The Brothers Grimm - Six Swans: A Tale. Fairy tale Six swans

Once the king was hunting in a large dense forest; he tirelessly chased the beast, and none of his people could keep up with him. And the evening has already come; Then the king held back his horse, looked back and saw that he had lost his way. He began to look for a way, but he could not find it.
And then he saw in the forest an old woman with a shaking head; she walked straight towards him, and she was a witch.
“Grandma,” he said to her, “can you show me the way out of the forest?”
- Oh, yes, Mr. King, - she answered, - I can do this, but with one condition, if you do not fulfill it, then you will never leave the forest and you will disappear here from hunger.
- And what is the condition? the king asks.
“I have a daughter,” says the old woman, “she is such a beauty that you cannot find anywhere else in the world, and she fully deserves to become your wife; if you agree to make her queen, then I will show you the way out of the forest.
The king, in fear, agreed, and the old woman led him to her hut, where her daughter was sitting by the hearth. She received the king as if she had been waiting for him; and he saw that she was very beautiful, but nevertheless, he did not like her, and he could not look at her without hidden fear. When the king put the girl on a horse, the old woman showed him the way, and the king returned again to his royal castle, where they celebrated their wedding.
And the king had already been married once, and by his first wife he had seven children - six boys and one girl, and he loved them more than anything in the world. But he was afraid that his stepmother would not treat them badly, no matter how bad she did them, and so he took them to a secret castle, which was located in the very middle of the forest. He was so hidden in the thicket of the forest and it was so difficult to find the way to him that he himself would not have found it if one witch had not presented him with a ball of magic threads; and there was that ball of such that it was worth throwing it in front of you, as it unwound itself and indicated the way, the road.
The king very often went to his beloved children in the forest; and finally, the queen drew attention to his frequent absences; she wanted to know what he was doing there alone in the forest. She gave a lot of money to her servants, and they gave her the secret, they also told about the ball of thread, which alone can show the way there. And she had no peace until she found out where the king kept that ball; then she sewed little white shirts of silk, and as she had been taught witchcraft by her mother, she sewed charms into them.
So one day the king went hunting, and she took those shirts and went to the forest, and the ball showed her the way, the way. The children, seeing from a distance that someone was coming, thought that it was their beloved father coming towards them, and, in joy, ran out to meet him. And so she threw a shirt over each of them; and as soon as those shirts touched their body, they turned into swans, rose above the forest and flew away.
The queen returned home very pleased, thinking that she had got rid of her stepsons; but the girl did not run out to meet her with her brothers, and the queen did not notice this. The next day the king came to visit his children, but found only one daughter.
- Where are your brothers? he asked her.
“Ah, dear father,” she answered, “they flew away and left me alone. - And she told him that she saw from the window how the brothers flew like swans over the forest, and showed him the feathers that they dropped in the yard, which she picked up. The king was saddened, but did not know that the queen had committed this evil deed; he began to fear that his daughter would also be kidnapped, and so he decided to take her with him. But she was afraid of her stepmother and begged the king to leave her for one more night in the forest castle.

