Once upon a time, in a distant kingdom, a king had twelve sons and one daughter. The queen, their mother, had long since died and the king had remarried. 

But the new queen was a wicked and jealous woman. She did not love his children at all. In his presence she pretended to take care of them, but when he was away, she spoke badly to them and made them do all sorts of chores.

Meanwhile, war broke out in a neighboring kingdom and the king went off to fight. Unfortunately, a short time later, word came that he had been killed in battle. The wicked queen then took the opportunity to banish the princess from the palace.

“Yes, my daughter, come with me. We will share everything I have.”

“My dear grandfather, won’t you take me with you? I will help you as best I can. I am all alone and an orphan.”

The princess walked for days, not knowing which way to go, until she met an old man tending his sheep.

The princess spent a long time in the old man's hut. To repay his hospitality, she helped him with the sheep and did some chores. One evening, when the old man returned, he said to her:

"Come, my daughter, let me tell you something strange that I have been seeing happening for three nights now. 

Near the river, twelve birds, twelve white swans, are flying together, but as soon as they set foot on the ground, they become people!""Ah, my dear grandfather, tomorrow I want to see these birds too," the girl told him, because she had thought that perhaps they were her brothers who had been bewitched by their stepmother.

The other night the girl went with the old man to the river and indeed she saw twelve white swans descending from the sky, quacking sadly. As soon as they touched the ground, they became human beings! They were indeed her twelve brothers! The princess ran crying to them. 

They hugged, kissed and cried a lot. They did not want to leave her. So they took her with them to the cave where they stayed at night. There they spent the nights and every morning they became birds and flew into the sky.

One morning, the princess went to gather herbs to cook with. Then she saw an old woman also gathering, bent over and sighing. She went to her and asked:

“Grandma, are you okay? Do you want me to help you? Take my herbs so you don’t get tired.”

The old woman looked at her silently for a while and said:“My 

daughter, you 

have a pure heart. 

I will help you. 

You have 

You will go outside this time and gather nettles and weeds. With them, you will silently weave twelve costumes. The others will talk to you, but you will not respond. And when you are finished, you will throw them on the birds and they will become people again.”

 enchanted siblings. I know about magic. If you want to help them, do what I tell you: 

The princess loved her brothers so much that she did exactly as the old woman advised her. She would get up early in the morning, cut nettles and weeds, and all day long she would knit silently. As soon as her brothers returned in the evening, they would talk to her, but she was so sweet! They kept her company all night, and in the morning they would fly into the sky, chirping sadly. And so the time passed.

Once, in those parts, the prince went out hunting. So, as he was walking with his dog, he came to the cave. The dog kept barking, wagging its tail, it didn't stop.

The prince's behavior seemed strange to him and he said to come closer. When he entered the cave, he saw the princess knitting. She was so beautiful! The light that entered the cave gently bathed her golden hair and illuminated her radiant skin.

"Good day, beautiful! How come you are alone here?"

But she did not answer him.

"Come with me! You should not live alone in a cave! Come to the palace."

She did not answer again. The prince believed that the girl agreed and called his men to put her on the horse and take her to the palace.

There the princess knitted all day and at dusk she did chores. The prince secretly watched her and admired her grace and success. How tirelessly, sweetly and calmly she worked all day! Then he went to his father and said:

“Father, I want your permission and your blessing. I love this girl! I don’t care if she doesn’t speak. She is very worthy and beautiful.”

The king said to him:

“Since you love her, marry her.”

The servants took the girl and bathed her in the roses and herbs. And they began to dress her in silks, to fill her with gold. But she paid no attention to the baths. While they were decorating her, she did not stop knitting the costumes of her brothers.

When the day of the wedding dawned, the princess got up to go and gather nettles and grass. She had only one last costume to knit.