THE TWELVE DANCING PRINCESSES_Grimms’ Fairy Tales by The Brothers Grimm...^^..

THE TWELVE DANCING PRINCESSES_Grimms’ Fairy Tales by
The Brothers Grimm...^^..

There was a king who had twelve beautiful daughters. They slept in
twelve beds all in one room; and when they went to bed, the doors
were shut and locked up; but every morning their shoes were found
to be quite worn through as if they had been danced in all night;
and yet nobody could find out how it happened, or where they had
been. Then the king made it known to all the land, that if any
person could discover the secret, and find out where it was that
the princesses danced in the night, he should have the one he liked
best for his wife, and should be king after his death; but whoever
tried and did not succeed, after three days and nights, should be
put to death.

A king’s son soon came. He was well entertained, and in the evening
was taken to the chamber next to the one where the princesses lay
in their twelve beds. There he was to sit and watch where they
went to dance; and, in order that nothing might pass without his
hearing it, the door of his chamber was left open. But the king’s son
soon fell asleep; and when he awoke in the morning he found that the
princesses had all been dancing, for the soles of their shoes were
full of holes. The same thing happened the second and third night:
so the king ordered his head to be cut off.

After him came several others; but they had all the same luck, and
all lost their lives in the same manner. Now it chanced that an old
soldier, who had been wounded in battle and could fight no longer,
passed through the country where this king reigned: and as he was
travelling through a wood, he met an old woman, who asked him where
he was going. " I hardly know where I am going, or what I had better
do," said the soldier; " But I think I should like very well to find out
where it is, that the princesses dance, and then in time I might
be a king."

" Well," said the old dame, " That is no very hard task: only take
care not to drink any of the wine which one of the princesses will
bring to you in the evening; and as soon as she leaves you pretend
to be fast asleep." Then she gave him a cloak(Anything that covers
or conceals), and said, " As soon as you put that on you will become
invisible, and you will then be able to follow the princesses
wherever they go." When the soldier heard all this good counsel, he
determined to try his luck: so he went to the king, and said he was
willing to undertake the task.

He was as well received as the others had been, and the king
ordered fine royal robes to be given him; and when the evening came
he was led to the outer chamber. Just as he was going to lie down,
the eldest of the princesses brought him a cup of wine; but the
soldier threw it all away secretly, taking care not to drink a drop.
Then he laid himself down on his bed, and in a little while began to
snore very loud as if he was fast asleep. When the twelve princesses
heard this they laughed heartily; and the eldest said, " This fellow
too might have done a wiser thing than lose his life in this way !"

Then they rose up and opened their drawers and boxes, and took out
all their fine clothes, and dressed themselves at the glass, and skipped
about as if they were eager to begin dancing. But the youngest said,
" I don’t know how it is, while you are so happy I feel very uneasy;
I am sure some mischance will befall us." " You simpleton," said the
eldest, " You are always afraid; have you forgotten how many kings'
sons have already watched in vain ? And as for this soldier, even if I
had not given him his sleeping draught, he would have slept soundly
enough."

When they were all ready, they went and looked at the soldier; but
he snored on, and did not stir hand or foot: so they thought they
were quite safe; and the eldest went up to her own bed and clapped
her hands, and the bed sank into the floor and a trap door flew
open. The soldier saw them going down through the trap door one
after another, the eldest leading the way; and thinking he had no
time to lose, he jumped up, put on the cloak which the old woman
had given him, and followed them; but in the middle of the stairs he
trod on the gown of the youngest princess, and she cried out to
her sisters,

" All is not right; someone took hold of my gown." " You silly
creature !" said the eldest, " It is nothing but a nail in the wall."
Then down they all went, and at the bottom they found themselves
in a most delightful grove of trees; and the leaves were all of
silver, and glittered and sparkled beautifully. The soldier wished
to take away some token of the place; so he broke off a little
branch, and there came a loud noise from the tree. Then the
youngest daughter said again, " I am sure all is not right, did
not you hear that noise ? That never happened before."

But the eldest said, " It is only our princes, who are shouting for
joy at our approach." Then they came to another grove of trees,
where all the leaves were of gold; and afterwards to a third,
where the leaves were all glittering diamonds. And the soldier broke
a branch from each; and every time there was a loud noise, which
made the youngest sister tremble with fear; but the eldest still
said, it was only the princes, who were crying for joy.

So they went on till they came to a great lake; and at the side of
the lake there lay twelve little boats with twelve handsome princes
in them, who seemed to be waiting there for the princesses. One
of the princesses went into each boat, and the soldier stepped into
the same boat with the youngest. As they were rowing over the
lake, the prince who was in the boat with the youngest princess
and the soldier said, " I do not know why it is, but though I am
rowing with all my might we do not get on so fast as usual, and
I am quite tired: the boat seems very heavy today."

" It is only the heat of the weather," said the princess: " I feel it
very warm too." On the other side of the lake stood a fine
illuminated castle, from which came the merry music of horns and
trumpets. There they all landed, and went into the castle, and each
prince danced with his princess; and the soldier, who was all the
time invisible, danced with them too; and when any of the princesses
had a cup of wine set by her, he drank it all up, so that when she
put the cup to her mouth it was empty.

At this, too, the youngest sister was terribly frightened, but the
eldest always silenced her. They danced on till three o’clock in the
morning, and then all their shoes were worn out, so that they
were obliged to leave off. The princes rowed them back again over
the lake (but this time the soldier placed himself in the boat with
the eldest princess); and on the opposite shore they took leave
of each other, the princesses promising to come again the next
night. When they came to the stairs, the soldier ran on before the
princesses, and laid himself down; and as the twelve sisters slowly
came up very much tired, they heard him snoring in his bed; so
they said,

" Now all is quite safe"; then they undressed themselves, put away
their fine clothes, pulled off their shoes, and went to bed. In the
morning the soldier said nothing about what had happened, but
determined to see more of this strange adventure, and went again
the second and third night; and every thing happened just as
before; the princesses danced each time till their shoes were worn
to pieces, and then returned home. However, on the third night
the soldier carried away one of the golden cups as a token of
where he had been.

As soon as the time came when he was to declare the secret, he was
taken before the king with the three branches and the golden cup;
and the twelve princesses stood listening behind the door to hear
what he would say. And when the king asked him. " Where do my
twelve daughters dance at night ?" he answered, " With twelve
princes in a castle under ground." And then he told the king all
that had happened, and showed him the three branches and the
golden cup which he had brought with him.

Then the king called for the princesses, and asked them whether what
the soldier said was true: and when they saw that they were
discovered, and that it was of no use to deny what had happened,
they confessed it all. And the king asked the soldier which of them
he would choose for his wife; and he answered, " I am not very
young, so I will have the eldest." And they were married that very
day, and the soldier was chosen to be the king’s heir(person who
inherits some title/whole country).

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Norshahuddin Edited April 2014...^^..