The poor girl thought: “I won’t have to stay here long, I’ll go in search of my brothers.”
Then night came, and she ran out of the castle and went straight into the thicket of the forest. She wandered there the whole night and the whole day, until, finally, from fatigue she could no longer walk. And she saw a hunting lodge, went into it, sees - a room, and there are six small beds in it, but she did not dare to lie down in any of them, but climbed under one of the beds and lay down right on the hard floor and decided to spend the night there.
Soon the sun also set, and she heard a noise and saw that six swans had flown to the window. They sat down on the window and began to blow on each other, began to blow off their feathers, and now all the feathers fell from them, and the swan plumage took off from them like a shirt. The girl looked at them and recognized her brothers, was delighted and crawled out from under the bed. The brothers, seeing their sister, rejoiced no less than she did, but their joy was short-lived.
- You can't stay here, - they told her, - this is a robber's den. If the robbers come back and find you here, they will kill you.
- Can't you protect me? their sister asked.
- No, - they answered, - we can take off our swan plumage only in the evenings for a quarter of an hour, then we become people, and then turn back into swans.
The sister cried and said:
- Is it really impossible to disenchant you?
“Ah, no,” they answered, “it is too difficult to do. You will not have to speak or laugh for six years, and you must sew six starflower shirts for us during this time. And if you say even one word, then all your work is lost.
While the brothers were telling her about this, a quarter of an hour passed, and they again flew out the window like swans.
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But the girl was determined to free her brothers, even if it cost her her life. She left the hunting lodge and went into the thicket of the forest, climbed a tree and spent the night there. In the morning she climbed down from the tree, gathered starflowers, and began to sew. She had no one to talk to, and she had no desire to laugh. She sat and looked at her work. So a lot of time passed, and it happened that the king of that country was hunting at that time in the forest, and his huntsmen drove up to the tree on which the girl was sitting. They called out to her:
- Who are you?
But she didn't answer.
“Come down to us,” they said, “we won’t do anything to you.”
But she just shook her head.
When they began to interrogate her, she threw a golden necklace down to them, thinking that they would be pleased with this. But they kept asking her questions; then she threw off her belt to them; but when this did not help, she threw off her garters to them, and so little by little she gave them everything that was on her, and remained in one shirt. But the huntsmen did not leave her even then; they climbed a tree, took her down and brought her to the king. The king asked:
- Who are you? What are you doing up there in the tree? But she didn't answer.
He began to question her in all the languages ​​he knew, but she remained like a dumb fish. And she was beautiful, and now the king fell deeply in love with her. He wrapped her in his cloak and put her in front of him on a horse and brought her to his castle. And he ordered to dress her in rich dresses, and she shone with her beauty, like a clear day; but it was impossible to get a word out of her. He sat down at the table next to her, and the timidity on her face and her modesty pleased him so much that he said:
“I want to marry this one and no other in the world,” and a few days later he married her.
But the king had an evil mother - she was unhappy with his marriage and began to slander the young queen.
“Who knows where this girl came from,” she said, “and she cannot utter a word; she is unworthy to be the wife of a king.
A year later, when the queen gave birth to the first child, the old woman carried him away, and the queen smeared her mouth with blood during her sleep. She then went to the king and accused her of being an ogress. The king did not want to believe this and did not allow harm to the queen. And so she sat all the time and sewed shirts and paid no attention to anything else.
When she again gave birth to a beautiful boy, the lying mother-in-law again committed the same deception, but the king did not want to believe her evil speeches. He said:
“She is too modest and kind to do such a thing; if she had not been mute, she would have proved her innocence.
But when the old woman stole the newborn baby for the third time and accused the queen, who did not say a word in her defense, the king had only one thing to do - to give her to court; and she was sentenced to be burned at the stake.
The day of execution came, and it was just the last day of those six years during which she could neither speak nor laugh; and now she freed her dear brothers from the evil spell. She had already sewn six shirts during this time, and only the last shirt did not yet have a left sleeve.
When they led her to the fire, she took her shirts with her, and when they had already taken her to the platform and were about to make a fire, she looked around and saw six swans flying towards her. And she realized that her release was near, and her heart beat with joy.
Swans flew up to her with a noise and descended so low that she was able to throw shirts at them; and only those shirts touched them; the swan plumage fell from them, and her brothers stood before her, alive, healthy and still beautiful, - only the younger one was missing the left sleeve, and therefore he had a swan wing left on his back. They began to hug and kiss each other, and the queen came to the king, and he was greatly surprised; but then she spoke and said:
“My beloved husband, from now on I can speak and I will reveal to you that I am innocent and falsely accused,” and she told him about the deceit of the old mother-in-law, who took and hid her three children. And they brought them to the castle to the great joy of the king, and the evil mother-in-law was burned at the stake as punishment, and only ashes remained from her.
And the king and queen, along with their six brothers, lived peacefully and happily for many, many years.

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One day a king was hunting in a large forest, and so zealously pursued the trail of some beast that none of his people could keep up with him, and everyone fell behind him. When evening fell, he restrained his horse, began to look around himself and noticed that he had lost his way. He began to look for a way out of the forest and could not find it.

So he saw that an old woman was coming towards him, an old, very old woman, such that her head was already shaking from old age; and he did not know that this old woman was a witch.

“Darling,” he said to her, “can you show me the way out of the forest?” “Oh, of course I can,” answered the old woman, “only on one condition; and if you, lord king, do not fulfill it, then you will never get out of this forest, and you will have to die of hunger here. - "And what is this condition?" asked the king. “I have a daughter,” said the old woman, “she is the most beautiful in the world and, of course, deserves the honor of being your wife. Now, if you take her as your wife, then I will show you the way out of the forest.

The king, frightened, agreed, and the old woman led him to the hut, where her daughter was sitting by the fire.

This daughter received the king as if she were already expecting his arrival; and the king saw that she was really very pretty, but he still did not like her face, and he could not look at her without hidden fear.

After he put the girl on his horse, the old woman showed him the way out of the forest, and the king could again return to his royal castle, where he celebrated the wedding.

Until that time, the king had already been married once, and by his first wife he had seven children - six sons and a daughter, whom he loved more than anything in the world. But since he was afraid that his stepmother would not treat them well enough, or even cause them some kind of evil, he took them to a secluded castle, which stood in the very heart of the forest.

The castle was so hidden in this thicket and it was so difficult to find the way to it that the king himself, perhaps, would not have found it if one witch had not presented him with a ball of thread of a wondrous quality: he had only to throw that ball in front of him, a ball by itself began to unwind, rolled ahead and showed the way.

But the king was away so often to visit his dear children that these absences finally attracted the attention of the queen. She was curious to know what he was doing there alone in the forest. She bribed his servants, and they gave her the secret of the king and told about the ball, which alone could show the way there.

She did not calm down until she found out where the king was hiding that ball, and then she sewed on many small white silk shirts, and since she was taught witchcraft by her mother, she managed to sew some charms into these shirts.

And so, when one day the king went hunting, she took her shirts and went into the forest, and the ball showed her the way. The children, who had seen from a distance that someone was coming towards them, thought that it was their father, and joyfully ran towards them. Then she threw a shirt on each of them, and as soon as these shirts touched the body of the child, he turned into a swan and flew away beyond the forest.

