Four or five days after hatching, four ducklings are already swimming vigorously in the pond. The mother duck is still warming the last, largest egg. A talkative old lady duck worries that it might be a turkey egg. Three days later, the chick finally hatches—it has a long neck and makes a strange sound. During swimming lessons, the youngest duckling shows energy, putting the mother at ease. However, because it looks different from the others, the youngest duckling is mocked even by dogs and teased by frogs. It is disliked by its fellow ducks and ostracized by its four older brothers. One night, the youngest duckling leaves its mother and brothers behind. Autumn comes, and the duckling, continuing its solitary journey, asks to join a flock of wild geese, but they are shot at by hunters, and it barely escapes the hunting dogs. Winter arrives, and amidst falling snow, the duckling sleeps in a hut near a lakeside villa. Beside it, a black cat and a hen watch over it with concern. Upon waking, the duckling learns from the black cat uncle that it was saved from being attacked by a weasel. The hen says the duckling doesn’t look like a duck, but the black cat says it can live there forever. Spring comes again, then summer. Children from the villa discover a beautiful white swan. The black cat tells the hen that the duckling has become a swan, making their care worthwhile. The young swan enjoys happy, peaceful days, but as dusk approaches, it fondly remembers its kind mother duck.