Illustration from The Six Swans, a Grimm fairy tale about a sister who must remain silent to save her enchanted brothers.
This is a traditional tale collected by the Brothers Grimm.
The story is presented here in its original form.
A king was once hunting in a great wood, and he pursued his game so eagerly that none of his courtiers could follow him. When evening came on, he stood still, looked round him, and saw 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 shaking head coming towards him. She was a witch.
“Good woman,” said he to her, “can you not show me the way out of the forest?”
“Oh yes, my lord king,” she answered, “I can do that very well, but on one condition, which if you do not fulfil, you will never again get out of the forest, but die of hunger.”
“What is the condition?” asked the king.
“I have a daughter,” said the old woman, “who is as beautiful as any one you can find in the world, and well deserves to be your wife. If you will make her your queen, I will show you the way out of the forest.”
The king, in his distress, consented, and the old woman led him to her little house, where her daughter was sitting by the fire. She received the king as if she had expected him, and he saw that she was indeed very beautiful, but she did not please him, and he could not look at her without a secret feeling of horror. However, he lifted the maiden on to his horse, and the old woman showed him the way, and he arrived safely at his kingdom, where the wedding was celebrated.
The king had already been married once, and had by his first wife seven children, six boys and one girl, whom he loved above everything in the world. As he was afraid that his stepmother might not treat them well, he took them away to a lonely castle which stood in the midst of a forest. It was so hidden, and so difficult to find, that he himself could not have found it again if a wise woman had not given him a ball of thread, which he threw before him, and which unwound itself and showed him the way. But the king went so often to his dear children that the queen observed his absence, and became curious, and wished to know what he had to do 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 also of the ball of thread which alone could show the way. She had no peace till she found out where the ball was hidden; then she made some little white shirts, and as she understood the art of witchcraft, she sewed a charm into every one of them.
One day, when the king had ridden out hunting, she took the shirts and went to the castle, and the ball of thread showed her the way. The children saw some one coming in the distance, and thought it was their dear father, and ran to meet him full of joy. Then she threw over each of them one of the shirts, and as soon as it touched their bodies, they were changed into swans, and flew away over the forest.
The queen went home quite satisfied, thinking that she was now rid of her stepchildren; but the girl had not met her, and so she alone remained behind. The next day the king came and visited his child, and when he did not find his six sons, he asked the girl where they were. “Ah, dear father,” she answered, “they are gone out into the forest, and have not come back again,” and she told him what had happened. The king was greatly grieved, but did not suspect that the queen had done this wicked deed.
As he feared that his daughter might also be taken from him, he resolved to keep her with him. But she thought, “I cannot stay here alone; I will go and seek my brothers.” She went secretly away, and wandered the whole night and the next day, until she came to the forest. She was very tired, and sat down on a tree stump, and when the sun was about to set, she heard a rustling in the branches above her, and saw six swans flying towards her. They settled on the ground and blew at each other, and their feathers fell off, and the swans’ skins were drawn off like shirts, and six young men stood before her.
She knew them at once as her brothers, and rejoiced, and they were glad to see their sister again. But they said, “You must not stay here, this is a robbers’ forest.” She answered, “I will not go away, I will stay with you.” Then they said, “We cannot remain long; we fly away as swans every day, and only for a short time in the evening can we be in our human form.”
Then they told her how she could deliver them. “If you wish to save us,” they said, “you must not speak nor laugh for six years, and must sew for us six shirts made of star-flowers. If a single word comes from your lips before the six years are over, all your work will be in vain.”
The girl promised to do everything that was required. She climbed up into a tall tree, sat down, and began to sew, and neither spoke nor laughed.
After she had sat there for some time, it happened that a king was hunting in the forest, and his hounds ran to the tree in which she was sitting. They barked, sprang up, and would not be quiet. The king came nearer, and saw the beautiful maiden, and was so delighted with her that he asked her if she would go with him and be his wife. She made no answer, but only nodded her head.
He lifted her down, took her with him, and the wedding was celebrated. The queen was beautiful and gentle, but she never spoke or laughed.
Now the king had an old mother, who was a wicked woman, and she was displeased with the young queen, and spoke ill of her. “This is no real bride,” said she; “she is a dumb girl, and not worthy of a king.”
When after a year the queen brought her first child into the world, the old woman took it away from her while she was asleep, and smeared her mouth with blood. Then she went to the king, and accused her of being a man-eater. The king would not believe it, and would not allow her to be punished.
The next year she bore another child, and the same wicked woman took it away and accused her again; but the king would not believe it. The third year the same thing happened, and the old woman said to the king, “She is a monster, and devours her own children; she must be judged.” And the king could no longer resist, and ordered her to be brought to trial.
But she said nothing in her defence, and was condemned to be burnt at the stake. When the day came on which the sentence was to be executed, it was the last day of the six years during which she must neither speak nor laugh, and she had just finished the six shirts.
She was already standing on the pile of wood, and the fire was about to be kindled, when she looked round, and saw six swans flying through the air. She knew that her brothers were near, and her heart leapt for joy. The swans flew towards her, and as soon as they came near her, she threw the shirts over them, and as they touched them, their swan skins fell off, and her brothers stood before her alive and well; only the youngest had still a swan’s wing instead of one arm, because the sleeve of his shirt was not quite finished.
Then she spoke for the first time, and said to the king, “I am innocent, and have been falsely accused.” And she told him of the deceit and wickedness of the old woman. The king was full of joy, and ordered the wicked stepmother to be put on the fire, where she was burnt to ashes.
Then the king and queen lived in peace and happiness, and the six brothers remained with them for many years.