The queen returned home, very pleased with her trip, and thought that she had already got rid of her stepsons for good; but the king's daughter did not run out that time to meet her with her brothers, and the queen knew nothing about her.

The next day the king came to the forest castle to the children and did not find anyone in the castle, except for his daughter. "Where are your brothers?" asked the king. “Ah, father,” she answered, “they flew away and left me alone,” and she told him that from her window she saw how her brothers, turning into swans, flew away beyond the forest, and even showed him the feathers that they dropped in yard, and she picked it up.

The king was sad, but it never occurred to him that this evil deed could be committed by the queen; and since he was afraid that his daughter might also be kidnapped, he decided to take her with him.

But the daughter was afraid of her stepmother and begged the king to let her stay at least that night in the forest castle. The poor girl thought that she would no longer be left in this castle, and she decided to find her brothers at all costs.

And as soon as night fell, she ran away from the castle and went straight into the very thicket of the forest. She walked all night long and all the next day, until she was completely tired.

Then she saw a hunting lodge, went into it and found in it a room with six small beds; but she did not dare to lie down, but crawled under one of these beds, lay down on the hard floor, and planned to spend the night there. But when the sun began to approach the west, she heard a noise in the air and saw that six swans had flown through the window. They sank to the floor and began to blow off each other's feathers: they blew off all the feathers, and their swan skins fell off them like shirts.

Then the girl looked at them, recognized her brothers and crawled out from under the bed. The brothers were also very glad to see their little sister; but their joy was short-lived. “You cannot stay here,” they told her, “this is a robber's den; if the robbers find you here, they will kill you.” "But won't you be able to protect me?" “No,” they answered, “because every evening we can only take off our swan skins for a quarter of an hour and take on a human form, and then turn into swans again.” The little sister began to cry and said: “So is it really not possible to free you from the spell?” - “There is a possibility,” the brothers answered, “but it is surrounded by such burdensome conditions that it is impossible to fulfill them. You must not speak or laugh for six years in a row, and during this time you must sew six shirts for us from aster flowers. And if at least one word escapes you during these six years, then all your labors will be in vain.

And when the brothers said this, a quarter of an hour passed, and again, turning into swans, they flew out the window.

And the sister firmly decided to save her brothers from the spell, even at the cost of her life. She left the hunting lodge, went to the very thicket of the forest, climbed a tree and sat there all night.

The next morning she came down from the tree, picked up many aster flowers, and began to sew. She had no one to talk to, and there was no desire to laugh: she sat on her tree and looked only at her work.

A long time had passed since she retired to this wilderness, and it happened one day that the king of that country was hunting in the forest, and his huntsmen came to the tree on which the girl was sitting.

They began to call her and asked: “Who are you?”, But she did not answer them a word.

“Come down here to us,” they said, “we won’t do you any harm.”

She just shook her head in response. Since they continued to pester her with questions, she threw her golden chain around her neck from the tree and thought to satisfy them with this.

But they all continued to interrogate her; then she threw off her belt to them, and when this did not help, her garters, and so little by little everything that she was wearing, and finally remained in one shirt.

But the huntsmen did not leave her behind, climbed a tree, took the girl out of there and brought her to the king.

The king asked: “Who are you? What were you doing up there in the tree?” But the girl did not answer a word.

He asked her the same questions in every language he knew, but the girl was still dumb as a fish. And since she was beautiful in herself, the king's heart was touched, and he suddenly kindled with ardent love for her.

Wrapping her in his cloak, he put the girl on a horse in front of him and took her to his castle.

There he ordered to dress her in a rich dress, and she shone with beauty, like a clear day, but it was impossible to get a single word from her.

He seated her at the table next to him, and her modest expression, her ability to carry herself pleased him to such an extent that he said: “I want to marry her, and I won’t marry anyone else but her.”

And a few days later he really married her.

That king's mother was an evil woman, and besides, she was dissatisfied with this marriage of her son.

She slandered about the young queen. “Who knows where she comes from,” she said, “from her, dumb, you won’t find out; but she is not a couple for the king.

A year later, when the queen gave birth to her first child, the old woman carried him away, and the queen smeared her mouth with blood during her sleep. She then went to the king and accused the queen of being a cannibal and eating her child.

The king did not want to believe this and did not allow the queen to do any harm.

And the queen constantly sat at her work and sewed shirts, not paying attention to anything else.

The next time, when she again gave birth to a handsome boy, the crafty old woman again launched a similar deception, but the king did not dare to believe her slander against the queen.

He said, “She is too good and God-fearing to do anything like that; if she were not mute, she would be able to defend herself, and her innocence, of course, would immediately be revealed.

When the old woman abducted the newborn child for the third time and brought the same accusation against the queen (and she could not say a word in her defense), the king could no longer defend his wife and had to bring her to justice, which sentenced her to be burned on fire. fire.

So the day came for the execution of the sentence, and at the same time the last day of those six years came, during which she did not dare to laugh or speak - and thus her dear brothers were already delivered by her from the spell.

And six shirts of aster flowers were also made; only the latter was missing a left sleeve.

