The Twelve Brothers

 9. The Twelve Brothers (Die zwoelf Brueder)

There were once on a time a king and a queen who lived happily together and had twelve children, but they were all boys. Then said the King to his wife, “If the thirteenth child which thou art about to bring into the world, is a girl, the twelve boys shall die, in order that her possessions may be great, and that the kingdom may fall to her alone.” He caused likewise twelve coffins to be made, which were already filled with shavings, and in each lay the little pillow for the dead, and he had them taken into a locked-up room, and then he gave the Queen the key of it, and bade her not to speak of this to any one.

The mother, however, now sat and lamented all day long, until the youngest son, who was always with her, and whom she had named Benjamin, from the Bible, said to her, “Dear mother, why art thou so sad?”

“Dearest child,” she answered, “I may not tell thee.” But he let her have no rest until she went and unlocked the room, and showed him the twelve coffins ready filled with shavings. Then she said, “my dearest Benjamin, thy father has had these coffins made for thee and for thy eleven brothers, for if I bring a little girl into the world, you are all to be killed and buried in them.” And as she wept while she was saying this, the son comforted her and said, “Weep not, dear mother, we will save ourselves, and go hence.” But she said, “Go forth into the forest with thy eleven brothers, and let one sit constantly on the highest tree which can be found, and keep watch, looking towards the tower here in the castle. If I give birth to a little son, I will put up a white flag, and then you may venture to come back, but if I bear a daughter, I will hoist a red flag, and then fly hence as quickly as you are able, and may the good God protect you. And every night I will rise up and pray for you—in winter that you may be able to warm yourself at a fire, and in summer that you may not faint away in the heat.”

After she had blessed her sons therefore, they went forth into the forest. They each kept watch in turn, and sat on the highest oak and looked towards the tower. When eleven days had passed and the turn came to Benjamin, he saw that a flag was being raised. It was, however, not the white, but the blood-red flag which announced that they were all to die. When the brothers heard that, they were very angry and said, “Are we all to suffer death for the sake of a girl? We swear that we will avenge ourselves!—wheresoever we find a girl, her red blood shall flow.”

Thereupon they went deeper into the forest, and in the midst of it, where it was the darkest, they found a little bewitched hut, which was standing empty. Then said they, “Here we will dwell, and thou Benjamin, who art the youngest and weakest, thou shalt stay at home and keep house, we others will go out and get food.” Then they went into the forest and shot hares, wild deer, birds and pigeons, and whatsoever there was to eat; this they took to Benjamin, who had to dress it for them in order that they might appease their hunger. They lived together ten years in the little hut, and the time did not appear long to them.

The little daughter which their mother the Queen had given birth to, was now grown up; she was good of heart, and fair of face, and had a golden star on her forehead. Once, when it was the great washing, she saw twelve men’s shirts among the things, and asked her mother, “To whom do these twelve shirts belong, for they are far too small for father?” Then the Queen answered with a heavy heart, “Dear child, these belong to thy twelve brothers.” Said the maiden, “Where are my twelve brothers, I have never yet heard of them?” She replied, “God knows where they are, they are wandering about the world.” Then she took the maiden and opened the chamber for her, and showed her the twelve coffins with the shavings, and pillows for the head. “These coffins,” said she, “were destined for thy brothers, but they went away secretly before thou wert born,” and she related to her how everything had happened; then said the maiden, “Dear mother, weep not, I will go and seek my brothers.”

So she took the twelve shirts and went forth, and straight into the great forest. She walked the whole day, and in the evening she came to the bewitched hut. Then she entered it and found a young boy, who asked, “From whence comest thou, and whither art thou bound?” and was astonished that she was so beautiful, and wore royal garments, and had a star on her forehead. And she answered, “I am a king’s daughter, and am seeking my twelve brothers, and I will walk as far as the sky is blue until I find them.” She likewise showed him the twelve shirts which belonged to them. Then Benjamin saw that she was his sister, and said, “I am Benjamin, thy youngest brother.” And she began to weep for joy, and Benjamin wept also, and they kissed and embraced each other with the greatest love. But after this he said, “Dear sister, there is still one difficulty. We have agreed that every maiden whom we meet shall die, because we have been obliged to leave our kingdom on account of a girl.” Then said she, “I will willingly die, if by so doing I can deliver my twelve brothers.”

“No,” answered he, “thou shalt not die, seat thyself beneath this tub until our eleven brothers come, and then I will soon come to an agreement with them.”

She did so, and when it was night the others came from hunting, and their dinner was ready. And as they were sitting at table, and eating, they asked, “What news is there?” Said Benjamin, “Don’t you know anything?” “No,” they answered. He continued, “You have been in the forest and I have stayed at home, and yet I know more than you do.” “Tell us then,” they cried. He answered, “But promise me that the first maiden who meets us shall not be killed.” “Yes,” they all cried, “she shall have mercy, only do tell us.”

