Chapter 24
CHAPTER XXIV OF GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES RETOLD IN ONE-SYLLABLE WORDS For more information, or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Mike Harris GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES RETOLD IN ONE-SYLLABLE WORDS By Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
The Twelve Brothers Once on a time there lived a king and queen, who had twelve boys. One day the king said to the queen, If our next child should be a girl, our twelve sons must die, so that she may have the crown.
The queen was sad, and mourned all day and night. One day the youngest boy, who was with her all the time, asked, Dear mother, why are you so sad? The queen would not tell at first, but he kept on asking, and at last she told him that he and his brothers
were to be put to death in case they had a sister. He said, Do not weep, dear mother. I and my brothers will go from here, so that we may not be put to death. The queen said, Yes, go, stay in the woods nearby, and if a son is born, I will hang out a white flag,
so that you may know that it is safe for you to come home. But if it is a girl, I will hang out a red flag, and then you must all fly hence as fast as you can. I will pray each night that you meet with no ill luck. Then the twelve boys went to the woods.
Each kept watch in turn from the top of a tall oak tree. one day they saw a red flag hung out which meant that a girl was born and they must all die if they went home then they went deep into the woods and there found a small house which they made their home for food they shot hares and birds and what else they could find ten years passed and by that time the queen's child had grown to be quite a big girl she was fair of face and had a kind heart once when there was a great wash she saw twelve shirts on the line and asked her mother Who's are those twelve shirts? They are too small for my father. The queen said with a sad heart,
My dear child, they belong to your twelve brothers. Where are my twelve brothers? This is the first I have heard of them, said the child. Then the queen told her why she had not seen them, and she wept as she did so. Do not cry, dear mother, said the child.
I will go forth and seek my brothers. She took the twelve shirts and set forth for the wood at once. All day she walked on, and at night she came to the hut where her brothers lived. She went in, and there she saw a young lad who asked her, Whence do you come, and what do you want?
She said, I am a child of the king, and I seek my twelve brothers, and will go as far as the sky is blue till I find them. Then she showed him the twelve shirts she had with her, and he knew it must be his sister, and told her who he was. At his words she wept for joy, and he wept too.
When the rest of the brothers came home, they were glad to find their sister there, and they kissed her and loved her with all their hearts. She stayed at home with one of the brothers, and took care of the house and the cooking, while the rest went to catch game in the woods. One day she got up a fine feast.
Near the house was a small garden in which grew twelve lilies. She thought it would please her brothers if she gave each of them a flower, so she broke off the twelve lilies. But as she did so, the twelve boys were changed into twelve crows and flew off. the house too was gone and the girl stood alone in a wild wood all at once she saw an old woman who said my child what have you done the twelve lilies were your brothers and now they have become crows and will stay so
the girl wept and asked is there no way to set them free there is but one thing in all the world said the old woman and that is too hard for you to do you must be dumb for six years if you speak as much as one word or laugh in all that time you cannot free them then the girl said in her heart i know i shall set my brothers free she found a tall tree in which she could live and here she sat and spun but did not speak or laugh one day a king rode by who had a dog with him and it ran to the tree where the girl was and barked The king came up, and as soon as he saw the fair girl, he fell in love with her, and asked if she would be his bride. She made no answer except to nod her head. Then the king himself climbed the tree, brought her down, and rode off with her to his palace.
The wedding soon took place with great pomp, but the bride did not speak or laugh. Two years that were full of joy passed, but one day the king's stepmother, who was not a good woman, began to speak ill of the young queen. this is some low girl that you have made your wife she said who knows for what crime she may have been turned out of her home if she is dumb and can't speak she might at least laugh one that does not laugh must have something bad on her mind the king would not hear her at first but the old woman talked so much that at last she made the king think as she did and the queen was doomed to death she was bound to a stake and a great fire was made in which she was to burn But just as the flames rose to scorch her, the six years in which she was to be dumb came to an end.
She heard a great whirr in the air, and when she looked up, she saw twelve crows that flew toward her. The instant they touched the earth, they were changed to her twelve brothers, whom she had set free. They ran up to the fire, and drew the wood from the pile and put out the flames. And now that she could speak and laugh, she told the king why she had been dumb for six years. The king was glad to find out the truth, and now he loved his wife more than at first.
they lived in great joy all their lives but the bad stepmother met the death to which she had tried to send the queen chapter twenty four the twelve brothers