When they led her to the fire, she folded all her shirts into her hand; and when she was already on the fire and they were about to light the fire, she looked around and saw that six swans were flying towards her. Then she became convinced that her deliverance was near, and her heart trembled with joy.

The swans swirled around her and descended so low that she could throw their shirts over them; and as soon as those shirts touched them, the swan skins fell off them, her brothers stood in front of her, well done to well done, alive and well; only the youngest was missing his left hand, and instead of it he had a swan's wing behind his back.

The brothers and sister kissed and made love, and then the queen approached the king, who was amazed at everything that had happened, and said to him: “Dear husband! Now I dare to speak and I can reveal to you that I am innocent and wrongly accused.

And she reported the deceptions of her old mother-in-law, who kidnapped and hid her three children.

The children, to the great joy of the king, were found and returned, and the evil mother-in-law, as punishment, was tied to the same fire and burned.

The king and the queen and her six brothers lived in peace and happiness for many years to come.

Dear friend, we want to believe that reading the fairy tale "Six Swans" by the Brothers Grimm will be interesting and exciting for you. Charm, admiration and indescribable inner joy are produced by pictures drawn by our imagination when reading such works. The plot is simple and old as the world, but each new generation finds in it something relevant and useful for itself. There is a balancing act between good and bad, tempting and necessary, and how wonderful that every time the choice is right and responsible. Each time, reading this or that epic, one feels the incredible love with which the images of the environment are described. It is sweet and joyful to plunge into a world in which love, nobility, morality and selflessness always prevail, with which the reader is edified. Having become acquainted with the inner world and qualities of the protagonist, the young reader involuntarily experiences a feeling of nobility, responsibility and a high degree of morality. The fairy tale "Six Swans" by the Brothers Grimm to read for free online is certainly necessary not for children on their own, but in the presence or under the guidance of their parents.

O once the king longed in the great dense forest; he tirelessly chased the beast, and none of his people could keep up with him. And the evening has already come; Then the king held back his horse, looked back and saw that he had lost his way. He began to look for a way, but he could not find it.

And then he saw in the forest an old woman with a shaking head; she walked straight towards him, and she was a witch.

Grandmother, he said to her, can you show me the way out of the forest?

Oh, yes, Mr. King, - she answered, - I can do this, but with one condition, if you do not fulfill it, then you will never leave the forest and you will disappear here from hunger.

And what is the condition? the king asks.

I have a daughter, - says the old woman, - she is such a beauty, which you will not find anywhere in the world, and she fully deserves to become your wife; if you agree to make her queen, then I will show you the way out of the forest.

The king, in fear, agreed, and the old woman led him to her hut, where her daughter was sitting by the hearth. She received the king as if she had been waiting for him; and he saw that she was very beautiful, but nevertheless, he did not like her, and he could not look at her without hidden fear. When the king put the girl on a horse, the old woman showed him the way, and the king returned again to his royal castle, where they celebrated their wedding.

And the king had already been married once, and by his first wife he had seven children - six boys and one girl, and he loved them more than anything in the world. But he was afraid that his stepmother would not treat them badly, no matter how bad she did them, and so he took them to a secret castle, which was located in the very middle of the forest. He was so hidden in the thicket of the forest and it was so difficult to find the way to him that he himself would not have found it if one witch had not presented him with a ball of magic threads; and there was that ball of such that it was worth throwing it in front of you, as it unwound itself and indicated the way, the road.

The king very often went to his beloved children in the forest; and finally, the queen drew attention to his frequent absences; she wanted to know what he was doing there alone in the forest. She gave a lot of money to her servants, and they gave her the secret, they also told about the ball of thread, which alone can show the way there. And she had no peace until she found out where the king kept that ball; then she sewed little white shirts of silk, and as she had been taught witchcraft by her mother, she sewed charms into them.

So one day the king went hunting, and she took those shirts and went to the forest, and the ball showed her the way, the way. The children, seeing from a distance that someone was coming, thought that it was their beloved father coming towards them, and, in joy, ran out to meet him. And so she threw a shirt over each of them; and as soon as those shirts touched their body, they turned into swans, rose above the forest and flew away.

The queen returned home very pleased, thinking that she had got rid of her stepsons; but the girl did not run out to meet her with her brothers, and the queen did not notice this. The next day the king came to visit his children, but found only one daughter.

Where are your brothers? he asked her.

Ah, dear father, she answered, they flew away and left me alone. - And she told him that she saw from the window how the brothers flew like swans over the forest, and showed him the feathers that they dropped in the yard, which she picked up. The king was saddened, but did not know that the queen had committed this evil deed; he began to fear that his daughter would also be kidnapped, and so he decided to take her with him. But she was afraid of her stepmother and begged the king to leave her for one more night in the forest castle.

The poor girl thought: “I won’t have to stay here long, I’ll go in search of my brothers.”

Then night came, and she ran out of the castle and went straight into the thicket of the forest. She wandered there the whole night and the whole day, until, finally, from fatigue she could no longer walk. And she saw a hunting lodge, went into it, sees - a room, and there are six small beds in it, but she did not dare to lie down in any of them, but climbed under one of the beds and lay down right on the hard floor and decided to spend the night there.

