It was a warm spring day. The hay field shone a beautiful gold, a cool breeze bristling through the pine trees and reeds beside the river. Not too far away from the river sat an old farm house with splintering wood and a red corrugated iron roof. Ducks swam around the river, teaching their newly hatched how to swim. One mother duck was sitting under an oak tree, watching his eggs cautiously. One shell cracked open, and then another. Soon enough all the shells cracked open and a 'peep peep' came from those inside. The mother smiled, quacking in return. But one egg did not hatch.

"How is it going, Ivan aru?" An old duck asked, waddling over to the mother.

"Ah, Yao. One egg has not hatched yet." He responded, sighing softly.

"Let me see the egg that won't hatch." Yao demanded. "I have no doubt that it is a turkey's egg. I was made to raise one once, you know. You can't get them to swim. They are absolutely afraid of the water aru." He finally reached the egg, looking at it. "Yes, that is a turkey's egg. Take my advice and leave it where it is and teach the children to swim, aru."

"I think I'll sit on it longer," Ivan said; "as I have sat so long on it already, a few days will be nothing, da?" He said.

"Suit yourself, aru." The older duck said, waddling away again.

At last the last egg broke and a young one came out crying 'Peep peep." It was very large and ugly. The mother duck stared at it and thought; it is very large and not at all like the others. I wonder if it really is a turkey. We shall soon find out when I go to teach the children to swim.

The next day the weather was delightful, the sun shining on the bright green trees. The mother duck took his young brood down to the water and jumped in with a splash. He cried for the others to follow and one by one the little ducklings jumped in. The water closed over their little heads but they came up again almost immediatly and swam about quite beautifully with their legs paddling under them. The ugly duckling was also in the water, swimming with them.

The mother looked at him. That is not a turkey. Look at how he uses his legs and how upright he holds himself! He is my own child, da? And he is not very ugly if you look at him properly. He thought.

When evening came, the mother took his ducklings back to the oak tree, letting them sleep while she chatted with her friends. They all settled down, but the poor duckling which had hatched last was bitten and pushed away.

"He's too big." One of the ducklings known as Natalia cried. The poor little thing did not know where to go, and was quite miserable because he was so ugly and laughed at by the whole farmyard. So it went on from day to day till it got worse and worse. The poor duckling was driven about by every one; mainly his brothers and sisters would say, "Ah, you ugly creature, I wish the cat would get you," and his mother said she wished he had never been born, she hadn't even given him a name. The ducks pecked him, the chickens beat him, and the girl who fed the poultry kicked him with her feet. So at last he ran away, frightening the little birds in the hedge as he flew over the palings.

"They're afraid of me because I'm ugly..." He whispered, closing his eyes. He flew off again until he came to a marsh, landing in the middle and weeping. Above him was a loud honking and he looked up, seeing geese fly above him. There was a loud bang, followed by another as the geese began to drop out of the sky. The poor duckling was scared! He went to hid his head under his wing when a big mean looking dog passed him. His jaws were open, his tongue hung from his mouth, and his eyes glared intensely. His nose came close to the duck but soon enough, the dog disappeared into the marsh.

"Oh," Sighed the duckling, "how thankful I am for being ugly; not even a dog will bite me." And so he lay their quietly as shot after shot echoed through the marsh and gun after gun shot went over him. It was late in the day before everything became quiet but even then the duckling was too scared to move. After several hours, he dared to leave the marsh. He ran over field and meadow until a storm arose and he could not struggle against it. He stopped at the foot of a tree for the night, the wind howling and whistling through the branches. The cold winter he spent at a farm until he was chased away by the woman who lives there. When spring arrived, he continued his journey. He came to a lake, beautiful golden flowers amongst the crisp green grass blowing gently. The warm sun shone on his matted grey feathers. What a condition he was in! He saw two beautiful birds with pure white feathers and elegant long necks which towered up before arching down. They rustled their feathers, swimming gracefully over the water.

I will fly to those royal birds, he thought, and they will kill me, because I am so ugly, and dare to approach them; but it does not matter. It's better be killed by them than pecked by the ducks, beaten by the hens, pushed about by the maiden who feeds the poultry, or starved with hunger in the winter.

Then he flew to the water and swam towards the swans. The moment they saw the stranger, they rushed to meet him with outstretched wings.

"Kill me," Said the poor bird, bending his neck down to the surface of the water and awaiting death. But what did he see in the clear water below him? His own image; no longer an ugly, dark gray bird, but a graceful and beautiful swan. He now felt glad having suffered sorrow because it enabled him to enjoy so much better all the beauty around him. The great swans swam around the new comer and stroked his neck with their beaks as a welcome.

Some children came to the lake and threw bread and cake into the water.

"See," cried the youngest, "there is a new one!" They were all delighted, running to their mother and father, dancing and clapping joyously. "There is another swan!" They continued to through cake and bread into the water and said, "The new one is the most beautiful of them all; he is so young and pretty." And all the swans bowed their heads before him. He felt embarressed, not knowing what to do. He was happy and yet not at all proud. He had been bullied and beaten for his ugliness, and know he heard them say he was the most beautiful of all birds. Then he rustled his feathers, curved his elegant neck and cried joyfully from the depths of his heart. "I never dreamed of such happiness while I was an ugly duckling! Kesesese."

A/N:

Cx Yeah. I think you get the idea on it all. You may be wondering...why is Prussia the Ugly Duckling? Well...I had a good reason last night and then I forgot ;A; sorry. But voila~

Cast:

Mother Duck: (Mother?) Russia.

Ducklings: The soviet states.

Mother and Father swan: Germania and Grandpa Rome.

Ugly duckling: Prussia