one evening , when there was a lovely sunset , a whole flock of beautiful great birds rose out of the bushes . the duckling had never seen any so handsome . they were brilliantly white , with long supple necks . they were swans , and they uttered a strange sound and spread their splendid long wings and flew far away from the cold region to warmer lands , and unfrozen lakes . they mounted so high , so high that the ugly little duckling was strangely moved ; he whirled himself round in the water like a wheel , he stretched his neck straight up into the air after them and uttered such a loud cry , so strange , that he was quite frightened at it himself . oh , he could not forget those beautiful birds , those wonderful birds ! and the moment they were out of sight he dived right down to the bottom of the water , and when he came up again he was almost beside himself . he did n't know what the birds were called or which way they were flying , but he loved them as he had never loved anything yet . he was not envious of them -- how could it enter his mind to wish for such beauty for himself -- he would have been happy if even the ducks had let him into their company -- poor ugly creature .
he would have been happy if even the ducks had let him into their company .
why wasn't the duckling envious of the swans ?
why wasn't the duckling envious of the swans ?