Soon the sun also set, and she heard a noise and saw that six swans had flown to the window. They sat down on the window and began to blow on each other, began to blow off their feathers, and now all the feathers fell from them, and the swan plumage took off from them like a shirt. The girl looked at them and recognized her brothers, was delighted and crawled out from under the bed. The brothers, seeing their sister, rejoiced no less than she did, but their joy was short-lived.

You can't stay here, - they told her, - this is a robber's den. If the robbers come back and find you here, they will kill you.

Can't you protect me? their sister asked.

No, they answered, we can only take off our swan plumage in the evenings for a quarter of an hour, then we become people, and then turn back into swans.

The sister cried and said:

And is it really impossible to disenchant you?

Oh no, they replied, it is too difficult to do. You will not have to speak or laugh for six years, and you must sew six starflower shirts for us during this time. And if you say even one word, then all your work is lost.

While the brothers were telling her about this, a quarter of an hour passed, and they again flew out the window like swans.

But the girl was determined to free her brothers, even if it cost her her life. She left the hunting lodge and went into the thicket of the forest, climbed a tree and spent the night there. In the morning she climbed down from the tree, gathered starflowers, and began to sew. She had no one to talk to, and she had no desire to laugh. She sat and looked at her work. So a lot of time passed, and it happened that the king of that country was hunting at that time in the forest, and his huntsmen drove up to the tree on which the girl was sitting. They called out to her:

Who are you?

But she didn't answer.

Come down to us, - they said, - we will not do anything bad to you.

But she just shook her head.

When they began to interrogate her, she threw a golden necklace down to them, thinking that they would be pleased with this. But they kept asking her questions; then she threw off her belt to them; but when this did not help, she threw off her garters to them, and so little by little she gave them everything that was on her, and remained in one shirt. But the huntsmen did not leave her even then; they climbed a tree, took her down and brought her to the king. The king asked:

Who are you? What are you doing up there in the tree? But she didn't answer.

He began to question her in all the languages ​​he knew, but she remained like a dumb fish. And she was beautiful, and now the king fell deeply in love with her. He wrapped her in his cloak and put her in front of him on a horse and brought her to his castle. And he ordered to dress her in rich dresses, and she shone with her beauty, like a clear day; but it was impossible to get a word out of her. He sat down at the table next to her, and the timidity on her face and her modesty pleased him so much that he said:

I want to marry this one, and no other in the world, - and a few days later he married her.

But the king had an evil mother - she was unhappy with his marriage and began to slander the young queen.

Who knows where this girl came from, - she said, - and she cannot utter a word; she is unworthy to be the wife of a king.

A year later, when the queen gave birth to the first child, the old woman carried him away, and the queen smeared her mouth with blood during her sleep. She then went to the king and accused her of being an ogress. The king did not want to believe this and did not allow harm to the queen. And so she sat all the time and sewed shirts and paid no attention to anything else.

When she again gave birth to a beautiful boy, the lying mother-in-law again committed the same deception, but the king did not want to believe her evil speeches. He said:

She is too modest and kind to do such a thing; if she had not been mute, she would have proved her innocence.

But when the old woman stole the newborn baby for the third time and accused the queen, who did not say a word in her defense, the king had only one thing to do - to give her to court; and she was sentenced to be burned at the stake.

The day of execution came, and it was just the last day of those six years during which she could neither speak nor laugh; and now she freed her dear brothers from the evil spell. She had already sewn six shirts during this time, and only the last shirt did not yet have a left sleeve.

When they led her to the fire, she took her shirts with her, and when they had already taken her to the platform and were about to make a fire, she looked around and saw six swans flying towards her. And she realized that her release was near, and her heart beat with joy.

Swans flew up to her with a noise and descended so low that she was able to throw shirts at them; and only those shirts touched them; the swan plumage fell from them, and her brothers stood before her, alive, healthy and still beautiful, - only the younger one was missing the left sleeve, and therefore he had a swan wing left on his back. They began to hug and kiss each other, and the queen came to the king, and he was greatly surprised; but then she spoke and said.

One day a king was hunting in a large forest, and so zealously pursued the trail of some beast that none of his people could keep up with him, and everyone fell behind him. When evening fell, he restrained his horse, began to look around himself and noticed that he had lost his way. He began to look for a way out of the forest and could not find it.

So he saw that an old, very old woman was coming towards him, such that her head was already shaking from old age, but he did not know that this old woman was a witch.

“Darling,” he said to her, “can you show me the way out of the forest?” “Oh, of course I can,” answered the old woman, “only on one condition; and if you, lord king, do not fulfill it, then you will never get out of this forest, and you will have to die of hunger here. - "And what is this condition?" asked the king. “I have a daughter,” said the old woman, “she is the most beautiful in the world and, of course, deserves the honor of being your wife. Now, if you take her as your wife, then I will show you the way out of the forest.

The king, frightened, agreed, and the old woman led him to the hut, where her daughter was sitting by the fire.

This daughter received the king as if she were already expecting his arrival; and the king saw that she was really very pretty, but he still did not like her face, and he could not look at her without hidden fear.

After he put the girl on his horse, the old woman showed him the way out of the forest, and the king could again return to his royal castle, where he celebrated the wedding.

