Chapter 8 The Wild Swans.
Far away, in a land where swallows fly in winter, lived a king who had eleven sons and one daughter named Eliza.
The eleven brothers were princes.
Each prince went to school with a star on his chest and a sword at his side.
They wrote with diamond pencils on golden slates.
They learned their lessons quickly and read quite easily, as princes are likely to do.
While the princes were at school, Princess Eliza sat on a little glass stool and studied a book of pictures.
The book was so precious it cost as much as half a kingdom.
These were happy days for the royal family, but one day the king married a wicked queen.
She did not love the king's children at all.
During the wedding party, the Wicked Queen made sure that everyone else in the land had plenty of cakes and apples.
But when she turned it to the king's children, she gave them tiny bowls filled with sand and told them to pretend it was cake.
One week after the wedding, the Wicked Queen sent Princess Eliza to live with a peasant and his wife.
She told the king many lies about the young princes.
The king believed her and no longer cared for his sons.
The princes tried to convince their father that the wicked queen had enchanted him, but the king would not listen to them.
Then the wicked queen put a curse on the eleven handsome princes.
Go out into the world and leave us alone, she told them.
Fly like great birds that have no voice and forever roam the skies.
You will be princes no longer.
Although the wicked queen's plan was to turn them into ugly birds of prey, her magic didn't work.
Instead, the princes turned into eleven beautiful wild swans.
All at once they flew through the windows of the palace, over the kingdom, to the forest beyond.
They hovered over the peasant cottage where their sister Princess Eliza had been sent.
She did not see them.
They had no voices, so they could not speak to her and tell her of the wicked queen's curse.
So they flew far away and took shelter in a cave in a thick, dark wood.
They were far away from their kingdom and from the wicked queen.
Princess Eliza spent four long years in the peasant cottage.
She had no toys and no friends.
She had no one to read her stories and tuck her in at night, as her brothers had always done.
She had no one to give her kisses and hugs the way her brothers had.
One day passed like another until she turned fifteen.
The king became curious and asked to see his daughter, which greatly upset the wicked queen.
But the king insisted, and Eliza was brought to the palace at once.
The wicked queen was distressed at the sight of Eliza's beauty and goodness.
She was sick at heart to think that the king would want Eliza to come back to the palace.
So the wicked queen came up with an evil plan.
She would use her magic to disguise Eliza so the king would not recognize her.
The wicked queen conjured up three toads to do her evil chore.
She kissed the toads and put a spell on each one.
"'Now, my lovely, here's what you must do,' the wicked queen told the first toad.
"'Sit on Princess Eliza's head so that she may become as stupid as you are.'
The wicked queen said to the second toad Sit on Eliza's fair cheek so that she may become as ugly as you.
Then her father will not recognize her and will turn her away.
To the third toad the wicked queen whispered, Rest on her heart so she will become evil.
Then her father will not love her.
When Eliza returned for her first night back at the palace, the wicked queen placed all three toads in her bath.
She told the princess to clean up and get ready for bed.
Your father will want to see you fresh and bright tomorrow morning, the wicked queen said.
As Eliza lowered herself into the bath, she did not notice the ugly toads.
Minutes later, when she rose from her bath, she noticed three red poppies floating in the tub.
The toads had been turned into flowers.
Princess Eliza was too good and innocent for the Wicked Queen's witchcraft to have any effect on her at all.
She went to sleep as beautiful and as kind as ever.
The wicked queen was furious.
She had to do something quickly.
While Eliza slept, the wicked queen rubbed walnut juice all over her until she was quite brown.
Then she tangled Eliza's beautiful hair and smeared it with disgusting ointment.
Your father will never recognize you now, princess, the wicked queen chuckled to herself.
The next day the king called for his daughter.
Eliza politely stood before her father and bowed.
Who is this little brown troll? roared the king.
What have you done with my beautiful daughter, Eliza?
Father, it's me.
Don't you remember?
Eliza cried.
"'Have this fate thrown out of my palace,' the king demanded.
"'Send out a search party for my daughter.
If anyone harms a hair on her head, I will punish them.'
Eliza was tossed out of the palace grounds.
She wept as she stumbled down the path that led away from the palace.
