The Princess and the 11 Wild Swans

Short tale: The Princess and the 11 Wild Swans

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Once upon a time in a faraway land there lived a king with eleven sons and one daughter.

When his wife passed away after a while, the king remarried. Not knowing that the new queen was actually an evil witch. She did not like the children of the king’s ex-wife.

She always complained about them to the king and looked for ways to drive them out of the castle.

The queen said: the children are rascals. The maids come complaining every day with something new.

The new queen complained so much that gradually the king began to believe her rumors.

First he sent his daughter to a farm not far away. And she is going to stay with a farming family until she was 15 years old. The wicked queen also wanted to send away the children, but as they were very small, the king did not approve, but she forbade them to leave her room.

One night, the queen came to their room and with a single spell turned them into 11 wild swans.

Then she opened the window and left the room.

The boys, who were now wild swans, flew out of the window.

Years passed and the girl turned 15, that same day she returned to the castle, while waiting to see her father. Her stepmother, the queen, saw her. Seeing how beautiful she had become, the queen was now jealous and furious that the princess had returned to the castle. She was just waiting for her father to return to the castle, but she was so tired that the princess fell asleep in her room.

The queen entered her room and cast a spell on her.

Suddenly, the princess’s hair became very messy. Her face changed and was now somewhat darker. The king returned to the castle and was overjoyed to discover that his daughter had returned.

Immediately, he went to his room, but the girl sleeping in the room looked nothing like his daughter.

The king said: this is not my daughter, I order you to take them out of the castle immediately.

After giving the order. The king left the room.

The king’s guards woke the princess and took her out of the castle. No matter what she said or did. She could not convince them to let her see the king, with no other choice, the poor princess went on her way crying.

The princess said: at least I should my brothers, if we were all together, no one could hurt him.

While walking through the forest, the young girl met an old woman.

She greeted her and asked her have you seen 11 young princes around here?

My dear child I have not seen 11 princes, but I have seen 11 wild swans every night going straight to the shore.

The young princess sadly left the old woman behind. And headed for the shore. At sunset, the 11 wild swans the old woman was talking about came to her side.

Shortly after sunset, the 11 wild swans turned into 11 handsome princes. Leaving the princess in awe.

The young girl recognized her brothers at that instant and began to run towards them, as she ran she returned to being the beautiful princess she used to be.

And of course, her brothers recognized her instantly, with joy and happiness they embraced. The evil queen’s spell had disappeared thanks to the power of her family’s love.

The 11 princes told the young princess their story. They could only be human at night and after sunrise, every day they became wild swans again.

As it was almost dawn, they decided to take her with them, made a basket of reeds, sat her down and just when they were ready the sun came up and once again they became wild swans.

The wild swans held the strings of the basket and began to fly. The young princess felt extremely happy flying with her brothers. It felt like a dream.

After a while she fell asleep, on her floor she saw the Cloudland Fairy.

If you want your siblings to return to normal permanently, you have to weave nettle jackets for them, but you must not tell anyone until you finish them otherwise they will remain wild swans forever.

After giving her instructions, the fairy disappeared.

The young princess said nothing about her dream to her brothers.

Her brothers left her in a nearby land and flew away with a promise to return very soon.

The princess began to gather nettles for jackets, but every time she touched the nettles her hands ached and swelled.

But she did not mind the pain and continued gathering nettles. Suddenly she was discovered by a prince who was hunting.

The prince was mesmerized by the beauty of the princess and quickly went to the princess to greet her.

The prince said: hello, my beautiful lady, this is the first time I see you here. Why are you gathering these nettles with your bare hands?

As he could not tell anyone about his plan, the princess could not answer him.

The princess said: oh, well.

The prince said: I am the prince of this kingdom and if you allow me I would like to invite you to my castle.

The princess accepted the invitation thinking that she would be much safer in the castle and would be able to save her siblings faster. As they spent their days in the castle, the princess secretly continued to make the nettle jackets for her brothers, but one day the prince’s cousin saw the princess sewing clothes with the nettles.

And then he thought she was a witch and spread rumors in the castle to have her arrested. At first the prince didn’t believe any of the rumors, but as time went on he became suspicious.

One night he followed the princess out of the castle into the forest and saw her gathering nettles.

The prince said: it seems that the rumors were true, if she is not a witch, why would she gather all these nettles. She is obviously gathering them to perform a spell.

Immediately, she ordered her guards to take her and put her in the dungeon.

Even in the dungeon, the young princess secretly continued to make the jackets.

And finally, one day she finished everything.

The next day they took the princess downtown for her trial, she would receive her punishment at the end of the trial, but just as the judge was about to announce his decision, suddenly 11 white swans flew down from the sky next to her.

Everyone was in awe looking at the wild swans.

The princess said: my brothers came, the jackets are under my skirt, put them on at once.

All her brothers put on the jackets that were under her skirt and one by one, they all went back to being human again. Unfortunately, one of the jackets did not have enough nettle for the arms and the youngest brother’s arms remained swan wings.

Upon returning to being human, the princes began to explain everything that had happened to them to the judge and the people. They claimed that their sister was innocent. The prince believed them that the princess was not a sorceress. He apologized to her and she, so happy for the freedom of her siblings, forgave the prince.

They all returned to the castle together.

The prince proposed marriage to the young girl.

The prince said: Will you marry me, beautiful princess?

The princess said: Yes, my prince. But first we must visit my father with my brothers.

And so, the eleven brothers went to their father’s castle. Their father was extremely happy and surprised to see them. The children began to tell their father everything that had happened.

The king said: quickly catch the queen, bring her to me.

Hearing about the young princes, he knew he would catch her, so he turned into a raven and flew away and never returned to the king’s castle.

The young princess said goodbye to her brothers and father and returned to the country the prince.

They married and lived happily ever after.

The wild swans’ story of love and hope has been told from generation to generation.

END

Source: Adisebaba

Reflection on the story: The story of “The Wild Swans” tells us the story of a princess and her brothers who are transformed into wild swans by the evil queen. The story has several important reflections that can be drawn from it.
First, the tale highlights the importance of love and family togetherness. The princess never loses hope of finding her brothers and, thanks to her unconditional love, she manages to free them from the evil queen’s spell.
Secondly, the story shows us the power of sacrifice and determination. The princess takes risks to help her brothers and is willing to weave the nettle jackets despite the terrible pricks they will cause her.
Third, the story teaches us about perseverance and overcoming obstacles. Despite the difficulties the princess faces, such as the king’s distrust and the queen’s curse, she keeps going and does not give up until she achieves her goal of freeing her brothers.

Frequently asked questions about the story “The Princess and The 11 Wild Swans”

¿Who are the main characters in this story?

The main characters are the king, his sons, his daughter and his evil second wife.

¿Why did the evil queen want to expel the king's children from the castle?

The evil queen didn’t like her ex-wife’s king’s children, so she was always complaining about them and looking for ways to drive them out of the castle.

¿How did the wicked queen turn the king's children into swans?

The evil queen came to the children’s room one night and turned them into wild swans with a single spell.

¿Why didn't the king recognize his daughter when he returned to the castle?

The evil queen cast a spell on the princess that made her look completely different and nothing like she used to be. Therefore, the king did not recognize her.

¿How did they break the spell of the wild swans?

The young princess met an old woman who told her that she could break the spell by weaving nettle jackets for her brothers. After weaving the jackets and putting them on her brothers, the spell was broken and they were permanently human again.

¿How did the princess travel with her wild swan brothers?

The wild swans made a basket of reeds and carried the princess in it, holding the threads of the basket and flying through the air.

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