Six swans

In the past, there was a king hunting in the forest. He chased after a wild beast with all his might, but his followers were unable to keep up with him. As it was getting late, the king stopped and looked around, only to realize that he had lost his way. He wanted to come out of the forest, but couldn't find his way no matter how hard he tried. At this moment, the king saw an old woman walking towards him, shaking her head incessantly. It was a witch. Hello, "the king said to her," can you tell me the way out of the forest? "" Oh, yes, Your Majesty, "the witch replied," of course I can tell you, but on one condition. If you don't agree, you'll never be able to leave the forest, and you'll starve to death in the forest

What conditions? "The king asked.

I have a daughter who is very beautiful, "the old witch replied." Her beauty is unparalleled, and she is more than enough to be your wife. If you are willing to marry her as queen, I will inform you of the way out of the forest. "The king was so worried that he had to agree to the witch's condition. The old witch led the king into her little room, where she saw her daughter sitting by the fire. The daughter received the king with a look as if she had anticipated his arrival. The king thought she was indeed very bright and extraordinary in appearance, but he didn't like her and couldn't help but feel scared when he saw her. The old witch only informed the king of the way after the king had put the girl on the horse. After the king returned to the palace, he held a wedding ceremony with the girl.

The king once had a marriage, and his first wife gave birth to seven children for him: six boys and one girl. The king loved them very much. After the wedding, the king was worried about his stepmother's abuse of the children and even more concerned about their harm, so he sent them to live in a lonely ancient castle in the forest. The castle is located deep in the jungle, and the road is extremely difficult to find. If it weren't for a witch giving the king a wonderful ball of thread, he wouldn't have been able to find it himself. As long as the king throws the ball of thread forward on the ground, the ball of thread will open itself and guide the king. The king often visited his beloved children, but the queen found that the king was often not by his side and was very curious, always wanting to know what the king was doing alone in the forest. She bribed the king's followers with a large amount of money, and these people leaked the secrets to her. They also informed her of the thread that could guide her. From then on, the queen became restless and uneasy, until she found out where the king collected the thread balls. Subsequently, the queen sewed several small shirts with white silk. She had learned witchcraft from her mother and sewed a talisman into each shirt. One day, the king went hunting on horseback, and the queen took these little shirts into the forest, using a ball of thread to guide her ahead. The children saw someone coming from a distance and thought it was their dear father visiting them. They were all overjoyed and ran to greet them. At this moment, the stepmother threw each of them a small shirt from the past. As soon as the little shirt touched their bodies, in the blink of an eye, they transformed into swans one after another, flying into the sky and disappearing into the distance. The queen returned to the palace, overjoyed, thinking that she had sent away these stepchildren. Unexpectedly, the girl did not run out with her brothers to greet her, and the queen knew nothing about it. The next day, the king went to visit these children and found that only his daughter was in the castle. Where are your brothers? "The king asked. Alas, don't mention it, dear father, "the daughter replied." They've all left, leaving me alone! "Then she informed her father that she saw from the small window in her room that her brothers had all turned into swans and flown away in the sky over the forest. Speaking of which, she also took out the feathers to show her father. These feathers were dropped in the yard by them and were picked up by her. The king was heartbroken, but he never thought that this heinous act was done by the queen. He was worried that his daughter would also be taken away from him, so he wanted to take her back. However, the daughter was afraid of her stepmother and begged the king to allow her to stay in the castle in the forest for another night.

The poor girl thought to herself, 'I can't stay here for another day. I'm going to find my brothers.' As night fell, she ran out of the castle and walked straight into the dense forest. She walked all night, and the next day she walked non-stop for a whole day until she was exhausted and couldn't take another step, then she stopped walking. At that moment, she saw a small hut where a hunter (knife) lived and walked out. She found six small beds in the room, but she dared not lie on them. So she crawled under one bed and lay on the hard ground, ready to spend the night there. As the sun was setting, she suddenly heard a rustling sound and saw six swans flying out of the window. The swans flew to the ground, blowing each other's breath and shedding all their feathers. Then, their swan skins also fell off like shirts. At this moment, the girl looked at them again and found that it was actually her brothers. She was overjoyed and quickly crawled out of bed. Her brothers were also extremely happy when they saw their little sister. However, the time they were happy was very short. You can't stay here for anything, "they said to the little sister." This is a place where robbers roam. If they come back and find you, you'll be dead. "" Can't you protect me? "The little sister asked. No, "they replied," we only have a quarter of an hour every night to take off the swan skin and restore our human form, and then we will immediately become swans again. "The little sister burst into tears and said," Can't you be saved? "" Alas, still not, "they replied," those conditions are too harsh! It will take a whole six years. You are not allowed to speak or laugh, and during these six years, you must sew six small shirts for us with Portulaceae. As soon as a word comes out of your mouth, all your efforts will be in vain. "As soon as the brothers finished speaking, a quarter of an hour's time passed. When they arrived, they turned into swans again and flew away from the window.

