The Twelve Dancing Princesses

There was once a king who had twelve daughters.

Each was beautiful, and each seemed lovelier than the one before her.

They slept together in a great chamber where twelve beds stood side by side. Every evening, when the princesses had gone to bed, the king locked the door himself and drew the bolt.

Yet every morning, when he opened the chamber again, he found something impossible.

The princesses’ shoes were worn through.

Not merely scuffed.

Not merely dusty.

They looked as though the twelve girls had danced in them for an entire night.

The king questioned his daughters.

None would tell him anything.

He questioned the servants.

They knew nothing.

Guards were posted.

Doors were watched.

Windows were inspected.

Still, every morning, twelve pairs of shoes lay ruined beside twelve beds.

At last the king sent a proclamation throughout the kingdom.

Whoever could discover where his daughters went at night, and where they danced their shoes to pieces, would be permitted to choose one of the twelve princesses as his wife.

And after the king's death, that man would inherit the kingdom.

But there was a condition.

He would have only three nights to solve the mystery.

If he failed, he would lose his life.

It was not long before a prince arrived at the palace.

He was handsome, confident, and certain that no secret could escape him.

That evening he was taken to a chamber adjoining the princesses' room.

His door was left open so that he might watch them.

Before the princesses went to bed, the eldest brought him a cup of wine.

He drank it.

Soon his eyes grew heavy.

He lay down.

And almost at once, he fell into a deep sleep.

The princesses waited.

When they heard him snoring, they laughed.

“There is another one who thought himself clever,” said one.

Then they rose from their beds.

They opened wardrobes and chests.

They dressed themselves in magnificent gowns.

They brushed their hair, fastened jewels at their throats, and put on their finest dancing shoes.

Only the youngest seemed uneasy.

“I do not know why,” she whispered, “but I feel that something is wrong.”

The eldest princess smiled.

“You are always frightened of shadows.”

“But so many men have already died because of us.”

“They knew the risk.”

The youngest said nothing more.

Soon all twelve were ready.

And while the prince slept beside them, the princesses vanished into the night.

In the morning, their shoes were worn through.

The prince had seen nothing.

The second night passed exactly as the first.

And the third.

When the king asked what he had discovered, the prince could give no answer.

His life was forfeited.

Others came after him.

Some were princes.

Some were noblemen.

Some boasted of their cleverness before they had even entered the palace.

Each was given three nights.

Each drank the wine.

Each slept.

And each failed.

One day, far from the palace, an old soldier was walking along a road.

He had been wounded in war and could no longer serve in the army.

He had little money and no idea where he was going.

As he walked, he met an old woman.

“Where are you travelling?” she asked.

The soldier shrugged.

“I scarcely know myself.”

Then, half joking, he added:

“Perhaps I shall go to the king and discover where his twelve daughters dance at night. Then I may become king myself.”

The old woman studied him.

“That may not be so difficult as you think.”

The soldier laughed.

“Then perhaps you know the secret?”

“No. But I know how you may find it.”

She leaned closer.

“When one of the princesses brings you wine before you sleep, do not drink it.”

The soldier listened carefully.

“Pretend to fall asleep. Snore loudly if you must.”

Then the old woman gave him a cloak.

“And take this.”

The soldier unfolded it.

It looked ordinary enough.

“What does it do?”

“When you wear it, no one can see you.”

The soldier thanked her and continued toward the palace.

When he arrived, he told the king that he wished to attempt the mystery.

The king looked at the old soldier.

He was certainly not a prince.

But the proclamation had not required one.

So the king agreed.

That evening the soldier was led to the chamber beside the princesses.

Everything happened as the old woman had predicted.

The eldest princess entered carrying a cup of wine.

“For you,” she said.

The soldier accepted it.

He brought the cup to his lips, but instead of drinking, he secretly poured the wine away.

Then he lay down.

Before long he began to snore.

The princesses listened.

“He is asleep,” said one.

The eldest smiled.

“He will discover no more than the others.”

They rose from their beds and dressed themselves in splendid gowns.

The youngest princess looked toward the soldier.

“I have a strange feeling tonight.”

“Again?” said the eldest.

“My heart will not be still.”

“Then tell it to be still.”

The others laughed.

When they were ready, the eldest went to her bed and struck it.

The bed sank slowly into the floor.

Beneath it appeared a hidden staircase.

One by one the princesses descended.

The soldier rose immediately.

He wrapped himself in the old woman's cloak.

Invisible, he followed them.

The youngest princess was walking last.

As the soldier stepped onto the staircase, he accidentally trod upon the hem of her dress.

She stopped.

“Someone touched my gown.”

The eldest looked back.

“Nonsense.”

“I felt it.”

“You caught it on a nail.”

The youngest reluctantly continued.

The staircase descended deep beneath the palace.

At its end stood a forest unlike any the soldier had ever seen.

The trees were covered entirely in silver leaves.

