But the swan wasn't as much more beautiful than the ducks, as it was higher class than the ducks. The swan no longer has to associate with the ducks, so who cares if they remember how they used to treat it?

And anyway, if the swan ever decided to go back and grace the ducks with its presence, the ducks would totally illuminate the city in its honor and suck up to it, as foretold by a soothsayer when the swan was just a chick, and lo, so it came to pass.