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Grimms' Fairy Tales
The
Six Swans
Once upon a time, a certain King was hunting
in a great forest, and he chased a wild beast so eagerly
that none of his attendants could follow him. When evening
drew near he stopped and looked around him, and then he
saw that he had lost his way. He sought a way out, but could
find none. Then he perceived an aged woman with a head which
nodded perpetually, who came towards him, but she was a
witch. "Good woman," said he to her, "Can
you not show me the way through the forest?" "Oh,
yes, Lord King," she answered, "that I certainly
can, but on one condition, and if you do not fulfil that,
you will never get out of the forest, and will die of hunger
in it."
"What kind of condition is it?" asked the King.
"I have a daughter," said the old woman, "who
is as beautiful as any one in the world, and well deserves
to be your consort, and if you will make her your Queen,
I will show you the way out of the forest." In the
anguish of his heart the King consented, and the old woman
led him to her little hut, where her daughter was sitting
by the fire. She received the King as if she had been expecting
him, and he saw that she was very beautiful, but still she
did not please him, and he could not look at her without
secret horror. After he had taken the maiden up on his horse,
the old woman showed him the way, and the King reached his
royal palace again, where the wedding was celebrated.
The King had already been married once, and had by his
first wife, seven children, six boys and a girl, whom he
loved better than anything else in the world. As he now
feared that the step-mother might not treat them well, and
even do them some injury, he took them to a lonely castle
which stood in the midst of a forest. It lay so concealed,
and the way was so difficult to find that he himself would
not have found it, if a wise woman had not given him a ball
of yarn with wonderful properties. When he threw it down
before him, it unrolled itself and showed him his path.
The King, however, went so frequently away to his dear children
that the Queen observed his absence; she was curious and
wanted to know what he did when he was quite alone in the
forest. She gave a great deal of money to his servants,
and they betrayed the secret to her, and told her likewise
of the ball which alone could point out the way. And now
she knew no rest until she had learnt where the King kept
the ball of yarn, and then she made little shirts of white
silk, and as she had learnt the art of witchcraft from her
mother, she sewed a charm inside them. And once when the
King had ridden forth to hunt, she took the little shirts
and went into the forest, and the ball showed her the way.
The children, who saw from a distance that some one was
approaching, thought that their dear father was coming to
them, and full of joy, ran to meet him. Then she threw one
of the little shirts over each of them, and no sooner had
the shirts touched their bodies than they were changed into
swans, and flew away over the forest. The Queen went home
quite delighted, and thought she had got rid of her step-children,
but the girl had not run out with her brothers, and the
Queen knew nothing about her. Next day the King went to
visit his children, but he found no one but the little girl.
"Where are thy brothers?' asked the King. "Alas,
dear father," she answered, "they have gone away
and left me alone!" and she told him that she had seen
from her little window how her brothers had flown away over
the forest in the shape of swans, and she showed him the
feathers, which they had let fall in the courtyard, and
which she had picked up. The King mourned, but he did not
think that the Queen had done this wicked deed, and as he
feared that the girl would also be stolen away from him,
he wanted to take her away with him. But she was afraid
of her step-mother, and entreated the King to let her stay
just this one night more in the forest castle.
The poor girl thought, "I can no longer stay here.
I will go and seek my brothers." And when night came,
she ran away, and went straight into the forest. She walked
the whole night long, and next day also without stopping,
until she could go no farther for weariness. Then she saw
a forest-hut, and went into it, and found a room with six
little beds, but she did not venture to get into one of
them, but crept under one, and lay down on the hard ground,
intending to pass the night there. Just before sunset, however,
she heard a rustling, and saw six swans come flying in at
the window. They alighted on the ground and blew at each
other, and blew all the feathers off, and their swan's skins
stripped off like a shirt. Then the maiden looked at them
and recognized her brothers, was glad and crept forth from
beneath the bed. The brothers were not less delighted to
see their little sister, but their joy was of short duration.
"Here canst thou not abide," they said to her.
