倍立美語 BarryFunEnglish

　　　It is summer in the countryside. Fields are full of golden corn and green plants. The air is warm and the birds are singing.

　　　A mother duck is sitting on her seven eggs. She has done this for many days. Now she is feeling tired."When will my eggs hatch?" she wonders.
　　　Soon, her eggs start hatching. Six little ducklings come out of their shells. Their coats are yellow, and they are full of energy. "Peep! Peep! Peep!" say the ducklings. "We are hungry. Give us some food!"

　　　One egg hasn't hatched yet. It is bigger than the others. An old duck visits the mother duck. "Are you still sitting on that egg?" she asks. "It is very big. Maybe it's a turkey's egg. You don't need to take care of it." "I've sat on it for many days," says the mother duck. "I will sit on it a few more."

　　　The strange egg finally hatches. The duckling jumps free from his shell. He has a gray coat, not yellow. His neck is long and his nose is black. "What an ugly little duckling," thinks the mother duck. "Maybe he really is a turkey."

　　　The mother duck walks to the pond. The ducklings follow her. She jumps into the water. The ducklings quickly jump in, too. They can all swim well. "The ugly duckling can swim very well," thinks the mother duck. "He is really a duck after all."

　　　The mother duck shows her ducklings their home. They live on a farm with ducks and other animals. The little ducklings look around curiously. "Look at the other ducks. They are your aunts and uncles," says the mother duck." Over there is a cat. Be careful of him. He might eat you."

　　　The other ducks are eating dinner. A girl throws a fish head into the group. They all want to eat it. One duck quickly eats the fish head. The other ducks are jealous.

　　　The ducks look at the mother duck and her ducklings. They are not happy to see them. "There are too many ducks on this farm," says one of them. "We don't want to share our food." "Look at that ugly duckling," says another. "I don't want to live with him. The geese and the chickens will laugh at us."

　　　The ugly duckling drops his head. He feels ashamed. The mother duck pats him on the head. "Poor little duckling," she says. "Why are you so different from the others?"

　　　Many weeks go by. The other animals are not nice. The rooster chases and bites him. The chickens tease him. The farm girl also kicks him at dinnertime. "You are hopeless," says the mother duck. "I wish you were never born."

　　　The ugly duckling feels lonely. One day, he runs away from the farm. He finds some ducks who live on a small lake. "You look strange," say the ducks. "What kind of animal are you?" "I'm a duck," says the ugly duckling. "You don't look like us. Please go away," say the ducks.

　　　The little duckling is hurt. He swims away. There are some geese nearby. They look kind. He swims over to them. "You don't look like a duck," says one goose. "So you can live with us." "Yes, geese have a lot of fun," says another. "You will like it."

　　　Just then, a loud sound comes from the side of the lake. "Pop! Pop! Pop!" Hunters are shooting their guns at the geese. The geese try to fly away. There is shooting everywhere. Many geese fall dead in the water.

　　　The little duckling is very scared. He does not run away. He hides his head under his wing. A hunter's dog barks at him. The dog is very close. It doesn't hurt the little duckling. It takes a dead goose in its mouth instead. "Oh, I'm so happy to be ugly," he thinks. "Even a dog will not bite me."

　　　The duckling walks away from the lake. Soon, a storm comes. The wind blows very hard. There is rain and lightning. It is not easy to walk in this weather.

　　　The duckling sees a small house. It is old and dirty. There are many holes in its walls. He goes inside. An old woman, a hen, and a cat live there.

　　　The old woman looks at the duckling. Her eyes are not good. "Look here! We have a guest," says the woman. "Lay me an egg every day, and you can live with us."

　　　She puts the duckling into a cage. Then, she gives him something to eat. "I hope you lay lots of eggs," says the hen. "Then the old woman will be very happy."

　　　The duckling can't lay eggs. Instead, he eats a lot of food every day. After three weeks, he is growing fat. "Why don't you lay any eggs?" asks the hen. "You are too lazy. The old woman will eat you soon." "I hope she does," says the cat. "She will give me your bones to eat."

　　　Now, the duckling is too scared to eat. He doesn't want to get fat. People like to eat fat ducks. "I want to find a place to hide," he tells the hen. "Are there any rivers near here?"

　　　The hen can't believe her ears. She has never seen a bird swim. "You want to run away to a river?" she laughs. "You are a silly bird! You dream too much!" "You don't understand me," says the duckling. "I need to run away from this place."

　　　The old woman takes a nap every afternoon. The duckling waits for her to fall asleep. His cage's door is open. He quietly walks past the woman and leaves the house.

