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 looking 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 fulfil, 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 any one you
can find in die 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 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 step-mother might not treat his children very well, and might even do them
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 to 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
this ball was concealed, and then she made some fine silken shirts, and, as she
had learnt 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 some one
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 step-children;
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 of 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, and 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 step-mother, 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 long, 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 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 all their feathers off, and their
swan's 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," said they to her; "this is a robbers'
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, or die in the attempt; 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 out 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 huntsmen 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," continued they; "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 himself climbed 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. Since, 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. There he ordered rich clothing to be made for her, and, although
her beauty shone as the sunbeams, 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
step-mother, who was discontented with his marriage, and spoke evil of the
young Queen. "Who knows whence the wench comes?" said she. "She
who cannot speak is not worthy of a King." A year after, when the Queen
brought her first-born 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 would 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 the very day had come
round when her dear brothers 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 leapt 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 had
done so, their feathers fell off and the brothers stood up alive and well; but
the youngest was without his left 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 to
the scaffold and bound to the stake and burnt to ashes. The King and Queen for
ever after lived in peace and prosperity with their six brothers.