Then said he, “Our sister is here,” and he lifted up the tub, and the King’s daughter came forth in her royal garments with the golden star on her forehead, and she was beautiful, delicate and fair. Then they were all rejoiced, and fell on her neck, and kissed and loved her with all their hearts.

Now she stayed at home with Benjamin and helped him with the work. The eleven went into the forest and caught game, and deer, and birds, and wood-pigeons that they might have food, and the little sister and Benjamin took care to make it ready for them. She sought for the wood for cooking and herbs for vegetables, and put the pans on the fire so that the dinner was always ready when the eleven came. She likewise kept order in the little house, and put beautifully white clean coverings on the little beds, and the brothers were always contented and lived in great harmony with her.

Once on a time the two at home had prepared a beautiful entertainment, and when they were all together, they sat down and ate and drank and were full of gladness. There was, however, a little garden belonging to the bewitched house wherein stood twelve lily flowers, which are likewise called students. She wished to give her brothers pleasure, and plucked the twelve flowers, and thought she would present each brother with one while at dinner. But at the self-same moment that she plucked the flowers the twelve brothers were changed into twelve ravens, and flew away over the forest, and the house and garden vanished likewise. And now the poor maiden was alone in the wild forest, and when she looked around, an old woman was standing near her who said, “My child, what hast thou done? Why didst thou not leave the twelve white flowers growing? They were thy brothers, who are now for evermore changed into ravens.” The maiden said, weeping, “Is there no way of delivering them?”

“No,” said the woman, “there is but one in the whole world, and that is so hard that thou wilt not deliver them by it, for thou must be dumb for seven years, and mayst not speak or laugh, and if thou speakest one single word, and only an hour of the seven years is wanting, all is in vain, and thy brothers will be killed by the one word.”

Then said the maiden in her heart, “I know with certainty that I shall set my brothers free,” and went and sought a high tree and seated herself in it and span, and neither spoke nor laughed. Now it so happened that a king was hunting in the forest, who had a great greyhound which ran to the tree on which the maiden was sitting, and sprang about it, whining, and barking at her. Then the King came by and saw the beautiful King’s daughter with the golden star on her brow, and was so charmed with her beauty that he called to ask her if she would be his wife. She made no answer, but nodded a little with her head. So he climbed up the tree himself, carried her down, placed her on his horse, and bore her home. Then the wedding was solemnized with great magnificence and rejoicing, but the bride neither spoke nor smiled. When they had lived happily together for a few years, the King’s mother, who was a wicked woman, began to slander the young Queen, and said to the King, “This is a common beggar girl whom thou hast brought back with thee. Who knows what impious tricks she practises secretly! Even if she be dumb, and not able to speak, she still might laugh for once; but those who do not laugh have bad consciences.” At first the King would not believe it, but the old woman urged this so long, and accused her of so many evil things, that at last the King let himself be persuaded and sentenced her to death.

And now a great fire was lighted in the courtyard in which she was to be burnt, and the King stood above at the window and looked on with tearful eyes, because he still loved her so much. And when she was bound fast to the stake, and the fire was licking at her clothes with its red tongue, the last instant of the seven years expired. Then a whirring sound was heard in the air, and twelve ravens came flying towards the place, and sank downwards, and when they touched the earth they were her twelve brothers, whom she had delivered. They tore the fire asunder, extinguished the flames, set their dear sister free, and kissed and embraced her. And now as she dared to open her mouth and speak, she told the King why she had been dumb, and had never laughed. The King rejoiced when he heard that she was innocent, and they all lived in great unity until their death. The wicked step-mother was taken before the judge, and put into a barrel filled with boiling oil and venomous snakes, and died an evil death.

My Notes

• This is the translation of Margaret Hunt.
• This is tale type 451 (The Brothers Who Were Turned Into Birds). The Brothers Grimm actually included other stories of this type in their collection, The Seven Ravens and The Six Swans, the latter of which is very similar to Andersen's The Wild Swans, another type 451 tale.
• This story was present in all seven editions of Grimms' collection, and was always placed as the ninth tale. However, the story was expanded upon as various edits were made.

1812 version

Once upon a time there was a king who had twelve children who were all boys. He didn't want a girl, so he said to the queen, "If the thirteenth child you bring into the world is a girl, I'll have the other twelve killed, but if it is a boy, then they should all live together.” The queen tried to talk him out of it, but the king wouldn't listen. "If it's as I said, then they must die, I'd rather cut off their heads than have a girl among them."

