

THE SIX SWANS

ONCE on a time a king was hunting in a
great wood, and he pursued a wild animal
so eagerly that none of his people could
follow him. When evening came he stood
still, and looking round him he found
that he had lost his way; and seeking a
path, he found none. Then all at once he
saw an old woman with a nodding head
coming up to him; and it was a witch.

"My good woman," said he, "can you show
me the way out of the wood?"

"Oh yes, my lord king," answered she,
"certainly I can; but I must make a
condition, and if you do not fulfil it,
you will never get out of the wood
again, but die there of hunger."

"What is the condition?" asked the
king.

"I have a daughter," said the old woman,
"who is as fair as any in the world, and
if you will take her for your bride, and
make her queen, I will show you the way
out of the wood."

The king consented, because of the
difficulty he was in, and the old woman
led him into her little house, and there
her daughter was sitting by the fire.

She received the king just as if she had
been expecting him, and though he saw
that she was very beautiful, she did not
please him, and he could not look at her
without an inward shudder. Nevertheless,
he took the maiden before him on his
horse, and the old woman showed him the
way, and soon he was in his royal castle
again, where the wedding was held.

The king had been married before, and
his first wife had left seven children,
six boys and one girl, whom he loved
better than all the world, and as he was
afraid the step-mother might not behave
well to them, and perhaps would do them
some mischief, he took them to a lonely
castle standing in the middle of a wood.
There they remained hidden, for the road
to it was so hard to find that the king
himself could not have found it, had it
not been for a clew of yarn, possessing
wonderful properties, that a wise woman
had given him; when he threw it down
before him, it unrolled itself and
showed him the way. And the king went so
often to see his dear children, that the
queen was displeased at his absence; and
she became curious and wanted to know
what he went out into the wood for so
often alone. She bribed his servants
with much money, and they showed her the
secret, and told her of the clew of
yarn, which alone could point out the
way; then she gave herself no rest until
she had found out where the king kept
the clew, and then she made some little
white silk shirts, and sewed a charm in
each, as she had learned witchcraft of
her mother. And once when the king had
ridden to the hunt, she took the little
shirts and went into the wood, and the
clew of yarn showed her the way. The
children seeing some one in the
distance, thought it was their dear
father coming to see them, and came
jumping for joy to meet him. Then the
wicked queen threw over each one of the
little shirts, and as soon as the shirts
touched their bodies, they were changed
into swans, and flew away through the
wood. So the queen went home very
pleased to think she had got rid of her
step-children; but the maiden had not
run out with her brothers, and so the
queen knew nothing about her. The next
day the king went to see his children,
but he found nobody but his daughter.

"Where are thy brothers?" asked the
king.

"Ah, dear father," answered she, "they
are gone away and have left me behind,"
and then she told him how she had seen
from her window her brothers in the
guise of swans fly away through the
wood, and she showed him the feathers
which they had let fall in the
courtyard, and which she had picked up.
The king was grieved, but he never
dreamt that it was the queen who had
done this wicked deed, and as he feared
lest the maiden also should be stolen
away from him, he wished to take her
away with him. But she was afraid of the
step-mother, and begged the king to let
her remain one more night in the castle
in the wood.

Then she said to herself,

"I must stay here no longer, but go and
seek for my brothers."

And when the night came, she fled away
and went straight into the wood. She
went on all that night and the next day,
until she could go no longer for
weariness. At last she saw a rude hut,
and she went in and found a room with
six little beds in it; she did not dare
to lie down in one, but she crept under
one and lay on the hard boards and
wished for night. When it was near the
time of sun-setting she heard a rustling
sound, and saw six swans come flying in
at the window. They alighted on the
ground, and blew at one another until
they had blown all their feathers off,
and then they stripped off their
swan-skin as if it had been a shirt. And
the maiden looked at them and knew them
for her brothers, and was very glad, and
crept from under the bed. The brothers
were not less glad when their sister
appeared, but their joy did not last
long.

"You must not stay here," said they to
her; "this is a robbers' haunt, and if
they were to come and find you here,
they would kill you."

"And cannot you defend me?" asked the
little sister.

"No," answered they, "for we can only
get rid of our swan-skins and keep our
human shape every evening for a quarter
of an hour, but after that we must be
changed again into swans."

