Page 24 - English Reader - 4

Suddenly he saw three beautiful white swans swimming gracefully towards him. The

poor duckling bowed his head in shame.
And then he saw his own reflection. The duckling could not believe his eyes, for the

reflection he saw in the water was that of a swan!

Why! I am not an ugly duckling at all; I am a beautiful swan!” he thought in amazement.
Soon the swans came very close to him

and began swimming around him and for
the first time in his life, he was really happy.

A little later, when some children came
out to feed the swans, the duckling heard

one of the children pointing out to him
and saying, “Look! There is a new swan!
His feathers are whiter and his beak more

golden than the rest.”

And all the others said, “Yes! The new one
is the most beautiful of them all.”

And when he heard that, the duckling’s heart filled with joy. He forgot all the cruel
things that were said to him. He shook his feathers, stretched his slender neck, and
joined his new friends.

— Adapted from Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales

Word Meanings

1. hatched : came out of an egg

2. tumbled : fell down

3. taken aback : surprised
4. well-built : sturdy; strong
5. brood : children

6. handsome : good looking
7. disapprovingly : to not approve of

8. frolicked : played merrily
9. miserable : unhappy

10. plumage : feathers
11. fortunately : luckily

12. cruel : unkind

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