For a while he was quite happy and content; but soon the winter came on, and snow began to fall, and everything to grow very wet and uncomfortable.
And every morning it grew colder and colder, and the duckling was never warm at all; and at last, after one bitter night, his legs moved so slowly that the ice crept closer and closer, and when the morning light broke he was caught fast, as in a trap; and soon his senses went from him.
But, by good fortune, a man was crossing the river and saw in a moment what had happened. He went and stamped so hard on the ice that it broke, and then he picked up the duckling and took it to his children, but he wouldn’t stay and ran away.
He was very miserable the whole winter, but by-and-by things grew better when the spring came. When he stood up, he felt different, somehow. His body seemed larger, and his wings stronger and he could even fly.
