THE BEAUTIFUL DUCKLING

Once upon a time, there was a very unhappy duck who lived by the side of a lovely lake. She was unhappy because she did not have any baby ducklings.  Day after day, she would stand aside in shame while the other ducks strutted by followed by their waddling routine of fluffy little puffs of yellow down.

The poor unhappy duck would hang her head sadly, while one of the other ducks would brag about how one of HER ducklings had done this, or another would brag about how one of HER ducklings had done that! The unhappy duck had nothing to say, and would soon sneak away, feeling very inferior and unwelcome.

Finally one day, out of some deep primal instinct, the unhappy duck began to build her own nest, and then filled it with her own eggs! She was ecstatically happy.  Soon she too would be a mother like the other ducks! She too could hold her head high as she walked beside the lake with the others.

Finally, the day arrived.  She began to feel the stirrings of life in the eggs she had so carefully kept snug and warm.  First one, and then another, and then another, the little ducklings appeared from their shells, and struggled out into the world.

All except one. One egg was not yet hatched. The mother duck kept waiting and waiting, but nothing happened. She loved the five little ducklings that scrambled around her, but she was worried about that sixth egg.

Finally, the egg began to tremble. The first little hole appeared, and before you knew it, there was the sixth duckling!  But instead of another cute little bundle of yellow fuzz, there stood the most beautiful little creature she had ever seen.

It had to be a duckling of course, but what a beautiful duckling! Mother duck was awed by her appearance. From the very first moment, she held her head high, as though to say, “I’m special.  You should be sure to notice me.” 

Not only was she prettier than the other ducklings, she was also more graceful.  From the very first day, she walked with poise and assurance. She didn’t have that awkward little waddle of the other ducklings. She was special!

Mother duck was overjoyed to have such a special duckling. She thought about how many times the other ducks had laughed at her or scorned her because she didn’t have any offspring. Now she could shame them all with the magnificence of her wonderful, beautiful duckling.  Now SHE could show off!

And show off she did. She wanted her beautiful duckling to be the envy of the entire neighborhood. So every day, she preened and washed and pampered her beautiful duckling.

The beautiful duckling never had to do any chores – the other ducklings could her part for her. She always got the first choice of food. Sometimes boys and girls would come to the lake to feed the ducklings. They always threw their pieces of bread to the beautiful duckling first. Only after she had eaten everything she wanted did Mother duck allow the others to have what might be left over.

The beautiful duckling was not allowed to play with the other ducklings, because she might get dirty, or might even get hurt. She couldn’t even go on walks by herself because she might fall down and scratch herself, and spoil her beautiful appearance.

When Mother duck walked around the lake, the beautiful duckling was always first in line, with the others a respectful distance behind. Mother duck was very proud of her magnificent offspring, and could finally hold her head high as she walked past the other ducks.

Needless to say, the beautiful duckling’s brothers and sisters were not happy about the special attention given to their sister.

They didn’t like it when she was given first choice of any treats, and they were stuck with the scraps. They didn’t like it when she didn’t have to do any chores, and they had to do her work for her. They didn’t like it when she always got to walk first, right behind Mother, and they had to tag along behind. They didn’t like it when Mother paid so much attention to her, and not enough to them.  They didn’t like it when Mother told the beautiful duckling how special and beautiful she was, but seldom said anything nice to them. They didn’t like when everything was given to her, and they had to do with leftovers. No, they didn’t like it at all.

Sometimes they felt sad. Sometimes they felt angry. Sometimes they felt left out.  And all the time, they felt unloved and unwanted. So they resented their sister, the beautiful duckling, and did their best to make life miserable for her.

When Mother wasn’t around, they teased her; they treated her mean; they laughed at her; they would sometimes peck at her and make her cry.

Sometimes, Mother duck caught them treating their sister so badly and would scold them to make them feel guilty.  She told them how lucky they were to have such a beautiful sister, who brought pride and recognition to the whole family. They should want to treat her special. They were just being ungrateful and childish to envy her. That’s what Mother duck told her other children.

But just because mother said they should feel that way didn’t actually change anything. They didn’t like Mother criticizing them, but they kept on resenting the special treatment given to their beautiful sister.