Until that time, the king had already been married once, and by his first wife he had seven children - six sons and a daughter, whom he loved more than anything in the world. But since he was afraid that his stepmother would not treat them well enough, or even cause them some kind of evil, he took them to a secluded castle, which stood in the very heart of the forest.

The castle was so hidden in this thicket and it was so difficult to find the way to it that the king himself, perhaps, would not have found it if one witch had not presented him with a ball of thread of a wondrous quality: he had only to throw that ball in front of him, a ball by itself began to unwind, rolled ahead and showed the way.

But the king was away so often to visit his dear children that these absences finally attracted the attention of the queen. She was curious to know what he was doing there alone in the forest. She bribed his servants, and they gave her the secret of the king and told about the ball, which alone could show the way there.

She did not calm down until she found out where the king was hiding that ball, and then she sewed on many small white silk shirts, and since she was taught witchcraft by her mother, she managed to sew some charms into these shirts.

And so, when one day the king went hunting, she took her shirts and went into the forest, and the ball showed her the way. The children, who had seen from a distance that someone was coming towards them, thought that it was their father, and joyfully ran towards them. Then she threw a shirt on each of them, and as soon as these shirts touched the body of the child, he turned into a swan and flew away beyond the forest.

The queen returned home, very pleased with her trip, and thought that she had already got rid of her stepsons forever; but the king’s daughter did not run out to meet her that time with her brothers, and the queen knew nothing about her.

The next day the king came to the forest castle to the children and did not find anyone in the castle, except for his daughter. "Where are your brothers?" asked the king. “Ah, father,” she answered, “they flew away and left me alone,” and she told him that from her window she saw how her brothers, turning into swans, flew away beyond the forest, and even showed him the feathers that they dropped in yard, and she picked it up.

The king was sad, but it never occurred to him that this evil deed could be committed by the queen; and since he feared that his daughter might also be kidnapped, he decided to take her with him.

But the daughter was afraid of her stepmother and begged the king to let her stay at least that night in the forest castle. The poor girl thought that she would no longer be left in this castle, and she decided to find her brothers at all costs.

And as soon as night fell, she ran away from the castle and went straight into the very thicket of the forest. She walked all night long and all the next day, until she was completely tired.

Then she saw a hunting lodge, went into it and found in it a room with six small beds; but she did not dare to lie down, but crawled under one of these beds, lay down on the hard floor and decided to spend the night there. But when the sun began to approach the west, she heard a noise in the air and saw that six swans had flown through the window. They sank to the floor and began to blow off each other's feathers: they blew off all the feathers, and their swan skins fell off them like shirts.

Then the girl looked at them, recognized her brothers and crawled out from under the bed. The brothers were also very happy to see their little sister, but their joy was short-lived. “You cannot stay here,” they told her, “this is a robber's den; if the robbers find you here, they will kill you.” "But won't you be able to protect me?" “No,” they answered, “because every evening we can only take off our swan skins for a quarter of an hour and take on a human form, and then turn into swans again.” The little sister began to cry and said: “So is it really not possible to free you from the spell?” - “There is a possibility,” the brothers answered, “but it is surrounded by such painful conditions that it is impossible to fulfill them. You must not speak or laugh for six years in a row, and during this time you must sew six shirts for us from aster flowers. And if at least one word escapes you during these six years, then all your labors will be in vain.

And when the brothers said this, a quarter of an hour passed, and again, turning into swans, they flew out the window.

And the sister firmly decided to save her brothers from the spell, even at the cost of her life. She left the hunting lodge, went to the very thicket of the forest, climbed a tree and sat there all night.

The next morning she came down from the tree, picked up many aster flowers, and began to sew. She had no one to talk to, and there was no desire to laugh: she sat on her tree and looked only at her work.

A long time had passed since she retired to this wilderness, and it happened one day that the king of that country was hunting in the forest, and his huntsmen came to the tree on which the girl was sitting.

They began to call her and ask: “Who are you? ', but she didn't answer them.

“Come down here to us,” they said, “we won’t do you any harm.”

She just shook her head in response. Since they continued to pester her with questions, she threw her golden chain around her neck from the tree and thought to satisfy them with this.

But they all continued to interrogate her; then she threw off her belt to them, and when this did not help, her garters, and so little by little everything that she was wearing, and finally remained in one shirt.

But the huntsmen did not leave her behind, climbed a tree, took the girl out of there and brought her to the king.

The king asked: “Who are you? What were you doing up there in the tree?” But the girl did not answer a word.

He asked her the same questions in every language he knew, but the girl was still dumb as a fish. And since she was beautiful in herself, the king's heart was touched, and he suddenly kindled with ardent love for her.

Wrapping her in his cloak, he put the girl on a horse in front of him and took her to his castle.

There he ordered to dress her in a rich dress, and she shone with beauty, like a clear day, but it was impossible to get a single word from her.

He seated her at the table next to him, and her modest expression, her ability to carry herself pleased him to such an extent that he said: “I want to marry her, and I won’t marry anyone else but her.”

And a few days later he really married her.

That king's mother was an evil woman, and besides, she was dissatisfied with this marriage of her son.

