Author: Hans Christian Andersen

Far away, in the land where swallows fly during winter, there lived a king who had eleven sons and one daughter named Eliza. The eleven brothers were princes, each going to school with a star on his chest and a sword by his side. They wrote with diamond pencils on golden slates and learned their lessons so quickly and read so easily that everyone knew they were princes. Their sister Eliza sat on a little stool made of glass and had a book full of pictures that cost as much as half a kingdom.

These children were very happy, but it didn't last long. Their father, the king, married a queen who didn't love the children and turned out to be a wicked sorceress. The queen showed her unkindness on the very first day. While the big celebrations were happening at the palace, the children played at hosting guests. But instead of sending them the leftover cakes and apples, as was customary, the queen gave them some sand in a teacup and told them to pretend it was something good. The next week, she sent little Eliza into the countryside to live with a peasant and his wife. Then she told the king so many lies about the young princes that he stopped caring about them.

"Go out into the world and take care of yourselves," said the queen. "Fly like great birds without a voice." But she couldn't make it as bad for them as she wanted, because they turned into eleven beautiful wild swans. With a strange cry, they flew through the palace windows, over the park, and into the forest beyond. It was still early morning when they passed the peasant's cottage where their sister lay asleep in her room. They hovered over the roof, twisting their long necks and flapping their wings, but no one heard or saw them, so they eventually flew away, high up in the clouds, and over the wide world until they reached a thick, dark forest that stretched far to the seashore.