It was summer. And the countryside was beautiful. The wheat fields shimmered gold beneath the sun, while the oat fields still glowed green. Fresh hay lay gathered across the meadows, and among them wandered the storks on their long red legs, speaking in the strange old language their mothers had taught them long ago in Egypt.

Beyond the fields and open pastures stood a great forest. At its heart lay a deep and quiet lake. Yes — the countryside was wonderfully alive in summer. Near the warmest place beside the water stood an old manor house surrounded by a deep moat. Large dock leaves grew wildly along the stone walls, stretching all the way down to the water’s edge. Some of them were so tall that a small child could disappear beneath them completely. Hidden within those thick green leaves, quiet as the heart of a forest, a mother duck sat waiting in her nest.

Her ducklings were nearly ready to hatch. She had been sitting there for what felt like forever, and she was beginning to grow tired of it. Hatching eggs took time. And hardly anyone came to visit her. The other ducks preferred swimming through the moat instead of waddling through the tall grass to sit beside her and talk.

终于，

鸭蛋一只接一只地裂开了…

“吱吱，吱吱！”他们叫着。所有的小鸭子都活跃起来，探出了他们的小脑袋。

“Quack, quack!” called the mother duck. And immediately, all the ducklings began quacking as loudly as they could, looking around curiously at the great green world surrounding them. Their mother allowed them to stare as much as they wished. Green, after all, was good for the eyes.

“How enormous the world is!” the ducklings cried. Compared to the cramped darkness inside their eggs, everything now seemed impossibly vast.

“你们以为这就是整个世界么？”鸭妈妈说。

“它一直延伸到花园的另一边，延伸到牧师的田野里呢，不过我从来没去过那么远的地方。怎么样，你们都出来了吧？”她站起身，左右看了看。“哟，我还没有把你们全都孵出来！那只最大的蛋还在那儿呢。它还需要多长时间呢？”鸭妈妈说着，在窝里重新蹲了下来。

Just then, an old duck came waddling over to visit her. “Well,” the old duck asked, “how are things going?”

“This one egg is taking forever,” the mother duck replied. “It simply refuses to hatch.” Then she smiled gently and looked toward the others. “But you really must see these little ones.” “I’ve never seen such lovely ducklings.” “They look exactly like their father…” She paused. “That miserable creature. He hasn’t come to see me even once.”

“Let me see that egg that refuses to hatch,” said the old duck. She leaned closer and narrowed her eyes. “Well now... I suspected as much. It’s probably a turkey egg.” “I made that mistake once myself,” she continued. “And those creatures nearly drove me mad.” “They were terrified of water. No matter how much I called to them or pushed them in, they simply would not swim.” She shook her head dramatically. “Yes... yes. That is definitely a turkey egg.” “You should stop wasting your time on it and focus on teaching the others how to swim.”

The mother duck sighed softly. “I suppose I’ll sit on it a little longer,” she said. “I’ve already spent so much time here. I may as well stay until the midsummer fair arrives.”

“Well, suit yourself,” the old duck replied, before waddling away.

最后，那只大蛋终于裂开了。

“吱，吱！”小家伙一边叫，一边跌跌撞撞地爬了出来。

哎呀，他长得多大、多丑啊！母鸭子看着他。

“这只小鸭子真是大得吓人，”她说。

“别的小鸭子都跟他不一样。难道他真是小火鸡？不要紧，我们很快就能弄清楚的。他一定要下水，哪怕我亲自把他踢下去。”

第二天，天气非常晴朗，阳光照在碧绿的羊蹄草上。

母鸭子带着所有的小鸭子来到了护城河边。

扑啦啦！她一下跳进水里。

“呷，呷，”她叫，小鸭子一只接一只也跳了进去。水淹没了他们的脑袋，但是他们很快抬起头来，优雅地漂浮着。他们的腿自己就会划水，一个都不赖。就连那只大块头的、灰不溜秋的丑鸭子也和他们一起游来游去。

“嗯，不是火鸡，”鸭妈妈说。

“看他的腿划得多漂亮，身子挺得多直。他是我嫡嫡亲亲的小鸭子，其实，如果仔细看看，他还不算难看。呷，呷！

好了，大家跟我来，我要带你们去见见世面，把你们介绍给鸭场。不过一定要一直紧跟着我，免得被踩着。千万留神那只猫！”

The duckyard was loud and crowded. Two ducks were fighting furiously over an eel head，until suddenly the cat snatched it away for herself.

