A duck made her nest under some leaves.
At last the eggs broke, one after the other. Little ducks came out.
Only one egg was left. It was a very large one.
At last it broke, and out came a big, ugly duckling.
“What a big duckling!” said the old duck. “He does not look like us. Can he be a turkey? — We will see. If he does not like the water, he is not a duck.”
The next day the mother duck took her ducklings to the pond.
Splash! Splash! The mother duck was in the water. Then she called the ducklings to come in. They all jumped in and began to swim. The big, ugly duckling swam, too.
The mother duck said, “He is not a turkey. He is my own little duck. He will not be so ugly when he is bigger.”
Then she said to the ducklings, “Come with me. I want you to see the other ducks. Stay by me and look out for the cat.”
They all went into the duck yard. What a noise the ducks made!
While the mother duck was eating a big bug, an old duck bit the ugly duckling.