The ugly duckling main characters. Encyclopedia of Fairy-Tale Characters: The Ugly Duckling

The main character of the fairy tale by H.H. Andersen " ugly duck"- a chick from one large duck family. He differed from his brothers and sisters in his unsightly appearance and large size. The inhabitants of the poultry yard immediately disliked him and tried to peck him harder. Even the girl bringing food to the birds pushed him away from the rest of the chicks.

Unable to bear such an attitude, the chick ran away from the poultry yard. He got to the swamp and hid there from everyone. But he had no peace in the swamp either - hunters came and started shooting geese. The poor traveler hid all day from hunting dogs, and towards nightfall he ran away from the swamp.

He came across a dilapidated hut in which an old woman lived. The old lady had a cat and a chicken. The old woman saw poorly, and she mistook the large ugly chick for a fat duck. Hoping that the duck would lay eggs, she left the chick to live in her house.

But over time, the chick became bored in the hut. He wanted to swim and dive, but the cat and chicken disapproved of his desire. And the duckling left them.

Until the fall he swam and dived, but the forest inhabitants did not want to communicate with him, he was so ugly.

But one day large white birds flew to the lake, at the sight of which the chick was overcome with strange excitement. He passionately wanted to be like these handsome men, whose name was swans. But the swans screamed, made some noise and flew away to warmer climes, and the chick remained to spend the winter on the lake.

The winter was cold, and the poor duckling had a hard time. But time passed. One day he again saw beautiful white birds and decided to swim out to them. And then he saw his reflection in the water. He was like two peas in a pod like the snow-white swans. He was a swan too!

Who knows why the swan egg ended up in the duck's nest? But because of this, the little swan had to endure a lot of difficulties and experience a lot of grief. But everything ended well, and now everyone loved him and admired his beauty.

That's how it is summary fairy tales.

The main meaning of the fairy tale “The Ugly Duckling” is that you cannot guess what a child will be like when he grows up. Perhaps now the child is unsightly and ugly, inept and awkward, but as he grows up, he will be completely different. Everything comes on time to those who know how to wait. The fairy tale teaches us not to rush things, to draw conclusions on time. As for children, there is no need to choose the beautiful one among them. If a child sees love and kindness towards him from childhood, he will be able to grow up and become beautiful in both soul and body.

In the fairy tale, I liked the character of the duckling, because difficulties did not break him, he turned out to be strong in spirit.

What proverbs are suitable for the fairy tale “The Ugly Duckling”?

No matter how much a duck cheers up, it won’t be a swan.
Everyone thinks their geese are swans.
You won’t know in advance where you will find it and where you will lose it.

Title of the work: Ugly duck
Andersen G.H.
Year of writing: 1843
Genre: fairy tale
Main characters: duckling- outcast, duck- mother, wild Swans.

Andersen's idea is succinctly and accessiblely presented in a summary of the fairy tale "The Ugly Duckling" for reader's diary.

Plot

The young duck's chicks hatched, the last one from the largest egg, large and gray, unlike the other ducklings. His brothers and sisters and older birds immediately disliked him because of his homely appearance. The baby was pecked and pinched, called names and chased away, even his mother began to hate him. The duckling ran away from the poultry yard. He met geese, dogs and hunters. He spent several days in a hut with a chicken, a cat and a peasant family, but they also drove away the gray baby because of his awkwardness and clumsiness. Seeing wild swans, he admired their beauty and decided to swim in the forest on the lake. To prevent the water from freezing, he swam constantly and spent a very cold winter on it, starving and freezing. Having waited for the thaw, he headed towards the swans and wanted them to kill him, but he saw his own reflection in the water - he himself turned into a beautiful swan. The former duckling was happy in his family of origin.

Conclusion (my opinion)

Appearance is not the main thing. You can’t treat someone badly because you don’t like their appearance, because this person or even an animal is like that from birth, he needs warmth and attention and he is hurt by ridicule and bullying. Those deprived of beauty need our help and kindness even more; they are already hard and sad. And the one who considers himself ugly needs to be patient and persistent, and one day he will have a circle of like-minded people and friends.

