The Wild Swans

Once upon a time, there was a King with eleven sons and a daughter named Eliza. When the Queen died, the King married again. His new Queen was a wicked woman who hated his children.

The King was so enchanted by her that he paid no attention to his children any more. One day, the new Queen sent Eliza off to live with a poor peasant and his wife. No magic could touch the gentle Eliza. Then the Queen worked some evil magic on the princes and ordered them to fly away. In a moment, they were transformed into gorgeous-looking swans and they flew away from their palace, over forests and meadows to the sea.
Eliza missed her brothers sorely. She longed to be with them again. But she was very small. So, she waited till she was fifteen and then decided to search for them.

For days and weeks she wandered through the land seeking them. One day, she found herself near the sea as the sun was setting. There was no way to go forward and she wondered what she should do now.
There was rustle and a rush of wind. Looking up she saw swans flying across the sea. She quickly ran and hid behind some rocks, watching them. There were eleven magnificent swans with golden crowns on their heads. As they touched down on the shore, they were transformed.
Eliza watched in delight as she saw her eleven handsome brothers standing on the shore! She ran to them and it was their turn to be surprised and delighted at seeing their little sister. They hugged one another and laughed and cried at meeting after so many years.

Then the princes told Eliza how the wicked Queen had cursed them. “She transformed us into swans, and we remain in that form during the day,” they explained. “When the sun sets, we become human beings once again. So, we must always reach land at sunset. And once a year, we come from the land across the ocean to see our father.”
This was the day they had crossed the sea and luckily they had found their little sister! They were to return the next day to their new country. “Will you come with us, Eliza?” they asked. And she was so happy to be with them that she agreed.
That night they all wove a strong net using the willow bark and rushes that they found by the seaside. “You must climb into this net, Eliza, so that we may carry you with us,” they said.

In the morning, the eleven swans waited for Eliza to climb into the net. Then they lifted it up with her in it and went soaring across the sea. They took her to the beautiful land where they lived now. At sunset, they led her to their home in a large cave. It was carpeted with thick green moss and was warm and comfortable.
Eliza had a vivid dream that night in which she saw a fairy who told her how to break the enchantment that held her brothers. “Eleven shirts must be made for your brothers from stinging nettles, using your bare hands,” said the fairy, “This will hurt and sting, but you must do it and not speak at all till they are all made.”

When she awoke, Eliza searched and found a place where stinging nettles grew. She collected large armfuls of them and carried them to the cave where she began to work silently, making the shirts.
When her brothers saw her, they were shocked to see her torn and bleeding hands. But she could not explain anything to them and they could do nothing but accept that she was doing something important. They felt it had something to do with setting them free.
She kept making the shirts and in one week she finished the first shirt. She had just begun the second one, when she heard the sounds outside and the voices of several men. Hunting dogs charged into the cave and, looking up, Eliza saw a very handsome man gazing at her.
He was a King and he fell in love with the beautiful girl as soon as he saw her. “Who are you?” he asked her gently, but Eliza could not reply as she was busy with the nettle shirts. The King took her with him to his palace. And still, Eliza could not say anything to him.

In the palace, the King took great care of Eliza and gifted her gorgeous clothes and jewels. The King, however, found her looking very sad. He thought she must be missing her cave home. So, he took her to a room that had been decorated exactly like the cave, with green moss and a pile of stinging nettles too!
Eliza was so happy that the King understood her problem that she smiled at him warmly and kissed his hand to thank him. The King was always kind and affectionate and Eliza grew to love him too. He had decided to marry the beautiful, silent girl.

Preparations began for the marriage. There was, however, an archbishop who disliked Eliza. He did not wish her to be the queen. He was sure there was some evil secret she had and that she had bewitched the King. So, he kept whispering evil things about her to the King trying to turn him against her. But the King did not pay any heed to him.
One day, Eliza found that she had run out of nettles and there was still some shirts remaining to be made. She had heard that there were nettles growing in the churchyard. So, that night she crept out of the palace to go there and fetch some more nettles.

When she reached the churchyard, she was frightened seeing three witches there who were performing some dark magic. However, she collected the nettles and avoiding them, she ran back to her room in the palace.
She did not know that the archbishop had followed her to the churchyard and back. He was now certain that she was a witch and waited for the right opportunity to prove it to the King.
He got an opportunity soon enough. The last shirt needed some more nettles to complete it and Eliza had to go just once more to the churchyard. The archbishop told the King and they both followed Eliza, and watched her collect the nettles. They saw her going past the witches who were performing their rituals at the graves.

The King was shaken and miserable. The law said that a witch had to be burnt and the King had to ensure that the law of his kingdom was carried out. Heartbroken, he sent his soldiers to arrest his beloved Eliza. The archbishop was very happy.
The next day, a large bonfire was set up in the marketplace. People gathered to witness the terrible punishment to be given to the beautiful lady who would have been their queen. Eliza was taken in a cart to be burnt as a witch. She silently continued to work with the nettles, trying to complete the last shirt.
Suddenly, there was the rustling of wings as eleven gorgeous swans fluttered down to Eliza. They brushed past the archbishop as he rushed eagerly to light the fire. He stumbled backwards. Eliza quickly threw a shirt on each of the swans.

Before the astonished eyes of the people, the swans began to change into handsome young princes as the shirts were flung on them. The youngest brother’s shirt had a sleeve missing as Eliza had not been able to complete it. So, he had one wing in place of an arm.
“Oh, thank heavens! I can speak at last!” sighed Eliza, “My lord, these are my brothers. I am not a witch. I’m innocent!” She told the King the whole story and he rejoiced at being able to set her free too!

The archbishop was cowering in the crowd. But the King had him locked into a dungeon. Then there were great celebrations in the palace as the King and Eliza were married. The King asked the brothers to stay in the palace with them. And so the wild swans finally found a wonderful home after years in the wilderness.

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