"This is a shelter for robbers, if they come home and
find thee, they will kill thee." "But can you
not protect me?" asked the little sister. "No,"
they replied, "only for one quarter of an hour each
evening can we lay aside our swan's skins and have during
that time our human form; after that, we are once more turned
into swans." The little sister wept and said, "Can
you not be set free?" "Alas, no," they answered,
"the conditions are too hard! For six years thou mayst
neither speak nor laugh, and in that time thou must sew
together six little shirts of starwort for us. And if one
single word falls from thy lips, all thy work will be lost."
And when the brothers had said this, the quarter of an hour
was over, and they flew out of the window again as swans.
The maiden, however, firmly resolved to deliver her brothers,
even if it should cost her her life. She left the hut, went
into the midst of the forest, seated herself on a tree,
and there passed the night. Next morning she went out and
gathered starwort and began to sew. She could not speak
to any one, and she had no inclination to laugh; she sat
there and looked at nothing but her work. When she had already
spent a long time there it came to pass that the King of
the country was hunting in the forest, and his huntsmen
came to the tree on which the maiden was sitting. They called
to her and said, "Who art thou?" But she made
no answer. "Come down to us," said they. "We
will not do thee any harm." She only shook her head.
As they pressed her further with questions she threw her
golden necklace down to them, and thought to content them
thus. They, however, did not cease, and then she threw her
girdle down to them, and as this also was to no purpose,
her garters, and by degrees everything that she had on that
she could do without until she had nothing left but her
shift. The huntsmen, however, did not let themselves be
turned aside by that, but climbed the tree and fetched the
maiden down and led her before the King. The King asked,
"Who art thou? What art thou doing on the tree?"
But she did not answer. He put the question in every language
that he knew, but she remained as mute as a fish. As she
was so beautiful, the King's heart was touched, and he was
smitten with a great love for her. He put his mantle on
her, took her before him on his horse, and carried her to
his castle. Then he caused her to be dressed in rich garments,
and she shone in her beauty like bright daylight, but no
word could be drawn from her. He placed her by his side
at table, and her modest bearing and courtesy pleased him
so much that he said, "She is the one whom I wish to
marry, and no other woman in the world." And after
some days he united himself to her.
The King, however, had a wicked mother who was dissatisfied
with this marriage and spoke ill of the young Queen. "Who
knows," said she, "from whence the creature who
can't speak, comes? She is not worthy of a king!" After
a year had passed, when the Queen brought her first child
into the world, the old woman took it away from her, and
smeared her mouth with blood as she slept. Then she went
to the King and accused the Queen of being a man-eater.
The King would not believe it, and would not suffer any
one to do her any injury. She, however, sat continually
sewing at the shirts, and cared for nothing else. The next
time, when she again bore a beautiful boy, the false step-mother
used the same treachery, but the King could not bring himself
to give credit to her words. He said, "She is too pious
and good to do anything of that kind; if she were not dumb,
and could defend herself, her innocence would come to light."
But when the old woman stole away the newly-born child for
the third time, and accused the Queen, who did not utter
one word of defence, the King could do no otherwise than
deliver her over to justice, and she was sentenced to suffer
death by fire.
When the day came for the sentence to be executed, it was
the last day of the six years during which she was not to
speak or laugh, and she had delivered her dear brothers
from the power of the enchantment. The six shirts were ready,
only the left sleeve of the sixth was wanting. When, therefore,
she was led to the stake, she laid the shirts on her arm,
and when she stood on high and the fire was just going to
be lighted, she looked around and six swans came flying
through the air towards her. Then she saw that her deliverance
was near, and her heart leapt with joy. The swans swept
towards her and sank down so that she could throw the shirts
over them, and as they were touched by them, their swan's
skins fell off, and her brothers stood in their own bodily
form before her, and were vigorous and handsome. The youngest
only lacked his left arm, and had in the place of it a swan's
wing on his shoulder. They embraced and kissed each other,
and the Queen went to the King, who was greatly moved, and
she began to speak and said, "Dearest husband, now
I may speak and declare to thee that I am innocent, and
falsely accused." And she told him of the treachery
of the old woman who had taken away her three children and
hidden them. Then to the great joy of the King they were
brought thither, and as a punishment, the wicked step-mother
was bound to the stake, and burnt to ashes. But the King
and the Queen with their six brothers lived many years in
happiness and peace.
From Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household Tales, trans. Margaret
Hunt (London: George Bell, 1884), 1:192-197. |