　　　Outside, the duckling feels very cold. Autumn is here. There are leaves on the ground all around him. He looks up into the sky. There are many large, white birds flying away. They are swans. "They are very beautiful," he thinks. "I would like to look like them."

　　　The duckling looks for food. It is not easy to find any. Soon, there is snow in the air. Winter is coming. The rivers and lakes are very cold.

　　　The weather gets colder and colder. There is ice on top of the river. The duckling is tired and very hungry. He lies down beside the water. He is almost dead.

　　　A farmer is walking beside the river. He sees the duckling. He picks him up and takes him home. His children are very happy. They feed the duckling and take care of him.

　　　The duckling spends the winter at the farmer's house. The children feed him every day. The duckling gets stronger and larger. One day, in the springtime, the farmer looks at the duckling. "You're too large to stay inside our house now," he says. "We need to find you a new home."

　　　The farmer takes the duckling to a pond behind his house. The duckling is happy to see the water. He jumps into the water and swims joyfully around.

　　　The duckling hears a sound. He looks up. The swans are returning. They fly into the water beside him. The duckling is happy and surprised. He wants to meet these beautiful birds. "I am happy you are here," he says. "Will you let an ugly duckling swim with you?" "You are joking with us," says a swan. "You are a swan, too. Come and live with us. We will be very happy together."

　　　The duckling looks into the water. It is true. He can see himself. He is a beautiful white swan! Some children are standing near the pond. They have come to see the swans." Look at the young one there," says a child. "He is a very fine swan." And the young swan feels very happy.

    鄉間正值夏季，田野長滿了金黃色的玉米和綠色植物。空氣中帶著一絲暖意，鳥兒也在歌唱著。

　　一隻母鴨正在孵她的七顆蛋。她這麼做已經好多天了。她現下感到累了。“我這些蛋什麼時候才會孵出來呀？”她心中納悶道。

　　沒多久，她的蛋就開始孵化了。六隻小鴨從蛋殼裡鑽了出來。他們一身黃橙橙的外衣，各個精力十足。“嗶﹗嗶﹗嗶﹗”小鴨子們說。“我們好餓喲。給我們弄點吃的﹗”

　　有一顆蛋還沒孵出來。這顆蛋要比其他蛋來得大。一隻老鴨前來造訪母鴨。“你還在孵那顆蛋嗎？”她問母鴨。“它好大。也許是火雞蛋。你沒有照料它的必要。”“我孵它孵了好多天了，”母鴨說。“我會再多孵幾天。”

　　這顆奇怪的蛋終於孵化了。小鴨子掙脫蛋殼蹦了出來。他一身是灰色而不是黃色。他的脖子長長的，鼻子則是黑色的。“好醜的小鴨，”母鴨心想。“也許他還真的是隻火雞。”

　　母鴨走到池塘邊。小鴨子們在她後面跟著。她跳到水中。小鴨子們也很快地跳入水中。他們都很會游泳。“醜小鴨游得真好，”母鴨心想。“原來他還真的是隻鴨子。”

　　母鴨把他們的家指給小鴨子們看。他們跟別的鴨子和動物住在一座農場上。小鴨子們好奇地東張西望。“瞧瞧那些鴨子。他們可是你們的阿姨和叔叔喲，”母鴨說。“那邊有一隻貓。要提防著他。說不定他會吃掉你們。”

　　其他的鴨子正在吃晚餐。一個女孩把一顆魚頭丟入鴨群中。他們各個都想吃到魚頭，一隻鴨子很快就拾到魚頭吃。其他的鴨子好嫉妒。

　　鴨子們盯著母鴨和她的小鴨看著。他們並不樂意見到他們。“農場上的鴨子太多了，”其中一隻說。“我們可不願意有別人來分享我們的食物。”“瞧那隻醜小鴨，”另一隻說。“我可不願與他同住。鵝和雞會取笑我們。”

　　醜小鴨垂著頭。他感到很羞愧。母鴨輕拍著他的頭。“可憐的小鴨子，”她說。“你為什麼長得跟其他小鴨子不一樣呢？”

　　幾個星期過去了。別的動物並不友善。公雞會追他、咬他。雞群會戲弄他。晚餐時間，農場上的那個女孩子也會踹他。“你沒希望了，”母鴨說。“我真希望你不要生下來就好了﹗”

　　醜小鴨心中好寂寞。有一天，他從農場逃了出來。他發現有幾隻鴨子，他們就住在一座小湖上。“你長相好奇怪喲，”這幾隻鴨子說。“你是什麼動物呀？”“我是鴨子，”醜小鴨說。“你長得不像我們。請走開，”這幾隻鴨子說。