As for the girl, she has made up her mind to spare no effort, even if it means sacrificing her own life, to save her brothers. When night fell, she left the cottage and walked deep into the forest, climbing up a tree and spending the night. The next morning, she collected water chestnuts everywhere and started sewing shirts. She couldn't talk to anyone and had no intention of laughing, so she just sat there, bowing her head and busy with her work. She spent a long time in the forest like this, until one day, the local king came to hunt in the forest, and the hunters came to the tree where the girl was sitting. They noticed her and greeted her loudly, asking her, 'Who are you?' But she remained silent. Come down quickly, "they said to her," we won't harm you. "She just shook her head when she heard this. They kept asking this and that, so she threw her gold necklace to them, thinking that they should be satisfied now. Unexpectedly, these guys still refused to give up, so she threw the belt to them again, but it was still to no avail. Then, she threw the garters and all the optional things on her body to them one by one, and finally only wore underwear. But that's the case, these hunters still refused to leave and climbed up the tree to pick up the girl and bring her to the king. The king asked her, 'Who are you? What are you doing on the tree?' But she didn't answer. The king then asked her in every language he could speak, but she remained silent. The girl's exceptionally bright appearance touched the king's heart, and he fell deeply in love with her. The king draped his cloak over her, lifted her onto the horse, and let her sit in front of him, taking her back to the palace. Immediately, the king ordered her to be dressed in colorful clothes, so that she would shine brightly and be as beautiful as a fairy, but she remained silent. During the meal, the king asked her to sit next to him. The girl had a dignified and courteous demeanor, which the king particularly liked. He murmured softly to himself, "She is the queen in my heart, and I will not marry her unless she is." A few days later, the king and the girl became friends for a hundred years.

Unexpectedly, the king's mother was cunning and malicious, and was very dissatisfied with this marriage, often saying good things about the young queen. Who knows, "she said," where did this dumb girl come from? She's not even worthy of being queen! "In the blink of an eye, a year had passed and the queen's first child was born. The old woman took the child away while the queen was asleep and smeared some blood on her mouth. Then, she went to the king and falsely accused the queen of being a cannibalistic monster. The king refused to believe it and did not allow anyone to harm the queen. But the queen turned a blind eye to everything, just sitting and sewing shirts non-stop for a moment. The second time, the queen gave birth to a beautiful boy, and the wicked mother-in-law repeated her old trick. The king still refused to believe it and said, "She is so devout and kind-hearted that she would not do such a thing. If she could speak and defend herself, her innocence would be revealed to the world." However, after the old lady stole the third newborn child and falsely accused the queen, the queen still did not say a word to defend herself. The king was helpless and had to hand over the queen to the court for trial. The court sentenced her to be executed by fire.

On the day of the execution, it happened to be the last day of the six years when she couldn't speak or laugh, and she had already been able to rescue her dear brothers from magic. Six shirts have been sewn, but the last one is still missing one sleeve on the left side. When being escorted to the stake, she draped those shirts over her arms. She was pushed onto the stake, and the firewood was about to be extinguished. At the final moment, the queen looked around and saw six swans flying towards her in the sky. She felt clear in her heart that she was about to be saved, and her heart was so excited that it jumped with joy. The swan flew too far into the sky and landed near her, so she threw her shirt at them. As soon as the swan touched the shirt, its swan skin immediately peeled off. Her brothers had reverted back to their human form, each lively and handsome, standing in front of her. However, her little brother was missing one left arm and still had a swan wing on his shoulder. The siblings embraced and kissed each other. Subsequently, the queen walked up to the deeply moved king and spoke up: 'Dear husband, now I can speak up and show you that I am innocent and have been falsely accused.' Then, she reported to the king about her wife's heinous actions… She stole her three children and hid them. After a while, the children were brought before the king, who was filled with excitement and excitement.

The cunning and malicious wife received the punishment she deserved, being tied to the stake and burned to ashes. From then on, the king and queen lived happily and peacefully with her six brothers for many years.