Then the queen was sad, for she loved her sons with all her heart and did not know how to save them. Finally she went to the youngest, whom she loved above all, revealed to him what the king had decided and said, "Dearest child, go out into the forest with your eleven brothers, stay there and don't come home. One of you must always sit in a tree and keep watch of this tower. If I give birth to a son, I will hang a white flag on top, but if it is a daughter I will hang a red flag, and when you see that, then save yourselves, flee in the wide world, and may God protect you. I will get up every night and pray for you; when it's cold in winter that you don't freeze and a warm fire burns in front of you, and when it's hot in summer that you rest and sleep in a cool forest."

So she blessed the children and they went away into the forest. They often looked at the tower, and one of them had to sit on a tall oak tree and keep watch. Soon, too, a flag was put up, but it was not the white flag but the red blood flag that threatened them with destruction. When the boys saw this, they all got angry and cried, "Shall we lose our life for the sake of a girl?" So they swore together to stay in the middle of the forest and to be careful, and if a girl ever showed up, they would kill her without mercy.

Then they looked for a cave where the forest was darkest, and there they lived. Every morning eleven of them went out hunting, but one had to stay at home, cook, and take care of the household. And every girl who met the eleven was killed without mercy, and this went on for many years.

But the little sister at home grew up and remained the only child. Once she had a lot of laundry, including twelve men's shirts. "Who are these shirts for?" asked the princess. "They're much too small for my father." The laundress told her that she had twelve brothers who had gone away secretly, no one knew where, because the king had wanted to have them killed, and these twelve shirts belonged to these twelve brothers. The little sister was surprised that she never heard anything about her twelve brothers, and, when they were sitting in the meadow in the afternoon and the laundry was drying, the words of the washerwoman came back to her, and she became thoughtful, and, getting up, she took the twelve shirts and went into the forest where her brothers lived.

The little sister came to the cave where they had their dwelling. The eleven were out hunting and there was only one at home who had to cook. As soon as he saw the girl, he grabbed her and drew his sword, saying, "Kneel down, for your red blood must flow at this moment!"

But the girl begged him: "Dear sir, let me live, I want to stay with you and serve you honestly, I want to cook and run the household.” She was, in fact, speaking to the youngest brother, who took pity on the girl's beauty and let her live. When the eleven came home and were amazed to find a girl alive in the cave, he said to them, "Dear brothers, this girl has come into the cave, and when I was about to cut her down, she begged so much to live. She wants to serve us faithfully and run the household. So I let her live." The others thought that this would be to their advantage, and that all twelve of them could now go hunting, and they were content. Then she showed them the twelve little shirts and said that she was their sister. At this news, they all rejoiced, and were glad that they had not killed her.

The little sister now took over the household, and when the brothers were out hunting, she gathered wood and herbs, helped by the fire, made the beds pretty white and clean, and did everything diligently. One day, when she had finished all her work, she went for a walk in the woods and came to a place where twelve beautiful, tall, white lilies stood, and because she liked them so much, she picked all of them. But no sooner had that happened than an old woman stood in front of her, saying, “Oh, my daughter, why didn't you leave the twelve flowers there? These are your twelve brothers, who have now all been turned into ravens and are lost forever."

The little sister began to cry. "Oh!" she said, "isn't there any way of freeing them?"

"No, there is no way in the world except one, but it's so difficult that you won't free them with it, because you'll have to be silent for twelve years. You won't be allowed to speak, and you won't allowed to laugh, and if you speak a single word and there's only an hour left in the twelve years, everything will in vain, and your brothers will be killed by the word."

The little sister sat down in a high tree in the forest and spun, sitting in silence for twelve years to free her brothers. But it happened that the king was riding through the forest on a hunt, and when he passed the tree, his dog stood still and barked. The king now stopped, looked up, and was amazed at the beauty of the princess. He called out to her if she wanted to be his wife. But she was silent and only nodded her head a little. Then the king himself climbed up and lifted her down, put her on his horse in front of him, and brought her home to his castle, where the wedding was held splendidly. But the princess never spoke a word, and the king thought she was mute. But they would have lived happily together if it had not been for the king's mother, who began to slander the queen to her son, saying "She is a common beggar girl, that you brought with you from abroad, who does the most shameful things behind your back."

Because the queen could not defend herself, the king allowed himself to be deceived and finally believed his mother and sentenced the girl to death. A great fire was kindled in the courtyard, in which she was to be burned. She was already in the flames and they were burning the ends of her dress, when the last minute of the twelve years finally passed. There was a noise in the air, and twelve ravens came flying over and settled down. As they touched the ground, the twelve fair princes tore the fire apart and brought out their sister. Then she spoke her first word again and told the king everything that had happened and how she had to free the twelve brothers, and they were all happy that things had turned out so well.

Now came the question of what they should do with the wicked stepmother. So she was put in a barrel full of boiling oil and filled with poisonous snakes, and died a horrible death.