The Wild Swans - Danish

Once, in a sunny, bright castle, lived a princess named Elisa and her eleven wonderful brothers. They played all day in the pretty gardens. But one day, a new queen with a cold heart came to live with them. This is the story of The Wild Swans. The new queen did not like the children. With a wave of her hand and a mean whisper, she changed the eleven brothers. Poof! They became eleven beautiful, white swans with shiny golden crowns. They flew up, up, up into the big blue sky and disappeared.

Elisa was so sad and so lonely. She missed her brothers very much. She decided to go find them. She walked through a big, dark forest and across soft, green fields. Then, a kind fairy with sparkly wings appeared. The fairy told Elisa how to break the magic spell. She said Elisa must find stinging nettle plants and use them to knit eleven shirts. The hardest part was the secret rule: Elisa could not speak a single word until all the shirts were finished. So, Elisa worked day and night. Her little fingers were so busy, knitting and knitting the green threads. She was as quiet as a mouse.

Just as she finished the very last shirt, she heard a great whoosh in the sky. Her eleven swan brothers flew down to her. Quickly, Elisa threw the nettle shirts over each swan. One by one, they turned back into handsome princes. The youngest brother still had one soft swan wing because his shirt wasn't quite finished, but they were all together again. They returned to their kingdom, happy to be home. Their story shows everyone that love is the strongest and best magic of all. Being brave and kind can help you save the ones you love.