The Ugly Duckling
A Tale by Hans Christian Andersen
Read from Booss' Scandinavian Folk & Fairy Tales
I remember hearing this story read by my mother from another collection of tales by Hans Christian Andersen, and I don't remember the details of the story being exactly as they are told in Booss' edition. Two things that struck me in this version are: 1) Even the mother duck eventually was unkind to the ugly duckling and "said she wished he had never been born"! Either that detail was not written in my childhood version of this tale, or my mother edited it out! 2) The ugly-duckling-turned-swan doesn't return to his duck family. My recollection of the ending of this tale is that the swan either returns to his first home or his first family finds him swimming and they all recognize what a beautiful creature he is.
These differences make for a very different experience of the story and whatever "moral" it might be teaching. My memory of the version my mother read to me was that all the characters in the story learn the truth about the swan and are transformed somehow by this revelation. It's a very happy ending because, not only does the swan discover who he is and that he belongs somewhere, but the others who were unkind to him recognize his dignity as well. For my child's heart, this piece of justice (that others' who once denied the swan's value, now recognize it) was very important. I think it was important to my mother as well. The memory (and value) deeply ingrained in my heart is that my mother used this tale to teach respecting and valuing everyone.
I'm not sure I would have internalized so powerfully the meaning my mother conveyed to me if the story had been told as I read it here. Booss' version seems to mean: go out into the world to seek and find your identity and with whom you can experience belonging, and it might mean leaving your family, end-of-story!
I must say, I like my mother's version better! However, the telling of the tale here might be a truer expression of what most people experience!
A Tale by Hans Christian Andersen
Read from Booss' Scandinavian Folk & Fairy Tales
I remember hearing this story read by my mother from another collection of tales by Hans Christian Andersen, and I don't remember the details of the story being exactly as they are told in Booss' edition. Two things that struck me in this version are: 1) Even the mother duck eventually was unkind to the ugly duckling and "said she wished he had never been born"! Either that detail was not written in my childhood version of this tale, or my mother edited it out! 2) The ugly-duckling-turned-swan doesn't return to his duck family. My recollection of the ending of this tale is that the swan either returns to his first home or his first family finds him swimming and they all recognize what a beautiful creature he is.
These differences make for a very different experience of the story and whatever "moral" it might be teaching. My memory of the version my mother read to me was that all the characters in the story learn the truth about the swan and are transformed somehow by this revelation. It's a very happy ending because, not only does the swan discover who he is and that he belongs somewhere, but the others who were unkind to him recognize his dignity as well. For my child's heart, this piece of justice (that others' who once denied the swan's value, now recognize it) was very important. I think it was important to my mother as well. The memory (and value) deeply ingrained in my heart is that my mother used this tale to teach respecting and valuing everyone.
I'm not sure I would have internalized so powerfully the meaning my mother conveyed to me if the story had been told as I read it here. Booss' version seems to mean: go out into the world to seek and find your identity and with whom you can experience belonging, and it might mean leaving your family, end-of-story!
I must say, I like my mother's version better! However, the telling of the tale here might be a truer expression of what most people experience!
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