Even for an adult, the story of the transformation of an ugly duckling into a majestic and proud bird, as told, brings tears to tears. The writer managed to describe the adventures of the unfortunate chick, pecked to death by the whole world, sensually and poignantly. The main character was lucky. Unlike many characters of the Danish storyteller, his tale has a happy ending.

History of creation

In works of a fairy-tale nature, the Danish author described the unsightly prose of life. “The Ugly Duckling” was no exception; moreover, the fairy tale is considered autobiographical. Hans Christian Andersen was not distinguished by external beauty; his contemporaries assessed his appearance as absurd and funny:

“His figure always had something strange in it, something awkward, unstable, involuntarily causing a smile. His arms and legs were disproportionately long and thin, his hands were wide and flat, and his feet were of such enormous size that he probably never had to fear that anyone would replace his galoshes. His nose was also disproportionately large and somehow protruded forward.”

But it was not only appearance that became the subject of ridicule. The future author of "The Little Mermaid", "Thumbelina" and "The Snow Queen" had to experience a lot of humiliation in life, just like his feathered character. Andersen studied at a school for the poor, where he was called a fool and predicted an inglorious fate. And at the university he was subjected to sophisticated bullying from the rector.

The writer has one more thing in common with the ugly duckling. The chick, not accepting the attacks, set off on a lonely journey around the world, during which he was hungry and cold, but did not betray his dream of a wonderful future. The soul of the unsightly bird was drawn to the majestic, proud swans.

So Andersen, at the age of 14, found himself without relatives and acquaintances in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, in order to achieve his goal and join the glorious cohort of artists, poets and painters. However, both the writer and his fairy-tale hero managed to get what they had been pursuing for so long.

The prototype of the old woman who lived in company with a cat and a chicken was the family who gladly received Andersen as guests. Only one drawback embarrassed the young writer - he was constantly taught how to live in that house, set on the right path, and dictated his own rules of behavior. This feature is carried over into the book.

The tale was published in 1843. Rector Simon Meisling, who had once mocked the future storyteller, took the post of royal censor, and again the paths of the enemies crossed. The teacher was still merciless towards the former student and called the work an outrageous thing.

In his words, “The Ugly Duckling” was a libel to the Motherland, where the poultry yard is Denmark, and its evil inhabitants are all Danes. Meisling threatened to prevent the fairy tale from being published in the magazine, but his promises were not destined to come true. The work fell in love with Danish readers, and then bookworms all over the world. It also reached Russia - Anna Ganzen translated the fairy tale into Russian.

Image and plot

On a sunny summer day, under a spreading burdock tree in the courtyard of an old estate, a mother duck hatched her offspring. Only from one, the largest egg, a baby could not be born. And finally, the egg hatched, and an unusual gray chick was born. Even his mother didn't like him. Later it turned out that the “freak” also did not know how to swim. The animal society that lived in the yard strictly condemned the duckling for being different from his family, and during games his siblings constantly tried to peck, humiliate, and ridicule him.

The young outcast decided to flee from his native yard. Somehow he climbed over the fence and set off in an unknown direction. On the way he met wild ducks, who were also amused by the unsightly appearance of the duckling. The hero was not touched by the hunting dog - he was so ugly. One day the duckling saw beautiful swans swimming majestically across the lake, and even answered their cry, but he did not dare to swim closer, fearing that these birds would reject him too.

The traveler had to while away the coming winter in hunger and cold in the lake bushes, and with the arrival of spring he again saw the swans and, overcoming his fear, swam up to them. To our surprise, the birds did not peck the guest; on the contrary, they stroked him with their beaks and necks. In the mirror of the water, the ugly duckling suddenly saw his reflection - an equally handsome swan was looking at him.

