| 词源 |
ugly duckling. Hans Christian Andersen’s tale “The Ugly Duckling” tells of a sad “ugly duckling” that was actually a cyg- net and, to its mother’s surprise, grew up into a magnificent swan. Soon after the story was translated into English in 1846 the expression ugly duckling became part of the language, usu- ally meaning an unpromising child who grows into an admira- ble adult. |