As the princesses passed beneath them, the branches shimmered in the darkness.

The soldier broke off a twig.

The moment it snapped, a clear ringing sound echoed through the forest.

The youngest princess froze.

“Did you hear that?”

The eldest sighed.

“That was merely a branch.”

“But why would a branch break by itself?”

“Perhaps one of the princes has arranged some celebration for us.”

They continued.

Soon they entered a second forest.

Here every leaf was made of gold.

The soldier broke another twig.

Again a ringing sound passed through the trees.

The youngest princess turned pale.

“There! Again!”

But the eldest would not listen.

“There is nothing behind us.”

At last they came to a third forest.

Its leaves shone like diamonds.

Moonlight—or something resembling moonlight—glittered in every branch.

The soldier broke a third twig.

The sound was brighter than before.

The youngest princess looked behind her.

Nothing was there.

Still she whispered:

“I wish we had stayed home tonight.”

Beyond the diamond forest lay a great lake.

Upon its dark water waited twelve little boats.

And in each boat stood a prince.

The princesses greeted them.

Each princess stepped into the boat of her chosen companion.

The invisible soldier climbed into the boat belonging to the youngest princess.

Almost at once, the prince began to row.

He frowned.

“This boat is strangely heavy tonight.”

The youngest princess shivered.

“I told you something was wrong.”

The prince laughed.

“You are imagining things.”

The boats glided across the lake.

On the opposite shore stood a magnificent underground castle.

From within came the sound of trumpets, drums, and music.

Golden lights shone through its windows.

The princes led the princesses inside.

And there they danced.

The soldier followed them unseen.

Whenever a princess lifted a cup of wine, he sometimes drank from it before she could.

The youngest princess raised her cup and found it empty.

She stared at it.

“This was full.”

One of her sisters laughed.

“You must have drunk it already.”

“I did not.”

Again she looked around the hall.

Nothing.

Music filled the castle.

The princesses danced until their shoes began to wear away beneath them.

Hour after hour they turned beneath the lights.

The invisible soldier watched everything.

At last, when three o'clock in the morning approached and the shoes were completely worn through, the music stopped.

The twelve princes escorted the princesses back to the lake.

This time the soldier stepped into the eldest princess's boat.

Again the prince complained that the boat was unusually heavy.

The princesses crossed the lake.

They passed once more through the diamond forest, the golden forest, and the silver forest.

They climbed the secret staircase.

Before they reached the top, the soldier hurried ahead.

He removed the cloak, threw himself onto his bed, and began to snore.

When the princesses entered their chamber, he seemed to have been sleeping all night.

“So far as he is concerned,” said one, “we are safe.”

They removed their gowns.

They placed their ruined shoes beneath their beds.

And they slept.

The next morning, the king asked the soldier what he had learned.

The soldier bowed.

“I would prefer to watch for another night.”

The king agreed.

The second night unfolded almost exactly like the first.

Again the princesses dressed themselves.

Again they descended through the hidden passage.

Again they crossed the three enchanted forests.

Again they sailed across the lake.

Again they danced in the underground castle until their shoes were ruined.

And again the soldier returned before them and pretended to sleep.

Still he said nothing.

On the third night, he followed once more.

But this time, while the princesses danced, the soldier took one of the golden cups from the castle and hid it beneath his cloak.

Then he returned with them as before.

The next morning the king summoned him.

The twelve princesses stood nearby.

They watched him closely.

The eldest princess remained calm.

The youngest looked afraid.

The king asked:

“Where do my daughters dance their shoes to pieces every night?”

The soldier answered:

“Beneath this palace lies a secret staircase. It leads through three enchanted forests—one of silver, one of gold, and one of diamonds.”

The princesses grew still.

“Beyond those forests lies a lake, where twelve princes wait in twelve boats.”

The youngest princess lowered her eyes.

“Across the lake stands an underground castle. It is there that your daughters dance every night until their shoes are worn through.”

The eldest princess turned pale.

The king stared at the soldier.

“What proof have you?”

The soldier reached beneath his cloak.

First he placed a silver branch before the king.

Then a golden one.

Then a branch that glittered like diamonds.

Finally, he placed the golden cup from the underground castle beside them.

The king summoned his daughters.

“Is this true?”

The princesses looked at the branches.

They looked at the cup.

There was no use denying it.

At last, they confessed.

The king turned to the soldier.

“You have solved the mystery. According to my promise, you may choose one of my daughters as your wife.”

The soldier looked along the line of twelve princesses.

Then he smiled.

“I am no longer young,” he said. “So give me the eldest.”

The wedding was celebrated that very day.

And the king promised that after his death, the soldier would inherit the kingdom.

As for the twelve princes beneath the earth, their enchantment was not ended.

They were condemned to remain bewitched for as many nights as they had danced with the princesses.

And beneath the palace, beyond the hidden staircase and the forests of silver, gold, and diamond, the empty castle waited in silence.