“That,” said the mother duck dryly, “is how the world works.” She smacked her beak softly. Truthfully, she would have liked the eel head herself.

“Now move your legs properly,” she instructed the ducklings. “And mind your manners.” “When you greet the old duck over there, bow your heads politely.” “She is the most important duck here. She has Spanish blood, which is why she is so large.” “And do you see that red ribbon tied around her leg?” “That is a great honor indeed. It means she is highly respected.” The mother duck lowered her voice. “Such distinctions are not given lightly.” “Now then — don’t turn your feet inward when you walk.” “A well-bred duckling carries themselves properly.” “Yes, like that.” “Good. Now bow your heads and say: ‘Quack.’”

小鸭子们按鸭妈妈的吩咐做了，可是别的母鸭子扭过头来看着他们，声音很大地说，“你看看，你看看！又来了这么一大帮，就好像我们还不够多似的。

哦，天哪，那只小鸭子真丑啊！我们可受不了他。”

一只母鸭子立刻扑过来，咬了一口他的脖子。

“Leave him alone,” the mother duck protested. “He hasn’t harmed anyone.”

“That may be true,” the other duck snapped, “but he is far too ugly. Someone ought to teach him a lesson.”

The old duck with the red ribbon finally spoke. “The other ducklings are quite lovely,” she said. “All except that one.” She glanced coldly toward the gray duckling. “He is clearly not a proper breed.” “What a pity you cannot remake him.”

“那是不可能的啊，陛下，”鸭妈妈说。

“他虽说模样不好，却是只无可挑剔的好鸭子呢，游起泳来和别的鸭子一样漂亮。我还想斗胆补充一句，他长长就会变好看的，说不定还会变小呢。他在蛋里呆的时间太长了，出来时的模样就不太中看。”说着，她拍了拍丑小鸭的脖子，轻轻地抚摸他。

“而且，他是一只公鸭，”她说。

“模样俊不俊也没啥关系。我相信他会长得很结实，肯定会在世界上立住脚的。”

“别的小鸭子都很漂亮，”老母鸭说。

“好了，你们在这里随意玩耍吧，如果发现了黄鳝头，就拿来给我。”

在这之后，他们就感到很自在了。可是，那只最后出壳的可怜的小鸭子，因为模样太丑了，别人总是咬他、推他、挤他，不仅母鸭取笑他，连母鸡也捉弄他。

“真是个傻大个儿，”她们都说。

那只公火鸡，生下来的时候浑身带刺，就以为自己是个皇帝，他竖起全身的羽毛，像一艘鼓满了帆的船，直朝丑小鸭扑来，一边不停地咯咯大叫，最后满脸涨得通红。可怜的丑小鸭毫无办法，被逼得走投无路。他心里真难过啊，自己模样太丑，成了整个鸭场嘲笑的对象。

第一天就这样过去了，后来事情越来越糟糕。

大家都追赶、欺负丑小鸭，就连他的哥哥姐姐也对他不好。他们总是说，“让猫把你叼去才好呢，你这个丑八怪！”甚至鸭妈妈也说，“上帝保佑，你远远地离开这里就好了。”母鸭子们咬他，母鸡们啄他，那个喂食的姑娘也用脚把他踢到一边。

At last, he could bear it no longer. He fled. He flew over the fence so suddenly that the little birds in the bushes burst upward into the sky in fright.