She missed her eleven brothers.
She knew that if she could find them they would recognize her at once and set things right with the king.
Not knowing which direction to walk, Eliza set forth over fields and meadows.
She came to a great forest.
It was quickly becoming night, and she didn't want to wander in the dark forest.
She lay down on the soft, mossy ground and offered up an evening prayer to the moon above.
The soft night air cooled her forehead.
The light of hundreds of glowworms shone in the grass and moss.
The brilliant insects glowed around her like shooting stars.
All night long, Liza dreamed of her brothers.
She imagined they were all children again, playing together.
She saw them writing with their diamond pencils on golden slates.
She remembered looking at her beautiful picture book, which had cost half a kingdom.
Only in her dream.
The pages of the picture book contained stories of the noble deeds she and her brothers would perform once they were reunited.
When Eliza woke up, the sun was high.
Slivers of sunlight glimmered through the thick branches overhead.
She peered through the golden mist.
There was a sweet smell of fresh grass, and birds were flying among the branches.
She heard the cool rippling of water in a lake nearby.
Eliza followed the trail of Adir's hoofprints to the water below.
The lake water was so clear that it looked like a painting on the ground.
Every leaf from the surrounding trees was reflected in the water.
Eliza looked down and saw her reflection.
Her soiled face and rumpled hair made her jump in surprise.
When she realized it was her very own face that had startled her, she immediately jumped into the lake to bathe.
She emerged fresh and clean, once again the beautiful Princess Eliza.
Determined to find her brothers, Eliza set out again through the forest looking for clues about where they might be.
She found none.
She was afraid she might never again find her brothers or a safe place to be.
Sorrowfully, she lay herself down to sleep.
She was very tired from searching all day.
The next morning an old woman was out berry-picking and found Eliza sleeping at the foot of a tree.
"'Wake up, child,' the old woman said, shaking Eliza gently.
"'What are you doing, sleeping alone in the forest?'
Eliza explained that she was looking for her eleven princely brothers.
"'Have you seen them?'
Eliza asked, her voice full of hope.
'I haven't seen eleven men, but just yesterday I saw eleven swans with gold crowns on their heads swimming down the nearby river'.
The old woman replied.
"'How curious!
I would like to meet those swans,' Eliza said.'
Please tell me where I may find the river.
Eliza followed the path the old woman pointed to and walked along the river until she came to the open sea.
There was no further path to follow.
There was no boat she could take, no raft on which she could paddle.
Eliza was just about to give up when she noticed something caught in the seaweed on the shore.
It was eleven white swan feathers.
Eliza gathered up the feathers and placed them together.
The feathers glistened in the sunlight with dewdrops or tears.
Eliza couldn't tell, clinging to their tips.
It's a sign of some sort, Eliza decided.
So she sat down by the shore and waited for what might come next.
At sunset, Eliza saw the eleven white swans with golden crowns on their heads flying toward the shore.
Each flew behind the other like one long white ribbon.
Frightened at first, Eliza hid behind some bushes.
The swans landed close beside her, but did not know she was hiding there.
As soon as the sun disappeared over the water, the swans' feathers fell off.
Eleven beautiful princes were revealed.
Eliza uttered a sharp cry.
Even though they were much changed, she knew them at once.
They were her eleven brothers.
She sprang into their arms and called each of them by name.
How happy the princes were to see their long-lost little sister.
They recognized her, even though she had grown so tall and beautiful.
They laughed and wept.
Then the eldest prince explained how the wicked queen had enchanted them.
We fly around as wild swans during the day.
We are unable to speak as birds.
As soon as the sun sinks behind the hills, we become human again, and our voices return.
We must always be near a resting place before sunset, for if we were flying toward the clouds when we became human again, we would fall from the sky.
The eldest prince told her.
"'How can you bear it?'
Eliza asked, shaking her head in sympathy.
"'We have permission to visit our home once a year for eleven days.
We fly across the forest to gaze at the palace where our father lives and where we were born.
We visit the church where our true mother is buried, and now we have found you, dear sister'.
Her brother added'
We have two more days left in this part of the world.
Then we must head back to the faraway land in which we usually live.
You must come with us.
But how?
Eliza asked.
