III

Now the winter came, and soon it was very cold.  Snow and sleet fell, and the ugly duckling had a very unhappy time.

One evening a whole flock of handsome white birds rose out of the bushes.  They were swans.  They gave a strange cry, and spreading their great wings, flew away to warmer lands and open lakes.

The ugly duckling felt quite strange, and he gave such a loud cry that he frightened himself.  He could not forget those beautiful happy birds.  He knew not where they had gone, but he wished he could have gone with them.

The winter grew cold—­very cold.  The duckling swam about in the water to keep from freezing, but every night the hole in which he swam became smaller and smaller.  At last he was frozen fast in the ice.

Early the next morning a farmer found the duckling and took him to the farmhouse.  There in a warm room the duckling came to himself again.  The children wished to play with him, but he was afraid of them.

In his terror he fluttered into the milk pan and splashed the milk about the room.  The woman clapped her hands at him, and that frightened him still more.  He flew into the butter tub and then into the meal barrel.

How he did look then!  The children laughed and screamed.  The woman chased him with the fire tongs.  The door stood open, and the duckling slipped out into the snow.

It was a cruel, hard winter, and he nearly froze.  At last the warm sun began to shine, and the larks to sing.  The duckling flapped his wings and found that they were strong.  Away he flew over the meadows and fields.

Soon he found himself in a beautiful garden where the apple trees were in full bloom, and the long branches of the willow trees hung over the shores of the lake.  Just in front of him he saw three beautiful white swans swimming lightly over the water.

“I will fly to those beautiful birds,” he said.  “They will kill me because I am so ugly; but it is all the same.  It is better to be killed by them than to be bitten by the ducks and pecked by the hens.”

So he flew into the water and swam towards the beautiful birds.  They saw the duckling and came sailing down toward him.  He bowed his head saying, “Kill me, oh, kill me.”

But what was this he saw in the clear water?  It was his own image, and lo! he was no longer a clumsy dark-gray bird, but a—­swan, a beautiful white swan.  It matters not if one was born in a duck yard, if one has only lain in a swan’s egg.  The other swans swam around him to welcome him.

[Illustration:  The little children see the new swan]

Some little children came into the garden with corn and other grains which they threw into the water.  The smallest one cried, “Oh, see! there is a new swan, and it is more beautiful than any of the others.”

The ugly duckling was shy and at first hid his head under his wing.  Then he felt so happy that he raised his neck and said, “I never dreamed of so much happiness when I was an ugly duckling.”