![\"\"](\"https:\/\/jolineblais.net\/tributaries\/wp-content\/uploads\/tennis-17.jpg\")
<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl>
\n\t\t<\/div>\n\nThe king, however, went so
\nfrequently away to his dear children that the queen observed
\nhis absence, she was curious and wanted to know what he did
\nwhen he was quite alone in the forest. She gave a great deal
\nof money to his servants, and they betrayed the secret to her,
\nand told her likewise of the ball which alone could point out
\nthe way. And now she knew no rest until she had learnt where
\nthe king kept the ball of yarn, and then she made little shirts
\nof white silk, and as she had learnt the art of witchcraft from
\nher mother, she sewed a charm inside them. And once when the
\nking had ridden forth to hunt, she took the little shirts and
\nwent into the forest, and the ball showed her the way.<\/p>\n
The
\nchildren, who saw from a distance that someone was approaching,
\nthought that their dear father was coming to them, and full of
\njoy, ran to meet him. Then she threw one of the little shirts
\nover each of them, and no sooner had the shirts touched their
\nbodies than they were changed into swans, and flew away over
\nthe forest. The queen went home quite delighted, and thought
\nshe had got rid of her step-children, but the girl had not run
\nout with her brothers, and the queen knew nothing about her.<\/p>\n
Next day the king went to visit his children, but he found
\nno one but the little girl. Where are your brothers, asked
\nthe king. Alas, dear father, she answered, they have gone away
\nand left me alone, and she told him that she had seen from
\nher little window how her brothers had flown away over the
\nforest
\nin the shape of swans, and she showed him the feathers, which
\nthey had let fall in the courtyard, and which she had picked up.<\/p>\n
The king mourned, but he did not think that the queen had
\ndone this wicked deed, and as he feared that the girl would
\nalso be stolen away from him, he wanted to take her away with him.
\nBut she was afraid of her step-mother, and entreated the king
\nto let her stay just this one night more in the forest castle.<\/p>\n
The poor girl thought, I can no longer stay here. I will go
\nand seek my brothers. And when night came, she ran away, and
\nwent straight into the forest. She walked the whole night long,
\nand next day also without stopping, until she could go no farther
\nfor weariness. Then she saw a forest-hut, and went into it, and
\nfound a room with six little beds, but she did not venture to
\nget into one of them, but crept under one, and lay down on the
\nhard ground, intending to pass the night there. Just before
\nsunset, however, she heard a rustling, and saw six swans come
\nflying in at the window. They alighted on the ground and blew
\nat each other, and blew all the feathers off, and their swans,
\nskins stripped off like a shirt. Then the maiden looked at them
\nand recognized her brothers, was glad and crept forth from beneath
\nthe bed. The brothers were not less delighted to see their
\nlittle sister, but their joy was of short duration. Here you
\ncannot abide, they said to her. This is a shelter for robbers,
\nif they come home and find you, they will kill you. But can you
\nnot protect me, asked the little sister. No, they replied, only
\nfor one quarter of an hour each evening can we lay aside our
\nswans, skins and have during that time our human form, after
\nthat, we are once more turned into swans.<\/p>\n
The little sister
\nwept and said, can you not be set free. Alas, no, they answered,
\nthe conditions are too hard. For six years you may neither
\nspeak nor laugh, and in that time you must sew together six
\nlittle shirts of starwort for us. And if one single word falls
\nfrom your lips, all your work will be lost. And when the brothers
\nhad said this, the quarter of an hour was over, and they flew
\nout of the window again as swans.<\/p>\n
The maiden, however, firmly resolved to deliver her brothers, even
\nif it should cost her her life. She left the hut, went into
\nthe midst of the forest, seated herself on a tree, and there
\npassed the night. Next morning she went out and gathered starwort
\nand began to sew. She could not speak to anyone, and she had
\nno inclination to laugh, she sat there and looked at nothing
\nbut her work.<\/p>\n
When she had already spent a long time there it
\ncame to pass that the king of the country was hunting in the
\nforest, and his huntsmen came to the tree on which the maiden
\nwas sitting. They called to her and said, who are you. But
\nshe made no answer. Come down to us, said they. We will not
\ndo you any harm. She only shook her head. As they pressed her
\nfurther with questions she threw her golden necklace down to
\nthem, and thought to content them thus. They, however, did
\nnot cease, and then she threw her girdle down to them, and as
\nthis also was to no purpose, her garters, and by degrees
\neverything that she had on that she could do without
\nuntil she had nothing left but her shift.<\/p>\n
The huntsmen,
\nhowever, did not let themselves be turned aside by that, but
\nclimbed the tree and fetched the maiden down and led her before
\nthe king. The king asked, who are you. What are you doing on the
\ntree. But she did not answer. He put the question in every
\nlanguage that he knew, but she remained as mute as a fish. As
\nshe was so beautiful, the king’s heart was touched, and he was
\nsmitten with a great love for her. He put his mantle on her,
\ntook her before him on his horse, and carried her to his
\ncastle. Then he caused her to be dressed in rich garments, and
\nshe shone in her beauty like bright daylight, but no word
\ncould be drawn from her. He placed her by his side at table, and
\nher modest bearing and courtesy pleased him so much that he said,
\nshe is the one whom I wish to marry, and no other woman in the
\nworld. And after some days he united himself to her.<\/p>\n
The king, however, had a wicked mother who was dissatisfied
\nwith this marriage and spoke ill of the young queen. Who knows,
\nsaid she, from whence the creature who can’t speak, comes.
