One evening, the sun was just setting in with true splendor¹ when ¹⁾a flock of beautiful large birds appeared out of the bushes. The duckling had never seen anything so beautiful. They were dazzlingly white with long waving necks. They were swans and uttering a peculiar² cry. They spread out their magnificent broad wings and flew away from the cold regions toward warmer lands and open seas.       

They ²⁾mounted so high, so very high, and the ugly little duckling became strangely uneasy. He circled around and around in the water like a wheel, ³⁾craning his neck out into the air after them. Then he uttered the shriek³ so ⁴⁾piercing and so strange that he was quite frightened by himself. Oh, he could not forget those beautiful birds, those happy birds and as soon as they were out of sight. He ⁵⁾ducked right down to the bottom and when he came up again, he was quite beside himself. He did not know what the birds were or where’d they flew. But all the same, he was more drawn⁴ towards them than he had ever been by any creatures before. He did not envy them in the least. How could it occur to him even to wish to be such a marvelous beauty? He wouldn’t be thankful if only the ducks would have tolerated him among them, the poor ugly creature.

Early in the morning, a peasant came along and saw him, he went out onto the ice and hammered a hole in it with his heavy wooden shoe, and carried the duckling home to his wife. There, it soon ⁶⁾revived. The children wanted to play with it. But the duckling thought they were going to ill use him and rushed in and he frightened to the milk-pan, and the milk ⁷⁾spurted out all over the room. The woman shrieked⁵ and threw up her hands. Then it flew to the butter-cask and down into the meal-tub and out again. Oh, just imagine what it looked like by this time. The woman screamed and tried to hit it with the ⁸⁾tongs, and the children ⁹⁾tumbled over one another in trying to catch it, and they screamed with laughter.

By good luck, the door stood open and the duckling flew out among the bushes and the new fallen snow. And it lay there, thoroughly⁶ exhausted⁷, but it would be too sad to mention all the privation and misery⁸ had to go through during that hard winter. When the sun began to shine warmly again, the duckling was in a marsh⁹, lying among the rushes. The larks¹⁰ were singing, and the beautiful spring had come. Then all at once, it raised its wings and they flapped with much greater strength than before and bore him off vigorously. Before he knew where he was, he found himself in a large garden with the apple trees were in full blossom. And the air was scentedly with lilacs, the long branches of which overhung the indented¹¹ shores of the lake. Oh, the spring freshness was so delicious. Just in front of him, he saw three beautiful white swans advancing towards him from a ¹⁰⁾thicket. With ¹¹⁾rustling feathers, they swam lightly over the water. The duckling recognized the majestic¹² birds, and he was overcome by a strange melancholy¹³.

“I will fly to them, the royal birds, and they will hack¹⁴ me to pieces because I who am so ugly venture to approach them. But it won’t matter. Better to be killed by them than be snacked up by the ducks, ¹²⁾pecked by the hens, or ¹³⁾spurned by the hen wife, or suffer so much misery in the winter.” So he flew into the water and swam towards the stately swans. They saw him and darted¹⁵ toward him with ruffled¹⁶ feathers. “Kill me, oh, kill me.” said the poor creature. And bowing his head towards the water, he awaited his death. But what did he see? Reflected in the transparent¹⁷ water, he saw below him his own image, but he was no longer a clumsy dark gray bird, ugly and ungainly. He was himself, a swan.

丑小鸭

一天晚上，当太阳正在美丽的霞光中落下去的时候，有一群漂亮的大鸟从灌木林里飞出来，小鸭从来没有看到过这样美丽的东西。他们白得发亮，颈项又长又柔软。这就是天鹅。他们发出一种奇异的叫声，展开美丽的长翅膀，从寒冷的地带飞向温暖的国度，飞向不结冰的湖上去。

他们飞得很高--那么高，丑小鸭不禁感到一种无名的兴奋。他在水上像一个车轮似地不停地旋转着，同时，把自己的颈项高高地向他们伸着，发出一种响亮的怪叫声，连他自己也吓着了。啊！他再也忘不了那些美丽的鸟儿，那些幸福的鸟儿。当他看不见他们的时候，就沉入水底；但是当他再冒到水面上来的时候，却感到非常寂寞。他不知道那些鸟儿的名字，也不知道他们要飞去什么地方。不过他爱他们，好像他从来还没有爱过什么东西似的。他并不嫉妒他们。他怎能梦想有他们那样的美丽呢？只要别的鸭儿准许他跟他们生活在一起，他就已经很欣慰了--可怜的丑东西。

大清早，有一个农民在这儿经过。他看到了这只小鸭，就走过去用木屐把冰块锤破，然后把它抱回家，送给他的妻子。它这时才渐渐地恢复了知觉。小孩子们都想跟它玩，不过小鸭以为他们想要伤害他。他一害怕就跳到牛奶盘里去了，把牛奶溅得满屋子都是。女人惊叫起来，拍着双手。这么一来，小鸭就飞到黄油盆里去了，然后飞进面粉桶里去了，最后才爬出来。这时它的样子才好看呢！女人尖声地叫起来，拿着火钳要打它。小孩们挤做一团，想抓住这小鸭。他们又是笑，又是叫！

幸好大门是开着的。他钻进灌木林中新下的雪里面去。他躺在那里，彻底地筋疲力尽。要是只讲他在这严冬所受到困苦和灾难，那么这个故事也就太悲惨了。当太阳又开始温暖地照着的时候，他正躺在沼泽地的芦苇里。百灵鸟唱起歌来了--美丽的春天已经来了。忽然间他举起翅膀：翅膀拍起来比以前有力得多，马上就把他托起来飞走了。他不知不觉地已经飞进了一座大花园。这儿苹果树开满了花；空气里飘着丁香怡人的香气，一根长长的枝条垂到弯弯曲曲的湖岸边。啊，这儿充满了醉人的初春的气息！三只美丽的白天鹅从树荫里一直游到他面前来。他们轻飘飘地浮在水上，羽毛发出飕飕的响声。小鸭认出这些高贵的鸟儿，于是心里感到一种说不出的难过。

“我要飞向他们，飞向这些高贵的鸟儿！可是他们会把我劈碎的，因为我是这样丑，居然敢接近他们。不过这没有什么关系！被他们杀死，要比被鸭子咬、被鸡群啄，被看管养鸡场的那个女佣人踢和在冬天受苦好得多！”于是他飞到水里，向这些高贵优雅的天鹅游去：这些动物看到他，马上就竖起羽毛向他游来。“请你们弄死我吧！”这只可怜的家伙说。他把头低低地垂到水上，只等待着死。但是他在这清澈的水上看到了什么呢？他看到了自己的倒影。但那不再是一只粗笨的、深灰色的、又丑又令人讨厌的鸭子，而却是--一只天鹅！

1、a flock of 一群                           

2、mount [maunt] v. 增长，上升       

3、crane [krein] v. 伸（颈）

4、piercing [5piEsiN] a. 刺穿的，尖锐的  

5、duck [dQk] v. 突然潜入水中

6、revive [ri5vaiv] v. 苏醒；复活；再生          

7、spurt out 喷出；涌出

8、tongs [tCNz] n. 火钳，夹子                 

9、tumble [tQmbl] v. 摔倒；滚；乱

10、thicket [5Wikit] n. 树丛；灌木丛  

11、rustling [5rQsliN] n. 沙沙声

12、peck [pek] v. 啄