the duck shapes along with yellow and orange feathers, construction paper etc... Brush glue mixture on top of the tissues and feathers as these are layered into the glue mixture. It's perfectly alright for the tissues to get lumpy, and messy, just keep adding the tissues to build up the interesting surfaces.

      After the project dries over night, the teacher may add some additional duck beaks, wispy lines of rain and duck eyes to the picture for added effect. I used a black permanent ink marker for this. You can also cut the wet ducks out and add these to a large pond scene on a bulletin board. Let each student take a their wet duck home after the bulletin board is dismantled.

The wet duck before and after.

More Little Duck Crafts:

• Color Days Duck from Mrs. Ricca
• Five Little Ducks Finger Puppets
• Little Duck Socks
• Adorable felted and fabric ducks

Palm Sunday Crayon Resist Craft

      Crayon resist art projects are always popular for young people to make. This one is based upon a Palm Sunday theme. 

      Start with a large white piece of construction paper. Trace around your hands or the hands of your neighbor or a little of both using a purple magic marker. I've limited the color choices in this craft to purple and green, the most common color selection for that part of the Liturgical calendar. 

      After tracing many hands over lapping and waving in the air to reference the waving of palm branches, use bright purple crayons to color in bits and pieces of hand tracings in your abstract drawing. You may also choose to color some of the branches a variety of green shades; just don't color in all of the hand tracings. Leave some of the "palms" blank. 

      Now, carefully crumple the paper. If a bit of it tears have some masking tape on hand to repair little tears on the backside of the drawings. 

      Place the pictures on plastic or newspaper lined tables and proceed to give your students bowls of very watery green paint and large brushes. Have them brush washes of green or maybe even purple paint across the crayon resist pictures. You will end up with some lovely abstract palm paintings by the time you finish.

• Two donkeys for coloring here and here...
• The Last Supper Window at Chartres Cathedral

Weave an Easter Basket Scene

      This is a time consuming project that has wonderful results when completed. I recommend this craft for students in 3rd or 4th grade. It will take time for them to create their pictures and to also carefully follow instructions. Never avoid teaching art assignments to older children for any of these reasons. Perseverance is a rewording human attribute to develop and nurture in the young. They will make something they can be proud of and teachers will learn to adapt processes to challenge their aging protégé.

Far left: I cut a basket stencil to fit the largest piece of standard sized construction paper I could find. Working large for this art project makes it much easier for a small child to craft. Adults may scale the activity down and create interesting Easter cards using the same weaving process with ribbons if they'd like. Center: Here you can see; I've traced around my stencil and added long wavy lines down the front vessel part of my basket design. I then cut along these lines that imitate the 'warp' part of the woven design. Proceed then to use long strips of construction paper to mimic the 'weft' process by which the construction paper basket is woven. Far Right: After I have woven my basket, I will paste down and tuck in loose edges of the design on the front side of the basket to hide any imperfections.

Far Left: Turn the woven design over and mask the back side of your picture before cutting it out. Center: Cut out the basket carefully; remember to leave approximately 1/8 of an inch around the edges of your flat woven basket as you go. Far Right: The finished basket is now glued along the edges only and adhered to a bright white background. Only the edges of the basket and the handle of the basket are glued, so that additional paper elements may be added into the inside of the flat woven picture in the end.

Cut some grass to add to the bottom of your woven Easter picture. Measure from the bottom of your background paper up to the point where you would like the grass to cover the bottom of the basket. Double this measurement and cut a strip of green construction paper out that will run the length of the white construction paper. Fold the paper in have horizontally and cut narrow slashed along the folded edge only. Be careful not to cut all the way to the other edge of your folded paper; leave about 1/8 of an inch of an additional boarder. Unfold your grass border. It should look something like the one pictured above. The cuts do not need to be as regular as mine.

 Now refold your green construction paper and staple it to the white construction paper along the bottom edge.

Left: Cut the loops in half. Right: Give your grass a bit of a fringe with the sharp edge of your scissors.

Now you can cut and color some bright eggs, peeps, and a chocolate bunny to add to your woven Easter picture. I also stuffed the basket with green, paper, Easter grass in order to enhance the three dimensional effect. Glue the paper embellishments on the complete picture.

Who Is The Bride of Christ?

      The Bride of Christ or bride, the Lamb's wife is a term used in reference to a group of related verses in the Bible—in the Gospels, Revelation, the Epistles and related verses in the Old Testament. Sometimes the Bride is implied through calling Jesus a Bridegroom. For over fifteen hundred years the Church was identified as the bride betrothed to Christ.

      Ephesians 5:22-33 compares the union of husband and wife to that of Christ and the church. The central theme of the whole Ephesians letter is reconciliation of the alienated within the unity of the church. Ephesians 5 begins by calling on Christians to imitate God and Christ, who gave himself up for them with love. Ephesians 5:1-21 contains a rather strong warning against foolishness and letting down one's guard against evil. Rather, the author encourages the readers to constantly give thanks with song in their hearts because of what God has done for all in Christ. That prelude to the subject's text takes up again the theme of loving submission that began with the example of Christ in 5:2 where all are called upon to "Be submissive to one another out of reverence for Christ." 5:21 It implies, but is not specific, that the "Bride" is the body of believers that comprise the universal Christian Ekklēsia (Church) (lit. "called-out ones")

Greg Denie is from Calgary, AB. Using his gift to shine light on the 

beauty of Christ! You can check more of his 

stuff out at http://www.loveandreason.ca 

      The ekklēsia is never explicitly called "the bride of Christ" in the New Testament. That is approached in Ephesians 5:22-33. A major analogy is that of the body. Just as husband and wife are to be "one flesh," this analogy for the writer describes the relationship of Christ and ekklēsia. Husbands were exhorted to love their wives "just as Christ loved the ekklēsia and gave himself for it. When Christ nourishes and cherishes the ekklēsia, he nourishes and cherishes his own flesh. Just as the husband, when he loves his wife is loving his own flesh. Members of the ekklēsia are "members of his own body" because it is written in Genesis 2:4 "and the two shall become one flesh". In  Jesus quotes the Genesis passage as what has been called a "divine postscript.”

Kronheim's Baxter process illustration of Revelation 22:17 (King James' Version), from page 366 of the 1880 omnibus printing of The Sunday at Home. Scanned at 800 dpi. The greyish border around the flowers is a metallic silver ink, however, shininess cannot be reproduced in an electronic medium.

      In writing to the Church of Corinth in 2 Corinthians 11 Paul writes to the Corinthians warning them of false teachers who would teach of another Christ and confessing his worry that they will believe someone who teaches a false christ; other than Christ Jesus of Nazareth whom they preached; and referred to the Church in Corinth as being espoused to Christ. "For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

      In the writing to the Church in Rome, Paul writes, "Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God" (emphasis added). Here, Paul seems to suggest that the Church is to be married to Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom was raised from the dead.