Spring Scenes in: The Ugly Duckling

As Berlin breaks out of the winter stasis at its customary slow pace, I wanted to celebrate spring with seasonal classics.

"Maiabend im Tieftal - Erfurt" (1885)
by Emil Zschimmer (1842-1917)
via Wikimedia Commons

William Wordsworth's famous poem "To a Daffodil" has already appeared in this blog. So, moving on to the next inspiration, I browsed translations of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales to find springtime scenes.

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The "The Ugly Ducking" (1843) (which is famous enough that it requires no synopsis) has a lovely description of spring. It's an analogy of the Ugly Duckling's winter of discontent turning into glorious summer.

It would be very sad, were I to relate all the misery and privations which the poor little duckling endured during the hard winter; but when it had passed, he found himself lying one morning in a moor, amongst the rushes. 

He felt the warm sun shining, and heard the lark singing, and saw that all around was beautiful spring. 

Then the young bird felt that his wings were strong, as he flapped them against his sides, and rose high into the air. 

They bore him onwards, until he found himself in a large garden, before he well knew how it had happened. The apple-trees were in full blossom, and the fragrant elders bent their long green branches down to the stream which wound round a smooth lawn. Everything looked beautiful, in the freshness of early spring. 

From a thicket close by came three beautiful white swans, rustling their feathers, and swimming lightly over the smooth water.

From: Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales. Mrs. H. B. Paull, transl. London/New York: Warne & Co., 1888.
[Wikisource, but I've changed the paragraph structure]

(English translations differ strongly in their translation of 'elders.' 'Lilacs' and 'syringas' appear in other editions published before the First World War. These seem to be the correct translation. 'Syringa' is the Latin genus name for 'lilac.')

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Men det vilde blive altfor bedrøveligt at fortælle al den Nød og Elendighed, den maatte prøve i den haarde Vinter – – den laae i Mosen mellem Rørene, da Solen igjen begyndte at skinne varmt; Lærkerne sang – det var deiligt Foraar.

Da løftede den paa eengang sine Vinger, de bruste stærkere end før og bare den kraftigt afsted; og før den ret vidste det, var den i en stor Have, hvor Æbletræerne stode i Blomster, hvor Sirenerne duftede og hang paa de lange, grønne Grene lige ned imod de bugtede Canaler! O her var saa deiligt, saa foraarsfriskt! og lige foran, ud af Tykningen, kom tre deilige, hvide Svaner; de bruste med Fjerene og fløde saa let paa Vandet. 

— Hans Christian Andersen. "Den grimme Ælling" (1843) [Wikisource]

Illustration from Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary (1890—1907)
via Wikimedia Commons