Prevod

Once upon a time there were a king and queen who lived peacefully together and had twelve children, all of them boys. Now the king said to his wife, "If the thirteenth child you bring into the world is a girl, the twelve boys must die, so that her wealth may be great and the kingdom hers alone." He also had twelve coffins made, already filled with wood shavings, with a burial pillow in each, and had them taken into a locked room. Then he gave the queen the key and commanded her to tell no one about it.

Now the mother sat grieving all day long, until her youngest son, who was always with her and whom she had named Benjamin after the Bible, said to her, "Dear Mother, why are you so sad?" "Dearest child," she answered, "I must not tell you." But he gave her no peace until she went and unlocked the room and showed him the twelve coffins, already filled with wood shavings. Then she said, "My dearest Benjamin, your father has had these coffins made for you and your eleven brothers, for if I give birth to a girl, you are all to be killed and buried in them." And as she wept while she spoke, her son comforted her and said, "Do not cry, dear Mother. We shall find a way to save ourselves, and we shall go away." But she said, "Go into the forest with your eleven brothers, and let one of you always sit in the tallest tree you can find, keeping watch and looking towards the castle tower. If I give birth to a little son, I shall raise a white flag, and then you may come home. If I give birth to a little daughter, I shall raise a red flag, and then you must flee as fast as you can, and may dear God protect you. Every night I shall rise and pray for you: in winter, that you may have a fire to warm yourselves by, and in summer, that you may not languish in the heat."

After she had blessed her sons in this way, they went into the forest. They took turns keeping watch, sitting in the tallest oak and looking towards the tower. When eleven days had passed and Benjamin's turn came, he saw a flag being raised. But it was not the white flag; it was the blood-red flag, proclaiming that they must all die. When the brothers heard this, they grew angry and said, "Must we suffer death for the sake of a girl? We swear we shall have our revenge. Wherever we find a girl, her blood shall flow."

Then they went deeper into the forest, and in its very heart, where it was darkest, they found a little enchanted cottage standing empty. They said, "We shall live here, and you, Benjamin, since you are the youngest and weakest, shall stay at home and keep house, while the rest of us go out and fetch food." So they went into the forest and shot hares, wild deer, birds, and little doves, and whatever they found to eat they brought to Benjamin, who had to prepare it for them so that they could satisfy their hunger. They lived together in the little cottage for ten years, and the time did not hang heavy on their hands.

The little daughter whom their mother, the queen, had borne had now grown older. She was good-hearted and fair of face, and had a golden star on her forehead. Once, on a great washing day, she saw twelve men's shirts among the laundry and asked her mother, "Whose are these twelve shirts? They are much too small for Father." The queen answered with a heavy heart, "Dear child, they belong to your twelve brothers." "Where are my twelve brothers?" asked the girl. "I have never heard of them before." Her mother answered, "God knows where they are. They are wandering about the world." Then she took the girl, unlocked the room for her, and showed her the twelve coffins with their wood shavings and burial pillows. "These coffins," she said, "were meant for your brothers, but they went away in secret before you were born," and she told her how everything had happened. Then the girl said, "Dear Mother, do not cry. I shall go and look for my brothers."

So she took the twelve shirts and went away, straight into the great forest. She walked all day, and in the evening she came to the enchanted cottage. She went inside and found a young boy, who asked, "Where have you come from, and where are you going?" He marvelled at her beauty, her royal clothes, and the star on her forehead. She answered, "I am a king's daughter, and I am looking for my twelve brothers. I shall go as far as the sky is blue until I find them." She also showed him the twelve shirts that belonged to them. Then Benjamin saw that she was his sister and said, "I am Benjamin, your youngest brother." She began to weep for joy, and so did Benjamin, and they kissed and embraced each other with great love. Afterwards he said, "Dear sister, there is still one difficulty. We agreed that every girl we met should die, because we had to leave our kingdom on account of a girl." She said, "I will gladly die if by doing so I can save my twelve brothers." "No," he answered, "you shall not die. Hide beneath this tub until the eleven brothers come home, and then I shall find a way to bring them round." She did so, and when night fell, the others returned from the hunt, and the meal was ready. As they sat at the table eating, they asked, "What news is there?" Benjamin said, "Have you heard nothing?" "No," they answered. He went on, "You have been in the forest, and I have stayed at home, yet I know more than you do." "Then tell us!" they cried. He answered, "Will you promise me that the first girl we meet shall not be killed?" "Yes," they all cried, "she shall be spared. Only tell us!" Then he said, "Our sister is here," and lifted the tub. The king's daughter came out in her royal clothes, with the golden star on her forehead, so beautiful, delicate, and fair. Then they all rejoiced, threw their arms about her neck and kissed her, and loved her with all their hearts.