后来他到了野鸭子居住的大沼泽地。他实在太累、太难受了，就留在那里过了一夜。早上，野鸭子们飞过来打量这个新来的同伴。

“你是个什么样的家伙呀？”他们问道，丑小鸭把脑袋转来转去，尽量跟他们打招呼。

“你真是丑得吓人，”野鸭子们说，

“不过只要你不跟我们家族结婚，那倒没什么关系。”

可怜的家伙！他压根儿就没想过结婚的事。他只巴望他们能允许他躺在灯心草丛中，喝几口沼泽地里的水。

他在那里呆了整整两天。

后来，两只野鹅，准确地说，是两只野公鹅，过来了。

他们刚出壳不久，还不太懂规矩。

“喂，伙计，”他们说，“你长得太丑了，倒很让我们喜欢呢！

你愿不愿意跟我们在一起，做一只候鸟呢？附近还有一片沼泽地，那里有许多可爱的野鹅。都是些温柔的、会呷呷叫的年轻女士！你长得这么丑，在她们那里准能交上好运。”就在这时，上空传来“砰，砰”两声，两只野鹅一头栽进芦苇丛中，死了，鲜血染红了水面。“砰，砰，”枪声不断，整个野鹅群都从灯心草丛中惊飞起来，子弹像雨点一样朝他们射去。

那是一支庞大的打猎队，猎手们就埋伏在沼泽地周围。

有的甚至坐在腾于水面的树枝上。

蓝色的硝烟像乌云一样，从黑黢黢的树林里升起，弥漫在沼泽地上。

猎狗回来寻找猎物，在湿地里走来走去——扑啦啦，扑啦啦！灯心草和芦苇被他们踩得东倒西歪。可怜的丑小鸭看了，心里害怕极了。

他拼命把脑袋转过去藏在翅膀底下，就在这时，一只吓人的大猎狗出现在他身边。狗的舌头从嘴里吐出来，眼睛里闪着凶光。他凑近丑小鸭，张开可怕的血盆大口，露出锋利的尖牙，然后扑啦啦！走了，碰也没碰丑小鸭一下。

“哦，谢天谢地！”丑小鸭叹了口气。

“我太丑了，连狗都不愿意咬我！”

他一动不动地躺着，听着子弹在灌木丛中呼啸而过，“砰，砰”的巨响划破天空。后来，声音总算平息了，但即使这个时候，可怜的丑小鸭也不敢出来。他又等了几个小时，才探出头来到处看看，然后飞快地逃离了那片沼泽地。

他跑过一片片田野，跑过一个个牧场，风刮得真大啊，他跑得很费劲。

夜幕降临了，他来到一座贫穷的小屋前。

这小茅屋实在太破旧了，之所以还没有倒，是因为它还没有拿定主意朝哪边倒。狂风嗖嗖地刮着，为了不被刮跑，丑小鸭只好坐在地上，可是风还在越刮越大。这时，他看见小屋门上的合页掉了一个，门歪斜着，他可以从这缝隙钻进屋去，就这样，他进了小屋。

小屋里住着一个老太婆，还有她的猫和母鸡。

这只她唤作“乖儿”的猫，会弓起后背，呜噜呜噜地叫，而且身上还能迸出火星，不过你需要反着抚摸她的毛才行。母鸡的腿又细又短，所以被唤作“短腿鸡儿”。她下蛋不错，老太婆非常喜欢她，就像喜欢自己的亲生孩子一样。

The next morning, the strange little duckling was discovered at once. The cat began to purr loudly. The hen clucked in alarm.

“这是怎么回事呀？”老太婆转过头来问道，可是她的眼神儿不好，还以为丑小鸭是从什么地方跑出来的一只大肥鸭呢。“

这可真是个意外的收获呀！”她说。

“这下我就有鸭蛋吃了，但愿别是只公鸭。我们等等看吧。”

And so the duckling remained there for three weeks. But no eggs ever appeared. In that cottage, the cat considered himself the master of the house. And the hen believed herself the mistress. Together, they often spoke as though they and the world were one and the same，and that they represented the better half of it.