Their sister wept at hearing this, and
said,

"Can nothing be done to set you free?"

"Oh no," answered they, "the work would
be too hard for you. For six whole years
you would be obliged never to speak or
laugh, and make during that time six
little shirts out of aster-flowers. If
you were to let fall a single word
before the work was ended, all would be
of no good."

And just as the brothers had finished
telling her this, the quarter of an hour
came to an end, and they changed into
swans and flew out of the window.

But the maiden made up her mind to set
her brothers free, even though it should
cost her her life. She left the hut, and
going into the middle of the wood, she
climbed a tree, and there passed the
night. The next morning she set to work
and gathered asters and began sewing
them together: as for speaking, there
was no one to speak to, and as for
laughing, she had no mind to it; so she
sat on and looked at nothing but her
work. When she had been going on like
this for a long time, it happened that
the king of that country went a-hunting
in the wood, and some of his huntsmen
came up to the tree in which the maiden
sat. They called out to her, saying,
"Who art thou?" But she gave no answer.
"Come down," cried they; "we will do
thee no harm." But she only shook her
head. And when they tormented her
further with questions she threw down to
them her gold necklace, hoping they
would be content with that. But they
would not leave off, so she threw down
to them her girdle, and when that was no
good, her garters, and one after another
everything she had on and could possibly
spare, until she had nothing left but
her smock. But all was no good, the
huntsmen would not be put off any
longer, and they climbed the tree,
carried the maiden off, and brought her
to the king. The king asked, "Who art
thou? What wert thou doing in the tree?"
But she answered nothing. He spoke to
her in all the languages he knew, but
she remained dumb: but, being very
beautiful, the king inclined to her, and
he felt a great love rise up in his
heart towards her; and casting his
mantle round her, he put her before him
on his horse and brought her to his
castle. Then he caused rich clothing to
be put upon her, and her beauty shone as
bright as the morning, but no word would
she utter. He seated her by his side at
table, and her modesty and gentle mien
so pleased him, that he said,

"This maiden I choose for wife, and no
other in all the world," and accordingly
after a few days they were married.

But the king had a wicked mother, who
was displeased with the marriage, and
spoke ill of the young queen.

"Who knows where the maid can have come
from?" said she, "and not able to speak
a word! She is not worthy of a king!"

After a year had passed, and the queen
brought her first child into the world,
the old woman carried it away, and
marked the queen's mouth with blood as
she lay sleeping. Then she went to the
king and declared that his wife was an
eater of human flesh. The king would not
believe such a thing, and ordered that
no one should do her any harm. And the
queen went on quietly sewing the shirts
and caring for nothing else. The next
time that a fine boy was born, the
wicked step-mother used the same deceit,
but the king would give no credence to
her words, for he said,

"She is too tender and good to do any
such thing, and if she were only not
dumb, and could justify herself, then
her innocence would be as clear as
day."

When for the third time the old woman
stole away the new-born child and
accused the queen, who was unable to say
a word in her defence, the king could do
no other but give her up to justice, and
she was sentenced to suffer death by
fire.

The day on which her sentence was to be
carried out was the very last one of the
sixth year of the years during which she
had neither spoken nor laughed, to free
her dear brothers from the evil spell.
The six shirts were ready, all except
one which wanted the left sleeve. And
when she was led to the pile of wood,
she carried the six shirts on her arm,
and when she mounted the pile and the
fire was about to be kindled, all at
once she cried out aloud, for there were
six swans coming flying through the air;
and she saw that her deliverance was
near, and her heart beat for joy. The
swans came close up to her with rushing
wings, and stooped round her, so that
she could throw the shirts over them;
and when that had been done the
swan-skins fell off them, and her
brothers stood before her in their own
bodies quite safe and sound; but as one
shirt wanted the left sleeve, so the
youngest brother had a swan's wing
instead of a left arm. They embraced and
kissed each other, and the queen went up
to the king, who looked on full of
astonishment, and began to speak to him
and to say,

"Dearest husband, now I may dare to
speak and tell you that I am innocent,
and have been falsely accused," and she
related to him the treachery of the
step-mother, who had taken away the
three children and hidden them. And she
was reconciled to the king with great
joy, and the wicked step-mother was
bound to the stake on the pile of wood
and burnt to ashes.

And the king and queen lived many years
with their six brothers in peace and
joy.

 