　　醜小鴨傷透了心，他便游走了。附近有幾隻野雁。他們樣子很和善。他便向他們游了過去。“你長得不像鴨子，”一隻野雁說道。“因此你可以跟我們同住。”“沒錯，野雁群很有趣，”另一隻野雁說。“你會喜歡的。”

　　就在這時候，湖邊傳來一陣巨響。“砰﹗砰﹗砰﹗”獵人正在開槍射殺這些野雁。野雁群想要飛走。槍聲四處響起。許多野雁跌入水中死了。

　　醜小鴨嚇壞了。他沒逃走。他把頭藏在翅膀下。一隻獵狗對他吠叫。狗離他很近。它並沒有傷害醜小鴨，反而用嘴叼起了一隻死野雁。“喔，我真高興自己長得醜，”他心想。“連狗都不願意咬我。”

　　醜小鴨步行離開湖畔。沒多久，暴風雨來襲。風刮得很厲害，夾雜著雨和閃電。這樣的天氣下連走路都有困難。

　　醜小鴨看到一棟小屋。小屋又舊又髒。牆上有好多洞。他走了進去。裡面住著一位老婆婆，還有一隻母雞跟一隻貓。

　　老婆婆看著醜小鴨。她的視力不好。“你們瞧﹗我們有客人來了，”老婆婆說。“每天要是為我下一顆蛋，你就可以跟我們一起住。”

　　她把醜小鴨放入籠中，接著給他一些吃的。“我希望你能生很多蛋，”母雞說。“這樣老婆婆就會很高興。”

　　醜小鴨不會生蛋。相反地，他每天卻吃不少東西。三個星期後，他長胖了許多。“你為什麼不會下蛋呢？”母雞問。“你太懶了。老婆婆很快就會把你宰來吃。”“真希望她這麼做，”貓說。“這樣她就會把你的骨頭拿給我啃。”

　　醜小鴨這時嚇得吃不下東西。他不想變胖。人們喜歡吃肥鴨子。“我要找個地方躲起來，”他跟母雞說。“這附近有沒有河流？”

　　母雞不相信她耳朵聽到的話。她從沒看過鳥會游泳。“你想逃到河那邊嗎？”她笑道。“你真是隻蠢鳥﹗你想得太多了﹗”“你不瞭解我，”醜小鴨說。“我必須逃離這個地方。”

　　老婆婆每天下午都會午睡。醜小鴨等著她入睡。他籠子的門是開著的，他便靜悄悄地走過老婆婆身邊，離開這棟屋子。

　　屋外，醜小鴨感覺很冷。秋天已經到來。他的四周滿地都是樹葉。他抬頭仰望著天空。有許多白色的大鳥正在飛離。他們是天鵝。“他們好俊美呀，”他心想。“我好想長得跟他們一樣。”

　　醜小鴨在覓食。食物不太好找。沒多久，天空飄下了雪。冬天就要來了。河川湖泊變得非常寒冷。

　　天氣愈來愈冷。河的頂層結了一層冰。醜小鴨又累又餓。他在水邊躺了下來，奄奄一息。

    一名農夫正在河邊行走。他看到了醜小鴨，便把他抱起來帶回家裡。他幾個孩子高興極了。他們餵東西給醜小鴨吃，並照顧他。

　　醜小鴨就在農夫家裡度過了冬天。孩子們每天都會餵他東西吃。醜小鴨變得愈來愈壯，也愈來愈大。有一天，正值春季，農夫看著醜小鴨。“你現下長得太大了，無法待在我們屋子裡了，”他說。“我們必須為你找個新家。”　　

　　農夫帶著醜小鴨來到他家後面的池塘。醜小鴨看到水時心中好高興。他跳入水中，快樂地游來遊去。

　　醜小鴨聽到一陣聲音。他往上看。那些天鵝回來了。他們飛入水中停在他身旁。醜小鴨既欣喜又驚訝。他想要見見這些俊美的鳥。“你們來到這裡，我很高興，”他說。“你們可否讓醜小鴨跟你們同游？”“你在開我們的玩笑，”一隻天鵝說。“你也是天鵝呀。過來跟我們同住嘛，我們在一起會很快樂的。”

　　醜小鴨朝水中望去。真的沒錯。他可以看到自己的模樣。他成了一隻俊美的天鵝﹗有幾個小朋友正站在池塘附近。他們來這裡就是想目睹天鵝的風采。“瞧那邊年輕的那一隻，”一個小朋友說。“好挺拔的天鵝喲。”年輕的天鵝感到好窩心。