I will not recite all that the Ugly Duckling encounters on his journey—indeed, his odyssey. In the middle of the story, however, Andersen places an episode that is crucial for our understanding of the nobility of the Ugly Duckling, the nobility that so touched the heart of Jenny Lind. Though this episode is left out of all the picture book versions of the story that I have seen, it is the axis of Andersen’s story. For in it the duckling demonstrates a new maturity. He takes control of his life and becomes the agent of his own destiny whether life or death..