The unusual nature of the work lies in the fact that the author endowed it with elements of psychology. The character's fate is shown through his state of mind: a scattering of monologues are put into the duckling’s mouth, in which he tries to find the reason for such dislike for himself. The chick is sometimes sad, sometimes tired, sometimes filled with joy upon discovering his transformation. A sensual fairy tale makes you worry along with the hero.

Through the characteristics of the heroes who inhabit the fairy tale, Andersen exposes the main vice of society - the inability to accept another with all his shortcomings. The moral also contains the path traveled by the duckling: only after experiencing suffering from humiliation and without losing spiritual kindness and love can one truly rejoice in happiness. The writer endowed the fairy tale with a wise thought:

“It doesn’t matter if you were born in a duck’s nest if you were hatched from a swan’s egg!”

Film adaptations

The Danish fairy tale entered cinema with light hand. In 1931, a black and white cartoon of the same name was shot at the studio of the famous American. The next Disney film based on the work about the unfortunate duckling was released eight years later, but in color.

Soviet filmmakers also did not ignore The Ugly Duckling. In 1956, director Vladimir Degtyarev presented the viewer with an incredibly beautiful, vibrant film, which was included in the golden collection of Russian animation. The feathered outcast spoke in the voice of actress Yulia Yulskaya. The characters were also voiced, and Nikolai Litvinov acted as the narrator. A brilliant cast and brilliant work - it is not surprising that the cartoon was awarded a diploma at the British Film Festival a year after its premiere.

Another cartoon is a gift from the director to adult viewers. The master of cinema presented his own interpretation of “The Ugly Duckling” in 2010, borrowing only the episode of the transformation of a duckling into a swan and calling the work “a parable about xenophobia.” At the end of the tape main character takes revenge on his offenders. Svetlana Stepchenko and other actors worked on the voice acting. The voices of the court are heard in the performance of the Turetsky Choir. The film is enhanced by music.

Garry Bardin's cartoon fell into disgrace on television - Channel One and Rossiya refused to show it. But the main failure awaited the author in cinemas: the film was shown in half-empty theaters. Meanwhile, the Trud newspaper called the cartoon “the event of the year.”

An interesting interpretation of Andersen's work is the film " Amazing story, similar to a fairy tale,” created by Boris Dolin in 1966. Events unfold during the filming of the film: a boy found a swan egg and threw it into the chicken coop. The authors took a Danish fairy tale as a model, but thoroughly reshaped it. Oleg Zhakov, Valentin Maklashin, and Tatyana Antipina were invited to play the main roles.

The ugly duckling has long been common noun. In this sense, directors love to use it. So, in 2015, a drama of the same name, consisting of several cycles, was released on Japanese screens. And in Russia, fans of the series enjoyed the four-part film by Fuad Shabanov “The Ugly Duckling” with, and starring.

Quotes

“The poor duckling simply didn’t know what to do, where to go. And he had to be so ugly that the whole poultry yard laughs at him.”

“I wish you well, that’s why I scold you - this is how true friends are always recognized!”

“Now he was glad that he had endured so much grief and trouble - he could better appreciate his happiness and the splendor that surrounded him.”

“You don’t understand me,” said the duckling.
- If we don’t understand, then who will understand you? Well, do you want to be smarter than the cat and the owner, not to mention me?”

“And the old swans bowed their heads before him.”

“He was overly happy, but not at all proud - a good heart knows no pride.”

An egg from a strange bird fell into the duck's nest of an inexperienced mother. The chick was not like other children, so it provoked ridicule from its “relatives” and residents of the entire poultry yard - “society”. His appearance repelled everyone, dooming him to always be alone. The hero had to go through many trials and it was they who made him a beautiful soul, with a sensitive heart. When he grew up, he turned into a beautiful bird, arousing the admiration of others.

The main thing in people is the beauty of their soul, their heart filled with warmth, and not what they look like on the outside. Everyone is different and should not be ridiculed external flaws others.