Now she stayed at home with Benjamin and helped him with his work. The other eleven went into the forest and caught game, deer, birds, and little doves, so that they would have food, while their sister and Benjamin saw to its preparation. She gathered wood for cooking and herbs for their vegetables, and set the pots by the fire, so that the meal was always ready when the eleven came home. She also kept the little cottage tidy and made up the little beds with clean white linen, and the brothers were always content and lived with her in great harmony.

One day the two at home had prepared a fine meal, and when they were all together, they sat down, ate and drank, and were full of joy. Now beside the enchanted cottage there was a little garden in which twelve lilies grew, also known as students' flowers. Wishing to give her brothers a little pleasure, she picked the twelve flowers, meaning to give one to each of them after the meal. But the very instant she picked the flowers, the twelve brothers were changed into twelve ravens and flew away over the forest, and the house and garden vanished too. Now the poor girl was all alone in the wild forest, and when she looked around, an old woman was standing beside her, who said, "My child, what have you done? Why did you not leave the twelve white flowers growing? They were your brothers, and now they are changed into ravens for ever." The girl asked, weeping, "Is there no way to free them?" "No," said the old woman, "there is none in all the world but one, and that is so difficult that you will never free them by it. You must remain silent for seven years: you must neither speak nor laugh. If you utter a single word, even if only one hour remains of the seven years, all will have been in vain, and that one word will kill your brothers."

Then the girl said in her heart, "I know for certain that I shall free my brothers." She went and found a tall tree, climbed into it, and sat there spinning, neither speaking nor laughing. Now it happened that a king was hunting in the forest. He had a large greyhound, which ran to the tree where the girl was sitting, leapt about, and howled and barked up at her. The king came over and saw the beautiful princess with the golden star on her forehead, and was so enchanted by her beauty that he called up to ask whether she would become his wife. She gave no answer, but nodded her head a little. Then he climbed the tree himself, carried her down, set her on his horse, and took her home. Their wedding was celebrated with great splendour and joy, but the bride neither spoke nor laughed. After they had lived happily together for a few years, the king's mother, who was a wicked woman, began to slander the young queen, saying to the king, "It is a common beggar girl you have brought home. Who knows what godless mischief she gets up to in secret? If she is mute and cannot speak, she might at least laugh once in a while. Anyone who never laughs has a guilty conscience." At first the king would not believe her, but the old woman persisted for so long and accused the queen of so many wicked things that at last he let himself be persuaded and condemned her to death.

Now a great fire was lit in the courtyard, and she was to be burned in it. The king stood at a window above and watched with tears in his eyes, for he still loved her so dearly. And when she was already bound to the stake and the fire was licking at her clothes with red tongues, the very last moment of the seven years passed. Then a whirring was heard in the air, and twelve ravens came flying towards her and swooped down. As soon as they touched the earth, they became her twelve brothers, whom she had freed. They tore the fire apart, put out the flames, released their dear sister, and kissed and embraced her. Now that she could open her mouth and speak, she told the king why she had been silent and had never laughed. The king rejoiced to hear that she was innocent, and they all lived together in harmony until their deaths. The wicked stepmother was brought to trial and put into a barrel filled with boiling oil and venomous snakes, and died a terrible death.