The duckling sometimes felt there might be more than one way to see the world. But the cat had no patience for such thoughts.

“Can you lay eggs?”she asked.

“No.”

“Then kindly keep your opinions to yourself.”

And the cat said，“Can you arch your back，purr，or give off sparks？” "No"

“No.”

“you should remain silent while intelligent creatures are speaking.”

The poor duckling sat sadly in the corner. Slowly, he began to miss the fresh air. The sunlight. The open sky. And deep within him, an uncontrollable longing began to grow— the longing to float upon the water once again. At last, he could no longer keep the feeling inside.

“你这是撞了什么鬼呀？”母鸡问。

“你整天什么事也不做，才会有这些怪念头钻进你的脑子里。你下几个蛋，或者学着‘呜噜呜噜’叫，就不会有这样的念头了。”

“可是在水面上漂浮多么美妙啊，”丑小鸭说。

“扎进水底，让水冲上脑袋的感觉多么美妙啊。”

“那倒是个不错的乐趣！”母鸡说。

“我想你准是疯了。去问问猫吧。我认识的人里就数他最聪明了。问问他是不是喜欢在水上漂浮或一头扎进水里。我姑且不说我自己。问问我们的女主人，问问老太婆本人吧。世界上没有人比她更机灵的了。你认为她愿意在水上漂浮或者一头扎进水里吗？”

“You do not understand me，”said the duckling.

“Oh? We do not understand you?” the hen replied proudly. “Then who possibly could?” “Surely you do not believe yourself wiser than the cat or the old woman.” “You ought to be grateful.” “You have been given shelter, warmth, and the company of educated creatures.” “And still you complain.” She shook her head. “You are impossible.” “Believe me — I say these things for your own good.” “You should learn to lay eggs.” “Or purr.” “Or make sparks fly.” “Then perhaps your life would finally amount to something.” The duckling lowered his head.

“I think…” he said softly, “I would rather go out into the world.”

“Well then,” said the hen coldly, “go.”

于是丑小鸭就走了。

他在水上漂浮，一头扎进水里，可是他长得太丑了，别的动物都瞧不起他、不理睬他。秋天来了。树林里的叶子渐渐枯黄。风把它们吹得四处飘舞。天空看上去阴森寒冷，云里裹着雪和冰雹，沉甸甸地挂在天空。一只大乌鸦栖在栅栏上，冻得哑着嗓子“呱呱”直叫。想一想就叫人忍不住发抖。

不用说，可怜的丑小鸭日子很难过！

一天傍晚，冬天的太阳刚刚落山，天空泛着白光，一群美丽的大鸟从灌木丛中飞了出来。丑小鸭从没见过这么美丽的事物。他们白得耀眼，长长的脖子弯成弧形。是天鹅！他们发出奇特的叫声，展开气派的宽大翅膀，从寒冷地区飞到温暖的地方和开阔的水面。他们飞得那么高、那么高，丑小鸭心里感到一种奇怪的不安。他像轮子一样在水里转了一圈又一圈，使劲把脖子伸向空中，追望他们的背影。

哦，他永远忘不掉这些美丽的鸟、快乐的鸟！

他们从视野中消失了，丑小鸭一头扎进水里，等他重新浮出水面，他心里兴奋极了。他不知道这是些什么鸟，也不知道他们飞往哪里，但是他不由自主地被他们吸引，这是以前从没有过的。

他一点儿也不嫉妒他们！

他怎么可能希望自己拥有这样惊人的美呢？

只要鸭子们能够容忍他、接纳他，他就感激不尽了，

可怜的丑小鸭。

这个冬天冷极了，丑小鸭必须不停地游来游去，不让水面结冰，可是每过一个夜晚，他游动的那片水域就又变小了一些。后来冻得太厉害了，冰面有了裂纹，丑小鸭必须不停地摆动他的脚，不让他周围的冰冻结起来。