I cannot fly and you have no boat or ship or extra pair of wings for me, she said sadly.
The eleven princes and Eliza thought for a moment.
Then Eliza started to realize what she and her brothers must do.
We must break the spell our wicked stepmother has placed on you, she said.
Eliza spent all night awake, trying to figure out how to do that, but she could not think of a plan.
The next morning, as the sun rose in the sky, the eleven princes turned back into eleven wild swans.
They flapped their great wings and took off.
They flew in great wide circles until they were far away, all except the youngest swan, who remained behind and laid his head in his sister's lap.
They remained that way all day.
When the other princes returned that evening, they were all sad.
"'Will you come with us, Eliza?' the youngest swan asked.
"'We leave tomorrow for another year, but we can't bear to leave without you.
Are you brave enough to go with us?' the eldest asked.
"'Yes.'
Take me with you, Eliza agreed.
The brothers cheered up and began preparing for their flight.
They spent the whole night weaving a net of willow reeds that was very large and very strong.
Eliza lay on the net.
When the sun rose and her brothers became wild swans again, they took up the net in their beaks.
They flew to the clouds, holding up their dear sister, who was still asleep.
Eliza awoke to find herself high in the clouds as if she were in a dream.
The youngest swan shaded her from the sun with his wings.
Beside her were fruits that the other brothers had picked during the night, so she would have something to eat.
The day passed, and the swans flew as fast as they could to reach their land before nightfall.
But as the sun began to set, there was no land in sight, only the black, inky sea.
Eliza knew it was her fault.
The swans were flying slower than they usually did.
She grew frightened as the sun lowered in the sky.
Still, there was no land upon which the swans could set their feet.
Just as the sun was about to sink beneath the water, a rock no larger than a seal's head appeared in the middle of the ocean.
At that moment the swans darted down so swiftly that Eliza's head trembled.
They landed on the rock just at the moment when the sun disappeared from the sky.
Her brothers formed a circle around her and linked their arms together.
There was just enough room for all of them and not any space to spare.
The sea dashed against the rock and sprayed them.
They waited there the whole night holding hands and singing the songs their true mother sang to them when they were children.
In the early dawn, the air became still and calm.
At sunrise, the princess became swans again and flew away, lifting Eliza up from the lonely rock.
The world passed below her as she and the swans flew.
At last, she saw the destination.
She admired its blue mountains, its cedar forests, and its cities and palaces.
By nightfall, they arrived at the cave where the eleven swans had been living.
Sleep well and good dreams, sister, the youngest swan told her.
I will dream of a way to break your spell, Eliza promised.
That night, Eliza dreamed that the old peasant woman who had been out picking berries came to her.
This is what you must do to break the spell on your brothers, the old woman said.
Collect as many stinging thorns from the forest as you can bear.
Weave them into thread and make eleven long-sleeved coats.
If you throw these coats over the eleven swans, the spell will be broken.
"'But you must not speak a single word from the time you began "'till the time you finished.
'If you do, the first word you speak 'will pierce through the hearts of your brothers like a deadly dagger.
"'Their lives hang on your tongue.
"'Remember what I've told you,' the peasant woman said.
Eliza woke that morning with a start.
Determined to make the eleven coats, she began to collect the thorns.
Their sticky needles pricked her fingers, her hands and her arms, but she wouldn't say a single word.
When her brothers returned in the evening they were worried that the wicked queen had put a spell on Eliza to make her mute.
But she showed them the thorns in the first of the eleven coats.
They realized that she was trying to break the spell, and they were grateful.
When Eliza was almost done with the second coat, she heard the blare of a hunter's horn and the barking of hound dogs.
Eliza gathered up her bundles of thorns and put them in a safe place.
Suddenly the hunting dogs burst in and surrounded her.
In a few minutes the hunters found her.
The most handsome of the hunters was the king of the country they were in.
He came toward her with a smile.
She was the most beautiful young woman he had ever seen.
How did you get here, my dear? the king asked.
Eliza would not answer.
She did not want to risk her brother's lives.
Come with me, the good kind king said.
If you are as good as you are beautiful, I will dress you in silk and velvet and place a golden crown upon your head, and you shall live with me happily and rule beside me for all of my days.