She slandered about the young queen. “Who knows where she comes from,” she said, “from her, dumb, you can’t find out, but only she’s not a couple for the king.”

A year later, when the queen gave birth to her first child, the old woman carried him away, and the queen smeared her mouth with blood during her sleep. She then went to the king and accused the queen of being a cannibal and eating her child.

The king did not want to believe this and did not allow the queen to do any harm.

And the queen constantly sat at her work and sewed shirts, not paying attention to anything else.

The next time, when she again gave birth to a handsome boy, the crafty old woman again launched a similar deception, but the king did not dare to believe her slander against the queen.

He said, “She is too good and God-fearing to do anything like that; if she were not mute, she would be able to defend herself, and her innocence, of course, would immediately be revealed.

When the old woman abducted the newborn child for the third time and brought the same accusation against the queen (and she could not say a word in her defense), the king could no longer defend his wife and had to bring her to justice, which sentenced her to be burned on fire. fire.

So the day came for the execution of the sentence, and at the same time the last day of those six years came, during which she did not dare to laugh or speak - and thus her dear brothers were already delivered by her from the spell.

And six shirts of aster flowers were also made; only the latter was missing a left sleeve.

When they led her to the fire, she folded all the shirts on her hand; and when she was already at the fire and they were about to light the fire, she looked around and saw that six swans were flying towards her. Then she became convinced that her deliverance was near, and her heart trembled with joy.

The swans swirled around her and descended so low that she could throw their shirts over them; and as soon as those shirts touched them, the swan skins fell off them, her brothers stood in front of her, well done to well done, alive and well; only the youngest was missing his left hand, and instead of it he had a swan's wing behind his back.

The brothers and sister kissed and made love, and then the queen approached the king, who was amazed at everything that had happened, and said to him: “Dear husband! Now I dare to speak and I can reveal to you that I am innocent and wrongly accused.

And she reported the deceptions of her old mother-in-law, who kidnapped and hid her three children.

The children, to the great joy of the king, were found and returned, and the evil mother-in-law, as punishment, was tied to the same fire and burned.

The king and the queen and her six brothers lived in peace and happiness for many years to come.

The tale is similar in plot to Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale Wild Swans. The evil stepmother has bewitched six brothers, turning them into swans. Only one person - their only sister - was able to disenchant them. To do this, she did not speak for six days and sewed starflower shirts. The fairy tale teaches children that even one person can accomplish a real feat, even a fragile girl can hold great strength, and the most beautiful good deeds are done in silence...

six swans read

Once the king was hunting in a large dense forest; he tirelessly chased the beast, and none of his people could keep up with him. And the evening has already come; Then the king held back his horse, looked back and saw that he had lost his way. He began to look for a way, but he could not find it.

And then he saw in the forest an old woman with a shaking head; she walked straight towards him, and she was a witch.

Grandmother, he said to her, can you show me the way out of the forest?

Oh, yes, Mr. King, - she answered, - I can do this, but with one condition, if you do not fulfill it, then you will never leave the forest and you will disappear here from hunger.

And what is the condition? the king asks.

I have a daughter, - says the old woman, - she is such a beauty, which you will not find anywhere in the world, and she fully deserves to become your wife; if you agree to make her queen, then I will show you the way out of the forest.

The king, in fear, agreed, and the old woman led him to her hut, where her daughter was sitting by the hearth. She received the king as if she had been waiting for him; and he saw that she was very beautiful, but nevertheless, he did not like her, and he could not look at her without hidden fear. When the king put the girl on a horse, the old woman showed him the way, and the king returned again to his royal castle, where they celebrated their wedding.

And the king had already been married once, and by his first wife he had seven children - six boys and one girl, and he loved them more than anything in the world. But he was afraid that his stepmother would not treat them badly, no matter how bad she did them, and so he took them to a secret castle, which was located in the very middle of the forest. He was so hidden in the thicket of the forest and it was so difficult to find the way to him that he himself would not have found it if one witch had not presented him with a ball of magic threads; and there was that ball of such that it was worth throwing it in front of you, as it unwound itself and indicated the way, the road.

The king very often went to his beloved children in the forest; and finally, the queen drew attention to his frequent absences; she wanted to know what he was doing there alone in the forest. She gave a lot of money to her servants, and they gave her the secret, they also told about the ball of thread, which alone can show the way there. And she had no peace until she found out where the king kept that ball; then she sewed little white shirts of silk, and as she had been taught witchcraft by her mother, she sewed charms into them.

So one day the king went hunting, and she took those shirts and went to the forest, and the ball showed her the way, the way. The children, seeing from a distance that someone was coming, thought that it was their beloved father coming towards them, and, in joy, ran out to meet him. And so she threw a shirt over each of them; and as soon as those shirts touched their body, they turned into swans, rose above the forest and flew away.

The queen returned home very pleased, thinking that she had got rid of her stepsons; but the girl did not run out to meet her with her brothers, and the queen did not notice this. The next day the king came to visit his children, but found only one daughter.

Where are your brothers? he asked her.