最后，他实在累坏了，没有力气再游动，就被结结实实地冻在了冰里。

清晨，一个农民过来看见了他。

农民走到冰面上，用厚重的木鞋在冰上砸出一个洞，把丑小鸭抱回去给他的妻子。丑小鸭很快就苏醒了。孩子们想跟他玩儿，但丑小鸭以为他们要来伤害他，吓得乱跑，撞在牛奶盆上，牛奶洒得屋里到处都是。妇人尖叫着举起双手。接着丑小鸭撞倒了黄油桶，又钻到膳食桶里再钻出来。想象一下他现在成了什么模样吧！妇人大声叫着，举着烧火钳来打他。孩子们都来抓他，互相绊着，跌成一团，又笑又嚷。幸好，房门开着，丑小鸭跑进灌木丛和新落的雪中。

他躺在那里，浑身一点力气也没有了。

And truly, to speak of all the loneliness and suffering the poor duckling endured through that terrible winter would be almost too sorrowful to tell.

当太阳重又暖洋洋地照着大地，丑小鸭躺在沼泽地里的杂草丛中。

百灵鸟在歌唱，美丽的春天来了。

突然，他耸起翅膀，觉得翅膀扇动起来比以前有力得多，充满活力地带着他向前飞去。他还没有反应过来，就发现自己来到了一个大花园里，苹果树上开满了花，空气里弥漫着丁香花的香味，长长的丁香花枝条垂落在湖岸上。

哦，清新的春色多么令人陶醉！

就在他的前面，他看见三只美丽的白天鹅从灌木丛中向他游来。他们在水面轻盈地游着，羽毛微微撩动。

丑小鸭认出了这些高贵的鸟，一种莫名的忧伤袭上他的心头。

“我要飞向他们，飞向这些高贵的鸟，他们肯定会把我撕成碎片，因为我长得这么丑，居然敢去靠近他们！

可是没关系！

我情愿被他们杀死，也不愿被鸭子咬、被公鸡啄、被母鸡踩，或者在冬天遭受那么多痛苦。”

And so he flew down onto the water and swam toward the swans. The great birds saw him. They spread their wings and glided toward him across the lake.

“杀死我吧！”可怜的丑小鸭说着，垂下脑袋，迎接自己的死亡。

可是，他在明净如镜的水里看见了什么？

No longer a clumsy gray creature. No longer awkward. No longer ugly. He had become a swan. And it did not matter that he had once been born in a duckyard.

他为自己所遭受的所有痛苦和磨难感到欣慰，这使他更深切地感受到如今的幸福和面前所有的美。

那几只大天鹅在他身边游了一圈又一圈，用嘴轻轻地抚摸他。

Soon, children came running into the garden with crumbs of bread and handfuls of grain. “There is a new one!” the youngest child cried happily. “Yes!” the others shouted. “A new swan has come!” They clapped their hands with delight and called for their parents to come see. Again and again, they threw bread into the water, saying: “The new one is the most beautiful of all.” “He is so young… and so graceful.” Even the older swans lowered their heads toward him in greeting.

他觉得很不好意思，把脑袋藏在翅膀底下。

他不知道该怎么想。他非常快乐，但一点儿也不骄傲，因为一颗善良的心永远不会骄傲。

他想起他曾经怎样被追逐、被歧视，现在他听见他们都说他是所有最美丽的鸟儿中最美丽的一只。

丁香花在他面前把枝条垂落在水里，灿烂的阳光温暖宜人。他抖动羽毛，高高抬起修长的脖子，怀着满心的喜悦说道，

“当我还是个丑小鸭时，我做梦也没想到这样的幸福啊！”