The Swan Princes
By Anne Anderson Found on Wiki
There was a king hunting in the woods. He was pursuing an
animal, and none of his followers could keep up. The king suddenly realized he
was lost in the woods in the dark. A witch came walking by and the king asked
for her help. The woman agreed to help if he met one condition. If he did not
then he would remain lost in the woods until he starved. The king must agree to
marry the woman’s daughter. The king agreed because he didn’t see himself
escaping any other way. The king picked up the daughter and rode home where the
wedding was. The king hid his children out of fear that the new wife would be mischievous
with them. The wife wondered where he always snuck off to, so she bribed the
servants to spill the secret. The witch, took magic shirts to the children. The
children turned into swans and flew away. All but one of the children flew off.
The daughter had stayed inside and told the father of what happened. The
daughter, tired of sitting in the secret castle, took off to find her brothers.
She stumbled on a hut and hid under a bed. The 6 swans showed up and shed their
swan skin. They were the brothers. The brothers said that the only way to free
them of the curse is to spend 6 years making little shirts and not speaking a
single word. She began making the shirts, and began the six years of no
speaking or laughing. The king’s huntsmen called up to her to come down from a
tree but she could not speak. She threw down everything she owned but they did
not leave. The king then asked who she was. She could not answer but the king
fell in love with her (which is super weird). The kings mother tried to get rid
of the daughter. After 6 years the daughter finally succeeded in freeing her
brothers.
Bibliography:
Household Stories by the Brothers Grimm, translated by Lucy Crane and illustrated by Walter Crane (1886). Link
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