Read a summary of Andersen's fairy tale The Ugly Duckling

Summer sunny days have arrived. A young duck was hatching white eggs in a dense thicket of burdock. She chose a quiet and peaceful place. Rarely anyone came to see her; everyone liked to relax on the water: swimming and diving.

Time passed and the shells began to burst. The little firstborns began to stir, slowly tapping their beaks, and finally their round heads appeared. They looked at the huge burdock leaves with curiosity. This is not what the mother duck said to the whole world. It is much larger than this plant, although I haven’t seen all of it. An old duck came up and asked how you were doing?

To which the young mother replied that all ducklings are like their father and we are waiting for the last one (the largest testicle).

It's probably turkey. Oh! How hard it was to raise them, they don’t know how to swim at all. They caused me a lot of trouble.

And finally, the last one cracked, and a small chick emerged from it. Appearance his mother didn't like it. “I’ll test him, see if he can swim!” - she thought.

The weather was sunny and the family was swimming on the lake. Everyone dived very well, and the gray drake dived and stayed on the water surface no worse than the rest!

Now we're going to the poultry yard! I will show you to the whole “society!” - the mother duck said sternly. Behave yourself decently, bow to everyone. When they reached their destination, they heard strange sounds. Because of the trophy: the head of a fish, there were battles between duck families. But the delicious head went to the cat. The mother sighed in disappointment; she also did not refuse food.

The family approached an important person - a Spanish duck, who had a scarlet ribbon tied on her leg. The common ducks were not happy that new “mouths” had appeared; they were especially irritated by the most “awkward” one. Everyone tried to peck him.

The noble lady expressed her sympathy for the little ones, only one failed. His mother said that he is very kind and a drake, so he will outgrow him. Having received permission, the ducklings began to play. Everyone pecked at the poor gray duckling and everyone tried to offend him. The whole family began to hate him, even his own mother wanted him dead. At first he didn't know what to do. And so, the awkward duckling decided to run away. Somehow he fell over the rickety fence. In the morning, the wild ducks, seeing the new duckling, also said: “He’s so ugly, but it’s okay if he doesn’t become one of our relatives.” On the third day, two important ganders arrived. They liked it funny look, and they even promised to introduce the “newbie” to the geese. Shots rang out and he saw blood and dead friends. The shooting continued, the dogs ran around the pond and collected dead ducks, one ran past the hero, he shrank tightly and became silent.

The dog doesn’t even want to take me! - thought the duckling. Only in the evening, when there was dead silence, several hours passed when he tried to run further.

He ran to a dilapidated hut. Then the baby made his way inside, crawling through a small doorway. There lived a cat - Murlyka, a chicken and their owner - grandmother. The short-legged hen diligently laid eggs, for which grandma loved her very much. In the morning they noticed him, the old woman thought about eggs, unless it was a drake. He did not lay eggs, and he was humiliated by important animals: a cat and a chicken. The light burst in and the duckling wanted to swim. He decided to run away and settled on the lake where he swam, but everyone ridiculed him. And so, he saw wild swans, and he also screamed.

It came very Cold winter. He had to swim to keep the water from freezing. And so he froze, exhausted. A peasant picked him up and gave him to his wife. But, frightened by the peasant children, he spilled the milk, got into the butter, then into the flour. And persecuted by the entire peasant family, he ran away. The duckling had to go through a lot of troubles in winter. There was not enough food and he was very cold.

Winter has passed and spring has come. Having emerged from the reeds, he took off. And flew to blossoming apple trees. He noticed white swans. He felt sad.

Let me die from the blows of these beautiful birds rather than endure all the troubles! – he thought sadly.

The swans saw him and swam towards him. He asked them to kill him with his head down. And suddenly he saw himself. In the reflection was a beautiful swan. Large swans swam past and stroked him with their beaks.

The most beautiful and young one has arrived! - the children shouted joyfully. And they started throwing pieces of soft bread.
The handsome white man was in seventh heaven!