The king lifted up Eliza and took her with him.
Eliza wept and wrung her hands, but the king did not understand her distress.
"'I only wish for your happiness,' he explained.
"'Someday you will thank me.'
At the king's palace, Eliza allowed the women to dress her in royal robes, weave pearls into her hair and put soft gloves over her blistered fingers.
When Eliza was presented to the king, he declared that he would make her his bride.
Even though Eliza was weeping with sadness and the chancellor warned him that he thought she was a witch, the king ordered an engagement festival to take place.
After the festival, the king brought Eliza to her own separate room and there were her bundles of thorns and thread.
When Eliza saw these things, she began to smile.
The blood rushed to her cheeks.
She would be able to break the spell and save her brothers after all.
She was so happy she kissed the king's hand and he pressed her head to his heart.
Yet she would not utter a single word.
Meanwhile, the chancellor was still trying to convince the king that Eliza was a witch, but the wise king would not listen.
Each night, Eliza secretly left the palace to roam the surrounding grounds and churchyard to collect the rough thorn she needed to make the coats for her brothers.
The Chancellor saw Eliza roaming in the churchyard.
It looked suspicious to him.
I knew she was a witch, he said to himself.
I must convince the king not to marry her.
At first the king would not believe the chancellor.
He decided to stay awake that night and watch to see what his beloved was up to.
Sure enough, that night Eliza crept out of the palace and onto the grounds in the churchyard to collect all the thorns she could find.
Tears filled the king's eyes.
As night after night passed, the king grew angry with Eliza's actions.
Eliza was alarmed by his anger.
She did not understand why the king had such a change of heart about her, but she still wanted to save her brothers above all else, so she wove as fast as she possibly could to complete the eleven codes.
Before she was done, the chancellor convinced the king that Eliza was a witch guilty of robbing the grounds in the churchyard.
Eliza was unable to speak a word in her own defense.
Soon the people of the land were calling for Eliza's imprisonment.
The king had no choice but to place her in jail.
When she arrived, to her great joy and surprise, her piles of thorns and thread were there.
Eliza didn't care that she was to be tried as a witch, as long as she got the chance to complete her brother's coats in time.
At Eliza's trial, they found her guilty.
Her execution date was chosen, and it came quickly.
The day before, the king visited to plead with her.
"'Please tell me you are innocent,' he said, but Eliza would not say one word.
Later that day the youngest of the Swan brothers found Eliza in her chamber.
"'At last I have found you,' he said, flapping his white wings.
"'We have been looking for you for so long.
I must go tell the others.'
Soon all the swan brothers came to visit Eliza in her cell.
At that moment, Eliza's joy could not have been greater.
Just as the sun began to set, she threw the coats onto her brother's wings.
Instantly the spell was broken.
However, Eliza had not had time to complete her youngest brother's coat.
His left arm remained a wing.
All the other princes stood before her, all inhuman once again.
We will find a way to save you, Eliza, they promised.
Then the eleven princes, who were swans no longer, kissed her goodbye, promising to return soon.
The next day, when Eliza was brought before the crowd, the king asked her again to tell him that she was innocent.
He did not want to believe his advisor's accusations.
She does not want to speak in her own defense, the royal advisor said.
Of course, she is guilty.
But this time, to everyone's surprise, Eliza stepped forward and spoke in a voice for all to hear.
Your Highness, at very long last I am able to speak.
I tell you the truth.
I am innocent.
Just then her eleven brothers stepped forward.
"'It is true, your highness,' they said together.
They began to explain.
When the crowd heard the story, they bowed to Eliza as though she were a saint.
But at that moment Eliza fainted, exhausted from it all.
While the brothers explained all Eliza had done, the fragrance of a million roses filled the air.
Instantly, a hedge began to blossom with roses more beautiful and perfect than any that had ever grown before.
The king plucked the largest and most beautiful of these flowers and placed it on Eliza's heart.
She awoke with a feeling of peace and happiness.
That very day, Eliza and the king were wed.
Church bells rang merrily all across the land.
The wicked queen and Eliza's father were never heard from or seen again, and Eliza, the king and her eleven brothers lived happily ever after.
