"the ugly duckling" () is a literary fairy tale by hans christian andersen. andersen lavished great care on this story, spending a year perfecting it. it was first published in 1844 with "the angel", "the sweethearts", and "the nightingale" in "new fairy tales". the critics liked these stories. andersen considered the story "a reflection of my own life." the moral of the tale: "it does not matter if you were born in a duck yard if you have lain in a swan's egg." the tale has been adapted to various media such as animated movies.