Ah, dear father, she answered, they flew away and left me alone. - And she told him that she saw from the window how the brothers flew like swans over the forest, and showed him the feathers that they dropped in the yard, which she picked up. The king was saddened, but did not know that the queen had committed this evil deed; he began to fear that his daughter would also be kidnapped, and so he decided to take her with him. But she was afraid of her stepmother and begged the king to leave her for one more night in the forest castle.

The poor girl thought: “I won’t have to stay here long, I’ll go in search of my brothers.”

Then night came, and she ran out of the castle and went straight into the thicket of the forest. She wandered there the whole night and the whole day, until, finally, from fatigue she could no longer walk. And she saw a hunting lodge, went into it, sees - a room, and there are six small beds in it, but she did not dare to lie down in any of them, but climbed under one of the beds and lay down right on the hard floor and decided to spend the night there.

Soon the sun also set, and she heard a noise and saw that six swans had flown to the window. They sat down on the window and began to blow on each other, began to blow off their feathers, and now all the feathers fell from them, and the swan plumage took off from them like a shirt. The girl looked at them and recognized her brothers, was delighted and crawled out from under the bed. The brothers, seeing their sister, rejoiced no less than she did, but their joy was short-lived.

You can't stay here, - they told her, - this is a robber's den. If the robbers come back and find you here, they will kill you.

Can't you protect me? their sister asked.

No, they answered, we can only take off our swan plumage in the evenings for a quarter of an hour, then we become people, and then turn back into swans.

The sister cried and said:

And is it really impossible to disenchant you?

Oh no, they replied, it is too difficult to do. You will not have to speak or laugh for six years, and you must sew six starflower shirts for us during this time. And if you say even one word, then all your work is lost.

While the brothers were telling her about this, a quarter of an hour passed, and they again flew out the window like swans.

But the girl was determined to free her brothers, even if it cost her her life. She left the hunting lodge and went into the thicket of the forest, climbed a tree and spent the night there. In the morning she climbed down from the tree, gathered starflowers, and began to sew.

She had no one to talk to, and she had no desire to laugh. She sat and looked at her work. So a lot of time passed, and it happened that the king of that country was hunting at that time in the forest, and his huntsmen drove up to the tree on which the girl was sitting. They called out to her:

Who are you?

But she didn't answer.

Come down to us, - they said, - we will not do anything bad to you.

But she just shook her head.

When they began to interrogate her, she threw a golden necklace down to them, thinking that they would be pleased with this. But they kept asking her questions; then she threw off her belt to them; but when this did not help, she threw off her garters to them, and so little by little she gave them everything that was on her, and remained in one shirt. But the huntsmen did not leave her even then; they climbed a tree, took her down and brought her to the king. The king asked:

Who are you? What are you doing up there in the tree? But she didn't answer.

He began to question her in all the languages ​​he knew, but she remained like a dumb fish. And she was beautiful, and now the king fell deeply in love with her. He wrapped her in his cloak and put her in front of him on a horse and brought her to his castle. And he ordered to dress her in rich dresses, and she shone with her beauty, like a clear day; but it was impossible to get a word out of her. He sat down at the table next to her, and the timidity on her face and her modesty pleased him so much that he said:

I want to marry this one, and no other in the world, - and a few days later he married her.

But the king had an evil mother - she was unhappy with his marriage and began to slander the young queen.

Who knows where this girl came from, - she said, - and she cannot utter a word; she is unworthy to be the wife of a king.

A year later, when the queen gave birth to the first child, the old woman carried him away, and the queen smeared her mouth with blood during her sleep.

She then went to the king and accused her of being an ogress. The king did not want to believe this and did not allow harm to the queen. And so she sat all the time and sewed shirts and paid no attention to anything else.

When she again gave birth to a beautiful boy, the lying mother-in-law again committed the same deception, but the king did not want to believe her evil speeches. He said:

She is too modest and kind to do such a thing; if she had not been mute, she would have proved her innocence.

But when the old woman stole the newborn baby for the third time and accused the queen, who did not say a word in her defense, the king had only one thing to do - to give her to court; and she was sentenced to be burned at the stake.

The day of execution came, and it was just the last day of those six years during which she could neither speak nor laugh; and now she freed her dear brothers from the evil spell. She had already sewn six shirts during this time, and only the last shirt did not yet have a left sleeve.

When they led her to the fire, she took her shirts with her, and when they had already taken her to the platform and were about to make a fire, she looked around and saw six swans flying towards her. And she realized that her release was near, and her heart beat with joy.

Swans flew up to her with a noise and descended so low that she was able to throw shirts at them; and only those shirts touched them; the swan plumage fell from them, and her brothers stood before her, alive, healthy and still beautiful, - only the younger one was missing the left sleeve, and therefore he had a swan wing left on his back.

They began to hug and kiss each other, and the queen came to the king, and he was greatly surprised; but then she spoke and said:

My beloved husband, from now on I can speak and I will reveal to you that I am innocent and falsely accused, - and she told him about the deceit of the old mother-in-law, who took and hid her three children. And they brought them to the castle to the great joy of the king, and the evil mother-in-law was burned at the stake as punishment, and only ashes remained from her.

And the king and queen, along with their six brothers, lived peacefully and happily for many, many years.

(Ill. M. Lobova, Journal of fairy tales No. 8, 2010)

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