The poor little beautiful duckling was right in the middle of this. On the one hand, she really liked being special. She liked being the center of attention and having everybody talk about how beautiful she was. She liked the privileges that were hers. She liked being favored. She liked the time and energy her mother spent in doting on her and doing all kinds of nice things for her.  She liked showing off. Yes, it felt very good to be so beautiful and special and envied.

On the other hand, she was very lonely.  Nobody really liked her. Oh yes, lots of the other ducks admired her and looked up to her. But that’s not the same as liking her. Lots of the other ducklings envied her and wished they could be like her. But that’s not the same as liking her.

Her mother was so concerned about her getting hurt or scratched or dirty, that she didn’t let her play with the other ducklings. She told her that the other ducklings were ordinary, and she didn’t need to associate with them.  She could swim in the clear cool water in the middle of the lake but wasn’t allowed to splash in the nice squishy mud at the edge, where the other ducklings played. – and that looked like so much fun.

She didn’t even know how to sit around and talk with the other ducklings – to joke and kid around and laugh. For one thing, her voice was different from the other ducklings – softer and more mellow. That added to her dignity and her beauty – and to her loneliness. She didn’t know how to do any of the social things because she had always been treated so special. The older she got, the lonelier she got, and more and more unhappy.

One morning, she and her family were finishing up breakfast and getting ready for the day ahead. A group of other ducklings waddled up to them and called for them to come out and play. There was going to be a big party all day long.

The beautiful duckling was very excited, and started to walk off with the others.  But one of the neighbors stopped her.  “You can’t come with us. You’re not invited.”

The beautiful duckling was heartbroken.  Slowly she crept back to the nest with her head held low. She was so unhappy.  She realized that she had been unhappy for a long time. She didn’t know what to do. But she knew that she had to do something.

She walked slowly down to the water, to swim away for ever and ever. Maybe she could swim all the way to the other side of the lake – which she could barely see because it was so far away. Maybe she would drown before she got that far. It really didn’t matter. She was so lonely, and so unhappy.

She was swimming slowly, with her head down, and didn’t even see the mother swan and her family of cygnets swim right in front of her. All of a sudden, she felt water being splashed in her face, and a friendly voice saying, “Hi!”

The beautiful duckling was astonished.

Never in her entire life had anyone splashed water on her, and she was indignant. But never in her entire life had anyone called to her in a friendly and playful voice, and she was delighted.

Soon the other little cygnets were all splashing water on her and calling her to come and play with them. One of them even pecked her playfully, and said, “Tag, You’re it!” And swam quickly away.

Their friendliness resolved her confusion very quickly. Before she knew what was happening, the beautiful duckling was playing with the little cygnets.

They didn’t treat her special. They weren’t envious of her. They didn’t tease her or treat her mean. They treated her just like one of them.

At first, she didn’t understand why this wonderful family treated her so . . . well, . .. . so normally. She had never seen any creatures like them before, and she just couldn’t realize why they weren’t in awe of her.

Then she discovered her own reflection in the water. o her astonishment, she realized that she didn’t look anything at all like a duckling. She was a swan!  And a very ordinary one at that. Where in the world did her duckling family get the idea that she was a duckling??? No wonder this family of swans was so nonchalant around her.

Of course she stayed with the swans.  They adopted her and were delighted to have another sister to play with.  Sometimes she got her feelings hurt –she got them hurt rather easily for a while.  You must remember that she had been treated special for such a long time that she had gotten used to it.

Sometimes when she got her feelings hurt, she would go off and pout. But her new family would tell her, “Oh, cut it out. You’re one of us now.” And she would cut it out because she was one of them.

It was sometimes hard to give up expecting to be treated special – but for the most part, it was wonderful just being ordinary.

So she grew up a relatively happy swan.  She was sometimes sad, and sometimes lonely, and sometimes disappointed.  That is true for anyone. But for the most part, she was pretty happy. She was especially happy to realize that she was a swan – a rather ordinary swan – rather than an extraordinary duck.

 When she was unhappy or lonely, she thought she could understand why her duck mother had treated her the way she had. She wished she could tell her someday that it was all right now. She was a swan and was where she belonged.

 When the time came that she had baby swans of her own, she made sure she treated ALL of them special – and not just one.