The Ugly Duckling Who Turned Into A Duck

You shouldn’t say this but Anatra was distinctively ugly even for a duckling. There was something about her that was a bit off. You couldn’t pinpoint what exactly but when you looked at her, you knew the god of beauty had skipped this one.

The worst part was Anatra knew it too. Nobody knows how. She used to look so depressed about her looks that Mumma Duck decided to do something. She told Anatra the story of The Ugly Duckling, how the ugliest duckling in the world had turned into the most beautiful swan.

Anatra loved the story and she often chanted it to herself, unaware that ducks never change into swans. Poor, poor Anatra , she would waddle around talking about how one day she would be the most stunning swan around.

She would wax eloquent about how the breadth of her bill would widen to perfection and how her pectines would boast of a finesse found in brush strokes. She dreamt of the day when her scaled legs developed powerful swimming muscles. She would often look at her reflection and imagine her short, pointed wings becoming more glossy and gorgeous. In her head Anatra knew exactly what it took to be beautiful.

She would often not eat an extra mollusc, proclaiming when she turned into a swan, she didn’t want to be saddled with any extra weight. In this way ten years passed – the long wait to turn into a beauty. Without her even realising Anatra had become a fully grown duck.

Her Mumma was very worried. How long would Anatra wait? Any sort of advice about getting on with life and not bothering about her looks would fall on deaf ears, water off a duck’s back. It’s not that she would back answer rudely, instead she would begin telling her Mumma The Ugly Duckling story all over again. Her Mumma hated that story.

One day, the usually quiet Papa Duck came and whispered something into Mumma’s ear. Mumma immediately brightened up. The next day, Papa swam up to Anatra and said, ‘What did you do to yourself? Your feathers are glowing like the sun.’

Immediately a nearby drake whistled appreciatively. A worm swam past at a safe distance and hollered ‘What a gorgeous beak, I wouldn’t mind being eaten by it’. Anatra’s heart hammered wildly, she couldn’t help preening. It had happened. It had really happened. She had turned into a swan.

She looked down at her reflection in the water. Usually, she saw a sullen face, which looked hideous from every angle. This time, she took in her sparkling eyes, flushed colouring and the brilliance of her excitement. Together, it made her the best looking duck around.

The drakes immediately sensed a siren had arrived in their neck of the pool and they swam with a determined air of courtship. Each one of them wanted to win the heart of this cutie. Anatra glowed in happiness. Her ugly duckling story had finally come true.

Moral: Compliments work. Use them.



Anatra is drawn by the fabulous Bijoy Venugopal. You can find more of his wonderful stuff here bijoyvenugopal.com