It is summer. A duck sits on her eggs. She sits and she waits. She waits and waits.
At last the eggs open.
"At last!" says the duck.
"My little ducklings!"
But one egg does not open.
"Mm,' says her friend. "That egg is strange. Leave it!" they say.
"Leave my egg?" says Mother Duck.
"No. I can't leave it."
She sits down again and she waits.
At last the egg opens.
"Oh!" says Mother Duck to her friend.
"You're right. He is strange. What an ugly duckling!"
But the ugly duckling can swim.
He can swim very well.
And Mother Duck is happy.
"Come on, ducklings!" she says.
"Let's go to the farm! I want all my friends to see you."
They swam and arrived in the farm.
"Hello, everyone," she calls.
"Look at my little ducklings!"
Her friends gathered around.
"Very nice. Very nice" say her friends.
"But that duckling is very big. He's ugly!"
"He's strange," they say. "He's an ugly duckling."
And one of the ducks pecks him.
Every day the farm girl comes.
Every day she kicks him.
"Go away, you ugly duckling!" she says.
So one day, the ugly duckling runs away.
He runs away from the farm.
"Go! Yes, go!" say his brothers and sisters.
"You're strange! You're ugly!" they say.
It's colder now. The ugly duckling is bigger.
One day, two geese see him.
"Mm, you're strange!" they say.
"You're very ugly," they say.
"But you're interesting. Do you want to fly with us?" they say.
But suddenly there is a bang. Bang! Bang!
And the geese are dead.
There are some men. Men with guns and dogs.
The ugly duckling is afraid.
A big dog comes.
He sees the ugly duckling.
And he looks at him.
Then the dog swims away.
"I am ugly," says the ugly duckling.
"So he doesn't want to eat me." she says to herself.
The ugly duckling runs away.
He comes to an old hut and he goes in.
In the hut, there is a woman, a cat, and a hen.
The woman is old and she can't see.
"What's this?" she says.
"A duck? Ah! You can give me some eggs." the woman says.
"Come on," says the cat. "Where are your eggs?" it says.
"I haven't got any," says the ugly duckling.
"Then go!" says the hen.
The ugly duckling goes away.
It is winter now.
And it is very cold.
One evening the ugly duckling sees something wonderful and strange.
Three swans! Three big, beautiful swans.
"Oh," he cries. "What beautiful birds! Big, beautiful and free."
He calls to them. "Who are you? Take me with you."
But they do not hear him because they are flying above.
It is winter now.
It is cold.
There is ice on the water.
So the ugly duckling can't swim.
He was stuck in the water.
A man sees him.
He breaks the ice with his shoe.
"Poor bird!" he says. "Come home with me."
And he went home with the ugly duckling.
The children saw the ugly duckling and they want to play with him.
"Come here!" they say.
But the ugly duckling runs away.
He falls into the milk.
The children laugh.
"Come here!" they say.
Then he falls into the butter.
"Oh dear! What a mess!"
Then he falls into the flour.
"Get out!" cries the man's wife. "Get out of my house!"
The ugly duckling runs.
Suddenly he starts to fly.
The door is open.
He flies up into the sky.
He can fly!
He can fly!
"I can fly!" says the ugly duckling.
And now the sun comes out.
It is spring.
Then he sees a garden.
A garden with a river.
"What a beautiful garden!" he says.
And he flies down.
He sees something swimming in the river.
He sees the swans.
He sees the three swans.
"Oh! They are beautiful!" he says. "I must speak to them," he says.
But he is afraid.
He looks down at the water and he sees his face.
He is not an ugly duckling anymore.
He is a beautiful swan too.
It's true! It's true!
He's not a duckling.
He's not a duck.
He's a swan.
He's a swan, too!
Some children run down to the river.
"Look, Mother!" they say. "A new swan!"
"Look! Oh, look! Look at the new swan!" they say.
"Yes," says the children's mother. "Isn't he beautiful!"
Note: The story is taken from the book Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs of Oxford University Press (www.oup.com/elt). There are some sentences that I've been changed. It's much better if you can get your own book because of the beautiful and colorful pictures. Cd is also included in the book. What I do for my students is to let them listen to the story everyday before taking the lesson. And after a month, it's amazing that most of them can memorize most of the content of the book. Some can even memorize everything.
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