The Six Swans by the Brothers Grimm
A king was once hunting in a large wood,
And pursued his game so hotly that none of his
Courtiers could follow him.
But when evening approached,
He stopped,
And looked around him perceived that he had lost
Himself.
He sought a path out of the forest,
But could not find one.
And presently he saw an old woman,
With a nodding head,
Who came up to him.
My good woman,
Said he to her,
Can you not show me the way out of the forest?
Oh yes,
My lord king,
She replied.
I can do that very well,
But upon one condition,
Which,
If you do not fulfill,
You will never
Again get out of the wood,
But will die of hunger.
What then is this condition?
Asked the king.
I have a daughter,
Said the old woman,
Who is as beautiful as anyone you can find in
The whole world,
And well deserves to be your bride.
Now,
If you will make her your queen,
I will show you your way out of the wood.
In the anxiety of his heart,
The king consented,
And the old woman led him straight to her
Cottage,
Where the daughter was sitting by the fire.
She received the king as if she had expected him,
And he saw at once that she was very
Beautiful,
But yet she did not quite please him,
For he could not look at her without
A secret shuddering.
However,
He took the maiden upon his horse,
And the old woman showed him the way,
And
The king arrived safely at his palace,
Where the wedding was to be celebrated.
The king had been married once before,
And had seven children by his first wife,
Six
Boys,
And a girl,
Whom he loved above everything else in the world.
He became afraid soon that the stepmother might not treat his children very well,
And
Might even do them with some great injury,
So he took them away to a lonely castle,
Which
Stood in the midst of a forest.
The castle was so entirely hidden,
And the way it was so difficult to discover,
That
He himself could not have found it if a wise woman had not given him a ball of cotton,
Which had the wonderful property,
When he threw it before him,
Of unrolling itself and
Showing him the right path.
The king went,
However,
So often to see his dear children,
That the queen,
Noticing his
Absence,
Became inquisitive,
And wished to know what he went to fetch out of the forest.
So she gave his servants a great quantity of money,
And they disclosed to her the secret,
And also told her of the ball of cotton,
Which alone could show her the way.
She had now no peace,
Until she discovered where the ball was concealed,
And then she
Made some fine silken shirts,
And as she had learned of her mother,
She sewed within each
A charm.
One day soon after,
When the king was gone out hunting,
She took the little shirts and
Went into the forest,
And the cotton showed her the path.
The children,
Seeing someone coming in the distance,
Thought it was their dear father,
And ran out full of joy.
Then she threw over each of them a shirt,
That as it touched their bodies,
Changed them
Into swans,
Which flew away over the forest.
The queen then went home quite contented,
And thought she was free of her stepchildren,
But the little girl had not met her with the brothers,
And the queen did not know of her.
The following day the king went to visit his children,
But he found only the maiden.
Where are your brothers,
Asked he.
Ah,
Dear father,
She replied,
They are gone away and have left me alone,
And she told
Him how she had looked out the window and seen them changed into swans,
Which had flown
Over the forest.
And then she showed him the feathers,
Which they had dropped in the courtyard,
In which
She had collected together.
The king was much grieved,
But he did not think that his wife could have done this wicked
Deed,
And as he feared the girl might also be stolen away,
He took her with him.
She was,
However,
So much afraid of the stepmother,
That she begged him not to stop more than
One night in the castle.
The poor maiden thought to herself,
This is no longer my place,
I will go and seek my
Brothers,
And when night came she escaped,
And went quite deep into the wood.
She walked all night,
And a great part of the next day,
Until she could go no further
From weariness.
Just then she saw a rough-looking hut,
And going in,
She found a room with six little
Beds,
But she dared not get into one,
So she crept under,
And laying herself upon the hard
Earth,
Prepared to pass the night there.
Just as the sun was setting,
She heard a rustling,
And saw six white swans come flying in at
The window.
They settled on the ground,
And began blowing one another,
Until they had blown off all
Their feathers,
And their swans down slipped from them like a shirt.
Then the maiden knew them at once for her brothers,
And gladly crept out from under
The bed,
And the brothers were not less glad to see their sister,
But their joy was of
Short duration.
Here you must not stay,
They said to her,
This is a robber's hiding place,
If they
Should return and find you here,
They would murder you.