\nShe is not worthy of a king. After a year had passed, when
\nthe queen brought her first child into the world, the old
\nwoman took it away from her, and smeared her mouth with blood
\nas she slept. Then she went to the king and accused the queen
\nof being a man-eater. The king would not believe it, and would
\nnot suffer anyone to do her any injury. She, however, sat
\ncontinually sewing at the shirts, and cared for nothing else.<\/p>\n
The next time, when she again bore a beautiful boy, the false
\nmother-in-law used the same treachery, but the king could not
\nbring himself to give credit to her words. He said, she is
\ntoo pious and good to do anything of that kind, if she were not
\ndumb, and could defend herself, her innocence would come to light.<\/p>\n
But when the old woman stole away the newly-born child for the
\nthird time, and accused the queen, who did not utter one word
\nof defence, the king could do no otherwise than deliver her over
\nto justice, and she was sentenced to suffer death by fire.<\/p>\n
When the day came for the sentence to be carried out, it was
\nthe last day of the six years during which she was not to speak
\nor laugh, and she had delivered her dear brothers from the
\npower of the enchantment. The six shirts were ready, only the
\nleft sleeve of the sixth was wanting. When, therefore, she was
\nled to the stake, she laid the shirts on her arm, and when she
\nstood on high and the fire was just going to be lighted, she
\nlooked around and six swans came flying through the air towards
\nher. Then she saw that her deliverance was near, and her heart
\nleapt with joy. The swans swept towards her and sank down so that
\nthey were touched by them, their swans, skins fell off, and her
\nbrothers stood in their own bodily form before her, and were
\nvigorous and handsome. The youngest only lacked his left arm,
\nand had in the place of it a swan’s wing on his shoulder. They
\nembraced and kissed each other, and the queen went to the king,
\nwho was greatly moved, and she began to speak and said, dearest
\nhusband, now I may speak and declare to you that I am innocent,
\nand falsely accused. And she told him of the treachery of the
\nold woman who had taken away her three children and hidden them.<\/p>\n
Then to the great joy of the king they were brought thither,
\nand as a punishment, the wicked mother-in-law was bound to
\nthe stake, and burnt to ashes. But the king and the queen with
\nher six brothers lived many years in happiness and peace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[aesop_chapter title=”Swan One” subtitle=”Swan subtitle” bgtype=”img” full=”on” img=”http:\/\/jolineblais.net\/tributaries\/wp-content\/uploads\/swan1.jpg” video_autoplay=”play_scroll” bgcolor=”#888888″ overlay_content=”Overlay Swans” revealfx=”frombelow” overlay_revealfx=”off”] Once upon a time, a certain king was hunting in a great forest, and he chased a wild beast so eagerly that none of his attendants could follow him. When evening drew near he stopped and looked around him, and then […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stories","aesop-entry-content"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jolineblais.net\/tributaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jolineblais.net\/tributaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jolineblais.net\/tributaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jolineblais.net\/tributaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jolineblais.net\/tributaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2112"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/jolineblais.net\/tributaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2116,"href":"https:\/\/jolineblais.net\/tributaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2112\/revisions\/2116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jolineblais.net\/tributaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jolineblais.net\/tributaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jolineblais.net\/tributaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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