The Ugly Duckling

丑小鸭

341'

It was a bright summer afternoon. Mother Duck found a lovely spot under a tree by the pond to lay her eggs. 

这是一个阳光明媚的夏季午后，鸭妈妈在池塘边的大树下找到了一个舒服的地方，开始下蛋。


She laid five eggs. 

她下了五颗蛋。 


Suddenly she noticed that one of the eggs was different from the other eggs. She got a little worried. 

突然，她发现其中有颗蛋跟其他所有的蛋都不一样。她有些担心。


She waited for them to hatch. 

她等着这些蛋被孵出来。


One fine morning, at last, one after another, the eggs began to crack. 

在一个美好的早上，这些蛋终于一个接一个地开始破壳而出。


“Peep, peep,” they said. 

“嘎嘎”，它们叫着。


All the eggs had come alive and the ducklings were poking their heads out into the big world. 

所有的小鸭子都从蛋里孵了出来，它们都一脑袋顶破蛋壳，来到了这个大大的世界上。

All broke except one. 

除了一颗蛋之外。


“Oh, what sweet babies I have! What a lucky mother I am! But what happened to the fifth one?” 

“噢，看我的这些乖宝宝啊！我是一个多么幸运的妈妈呀！但是，第五颗蛋到底怎么回事？”


The duck was worried, “This last egg is taking such a long time.”

鸭妈妈担心了：“最后一颗蛋怎么这么久还不破呢。”


She sat on the egg and gave it all the warmth that it could give. 

她坐在那颗蛋上，用自己所有的温度来温暖它。


“This would be the most beautiful duckling of all, since this is taking so much time to hatch.”

“花了这么久才孵出来，这只小鸭子可能会是最漂亮的呢。”


One fine morning, when the egg broke, there came out an ugly grey-colored duckling, “Peep, peep.”

在一个美好的早上，这颗蛋破壳了，里面跳出来一个丑丑的灰色小鸭子。“嘎嘎。”


This duckling was different from its other siblings. It was very big and rather ugly. “Peep, peep.”

这只小鸭子跟它的兄弟姐妹都不一样，它个头很大，还很丑。“嘎嘎。”


“None of my other ducklings look like that. This one is perhaps ugly.” The mother duck was surprised and very sad.

“我的其他鸭宝宝都不是这个模样，这只可能是有点丑。” 鸭妈妈又吃惊又难过。

Mother hoped that one day he would become just like his siblings. 

鸭妈妈希望有一天他也能变得跟他的兄弟姐妹一样。


But days went by and the duckling remained ugly. All his brothers and sisters made fun of the duckling and they would not play with him.

但是，日子一天天过去了，他依然面貌丑陋。他所有的兄弟姐妹都取笑这只丑小鸭，而且也不跟他一起玩耍。


The duckling was very sad. 

丑小鸭很伤心。


“You are ugly.” 

“你真丑。”


“Look at that ugly little thing on the earth.” 

“看看地上的那个丑东西。”


“Yaa. Go away. You’re so ugly.”

“呸，一边去，你太丑了。”


“We will not play with you, you ugly monster.” They all laughed at him. 

“我们不会跟你玩的，你这个丑鬼。”他们都嘲笑他。


The ugly duckling was really sad. 

丑小鸭难过极了。

The ugly duckling went to the pond and looked at his reflection in the pond.

丑小鸭来到池塘边，看着水里自己的倒影。


“Nobody likes me, I am so ugly!”

“没有人喜欢我，我太丑了。”


The duckling decided to leave the family and go somewhere deep into the woods. 

丑小鸭决定离家出走，去树林的深处看看。


The duckling wandered all alone in the deep forest. 

丑小鸭独自在无边的森林里游荡。


Soon when winters came by, there was snow all around. 

很快，冬天到了，四处都是大雪。


The duckling was sad and he shivered with cold, but couldn’t find any food to eat or a warm place to be in. 

丑小鸭一边难过，一边在寒冷中瑟瑟发抖，但是他找不到食物，也没有避寒的住所。


He went to a family of ducks. They rejected him.

他来到鸭子一家的门前，他们拒绝了他。


“You’re an ugly chap.”

“你可真丑。”


“Who is this ugly fellow?”

“这个丑家伙是谁？”


He went to stay in the hen’s house. There the hens pecked him with their beaks so he ran away. 

他来到母鸡家，想要住在那里。母鸡们都用嘴啄他，他只好落荒而逃。


He met a dog on the way. The dog saw him and went away. 

他在路上碰到一条狗。狗看了他一眼，走开了。


The ugly duckling thought to himself, “I’m so ugly that even the dog doesn’t want to eat me.”

丑小鸭暗自想着：“我这么丑，狗都不想吃我。”


The ugly duckling sadly started wandering in the woods again. 

丑小鸭又开始伤心地在树林里游荡了。

There he met a peasant who took him home to his wife and children, but even there he was troubled by the cat that lived there. 

他遇到了一个农民，他把他带回家给他的老婆和孩子。但就算在那里，他还是会被农民家里的猫欺负。


So he left the peasant’s house. 

所以他离开了农民的家。 


Soon it was spring, everything was fresh and green once again. 

很快，春天到了，万物复苏，绿色又笼罩了大地。


Walking and walking, he saw a river. 

他走啊走啊，看到了一条河。


He was so happy to see the water again. 

又一次见到水，他是多么开心啊。


He went close to the river where he saw a beautiful swan swimming. 

他走近了河边，看到一只天鹅在河里游泳。


He fell in love with her. 

他一下子就爱上了她。


The duckling was ashamed of himself and bowed his head low. 

丑小鸭很自卑，深深地低下了头。

When he bent his head, he saw his own reflection in the water and was astonished. 

当他低下头，看到了水中自己的倒影时，他吃惊极了。


He wasn’t ugly anymore. He had turned into a handsome young swan. 

他不再是丑小鸭，他变成了一只潇洒的年轻天鹅。


Now he realized why he looked different from his siblings, because he was a swan and they were ducks. 

现在，他明白了他跟自己的兄弟姐妹为什么毫不相同：那是因为，他是一只天鹅，而他们是鸭子。


He married the beautiful swan that he had fallen in love with and lived happily ever after. 

他跟那只心仪的美丽天鹅结了婚，从此过上了幸福的生活。