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Illustration for The Ugly Duckling

Russian · Intermediate

Гадкий утёнок

Adapted from The Ugly Duckling

By Hans Christian Andersen

A young bird is rejected by the farmyard before discovering where he belongs.

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Intermediate sample in Russian

Scene 1

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Illustration for the scene “A duck waiting on her nest”

Scene 1 · Intermediate

Утка ждёт, сидя на гнезде

A duck waiting on her nest

Russian

В деревне стояло чудесное лето. На полях золотились хлеба и зеленел овёс, а на лугах высились стога сена. Аист шагал на длинных красных ногах и болтал по-египетски — этому языку его научила мать. Вокруг полей и лугов росли большие леса, среди которых скрывались глубокие пруды. Как приятно было гулять в этих местах!

English translation

It was a wonderful summer in the countryside. The grain in the fields was golden and the oats were green, while haystacks rose high in the meadows. A stork strode about on long red legs, chattering in Egyptian, a language his mother had taught him. Great woods grew around the fields and meadows, with deep ponds hidden among the trees. How pleasant it was to walk in those places!

Russian

У глубокой реки, на солнечном берегу, стоял уютный старый дом. От него до самой воды росли огромные лопухи: под их самыми высокими листьями маленький ребёнок мог бы стоять во весь рост. В этих зарослях было так же дико, как в густом лесу.

English translation

On a sunny bank beside a deep river stood a cosy old house. Enormous burdocks grew from the house all the way down to the water: a small child could have stood upright beneath their tallest leaves. The thicket was as wild as a dense forest.

Russian

Здесь, в укромном уголке, утка сидела на гнезде и ждала утят. Ожидание уже утомило её: малыши всё не вылуплялись, а гости навещали её редко. Остальные утки предпочитали плавать по реке, а не подниматься по скользкому берегу, чтобы посидеть с ней под лопухами.

English translation

Here, in a sheltered corner, a duck sat on her nest, waiting for her ducklings. She was tired of waiting: the little ones still had not hatched, and visitors rarely came. The other ducks preferred swimming on the river to climbing the slippery bank to sit with her under the burdocks.

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