Can you not protect me then,
Inquired the sister.
No they replied,
For we can only lay aside our swan's feathers for a quarter of an
Hour each evening,
And for that time we regain our human form,
But afterwards we resume our
Changed appearance.
Their sister then asked them with tears,
Can you not be restored again?
Oh no,
Replied they,
The conditions are too difficult,
For six long years you must neither
Speak nor laugh,
And during that time you must sew together for us six little shirts
Of star flowers,
And should there fall a single word from your lips,
Then all your labor will
Be in vain.
Just as the brothers finished speaking,
The quarter of an hour elapsed,
And they all flew
Out of the window again like swans.
The little sister,
However,
Made a solemn resolution to rescue her brothers,
And she
Left the cottage,
And penetrating deep into the forest,
Passed the night amid the branches
Of a tree.
The next morning she went down and collected the star flowers to sew together.
She had no one to converse with,
And for laughing she had no spirits,
So there up in the tree
She sat,
Intent upon her work.
After she had passed some time there,
It happened that the king of that country was hunting
In the forest,
And his huntsman came beneath the tree on which the maiden sat.
They called to her and asked,
Who art thou?
But she gave no answer.
Come down to us,
They continued,
We will do thee no harm.
She simply shook her head,
And when they pressed her further with questions,
She threw down
To them her gold necklace,
Hoping therewith to satisfy them.
They did not,
However,
Leave her,
And she threw down her girdle,
But in vain,
And even
Her rich dress did not make them desist.
At last the huntsman climbed himself into the tree,
And brought down the maiden,
And
Took her before the king.
The king asked her,
Who art thou?
What dost thou upon that tree?
But she did not answer,
And then he questioned her in all the languages that he knew,
But
She remained dumb to all,
As a fish.
Once,
However,
She was so beautiful,
The king's heart was touched,
And he conceived
For her a strong affection.
Then he put around her his cloak,
And,
Placing her before him on his horse,
Took her to his
Castle.
Then he ordered rich clothing to be made for her,
And although her beauty shone as the
Sun beams,
Not a word escaped her.
The king placed her by his side at table,
And there her dignified mien and manners so
Won upon him,
That he said,
This maiden will I marry,
And no other in the world.
And after some days he wedded her.
Now the king had a wicked stepmother,
Who was discontented with his marriage,
And spoke
Evil of the young queen.
Who knows whence the wench comes from,
She said.
She who cannot speak is not worthy of a king.
A year after,
When the queen brought her firstborn into the world,
The old woman took him away.
Then she went to the king and complained that the queen was a murderess.
The king,
However,
Would not believe it,
And suffered no one to do any injury to his wife,
Who sat composedly sewing at her shirts and paying attention to nothing else.
When a second child was born,
The false stepmother used the same deceit,
But the king again could
Not listen to her words,
Saying,
She is too pious and good to act so.
Could she but speak and defend herself,
Her innocence would come to light.
But when again the old woman stole away the third child,
And then accused the queen,
Who
Answered not a word to the accusation,
The king was obliged to give her up to be tried,
And she was condemned to suffer death by fire.
When the time had elapsed,
And the sentence was to be carried out,
It happened that that
Very day had come round when her dear brother should be set free.
The six shirts were also ready,
All but the last,
Which yet wanted the left sleeve.
As she was led to the scaffold,
She placed the shirts upon her arm,
And just as she had
Mounted it,
And the fire was about to be kindled,
She looked around,
And saw six swans come
Flying through the air.
Her heart leaped for joy as she perceived her deliverers approaching,
And soon the swans,
Flying towards her,
Alighted so near that she was enabled to throw over them the shirts,
And as soon as she was done so,
Their feathers fell off and the brothers stood up,
Alive
And well.
But the youngest was without his arm,
Instead of which he had a swan's wing.
They embraced and kissed each other,
And the queen,
Going to the king,
Who was thunderstruck,
Began to say,
Now may I speak,
My dear husband,
And prove to you that I am innocent and falsely accused.
And then she told him how the wicked woman had stolen away and hidden her three children.
When she had concluded,
The king was overcome with joy,
And the wicked stepmother was led
Away.
The king and queen forever after lived in peace and prosperity with their six brothers.
And that is the end of our story this evening.
Until next time,
Sweet dreams.
