There it was so still that she could hear her own footsteps， as well as the rustling of every dry leaf which bent under her feet. Not one bird was to be seen， not one ray of sunlight could find its way through the great dark boughs of the trees; the lofty trunks stood so close together that when she looked before her it appeared as though she were surrounded by sets of palings one behind the other. Oh， here was a solitude such as she had never before known!

The night came on quite dark. Not a single glowworm now gleamed in the grass. Sorrowfully she lay down to sleep. Then it seemed to her as if the branches of the trees parted above her head， and mild eyes of angels looked down upon her from on high.

When the morning came， she did not know if it had really been so or if she had dreamed it.

She went a few steps forward， and then she met an old woman with berries in her basket， and the old woman gave her a few of them. Eliza asked the dame if she had not seen eleven Princes riding through the wood.

\"No，\" replied the old woman，\"but yesterday I saw eleven swans swimming in the river close by， with golden crowns on their heads.\"

And she led Eliza a short distance farther， to a declivity， and at the foot of the slope a little river wound its way. The trees on its margin stretched their long leafy branches across towards each other， and where their natural growth would not allow them to come together， the roots had been torn out of the ground， and hung， intermingled with the branches， over the water.

Eliza said farewell to the old woman， and went beside the river to the place where the stream flowed out to the great open ocean.

The whole glorious sea lay before the young girl's eyes， but not one sail appeared on its surface， and not a boat was to be seen. How was she to proceed? She looked at the innumerable little pebbles on .the shore; the water had worn them all round. Glass， ironstones， everything that was there had received its shape from the water， which was much softer than even her delicate hand.

\"It rolls on unweariedly， and thus what is hard becomes smooth. I will be just as unwearied. Thanks for your lesson， you clear rolling waves; my heart tells me that one day you will lead me to my dear brothers.\"

On the foam-covered sea grass lay eleven white swan feathers， which she collected into a bunch. Drops of water were upon them——whether they were dew-drops or tears nobody could tell. Solitary it was there on the strand， but she did not feel it， for the sea showed continual changes——more in a few hours than the lovely lakes can produce in a whole year. Then a great black cloud came. It seemed as if the sea would say， \"I can look angry， too.\" and then the wind blew， and the waves turned their white side outward. But when the clouds gleamed red and the winds slept， the sea looked like a rose leaf; sometimes it became green， sometimes white. But however quietly it might rest， there was still a slight motion on the shore; the water rose gently like the breast of a sleeping child.

When the sun was just about to set， Eliza saw eleven wild swans， with crowns on their heads， flying towards the land; they swept along one after the other， so that they looked like a long white band. Then Eliza ascended the slope and hid herself behind a bush. The swans alighted near her and flapped their great white wings.

As soon as the sun had disappeared beneath the water， the swans' feathers fell off，

and eleven handsome Princes， Eliza's brothers， stood there. She uttered aloud cry， for although they were greatly altered， she knew and felt that it must be they. And she sprang into their arms and called them by their names; and the Princes felt supremely happy when they saw their little sister again; and they knew her， though she was now tall and beautiful. They smiled and wept; and soon they understood how cruel their stepmother had been to them all.

\"We brothers，\" said the eldest， \"fly about as wild swans as long as the sun is in the sky， but directly it sinks down we receive our human form again. Therefore we must always take care that we have a resting-place for our feet when the sun sets; for if at that moment we were flying up towards the clouds， we should sink down into the deep as men. We do not dwell here; there lies a land just as fair as this beyond the sea. But the way thither is long; we must cross the great sea， and on our path there is no island where we could pass the night， only a little rock stands forth in the midst of the waves; it is but just large enough that we can rest upon it close to each other. If the sea is rough， the foam spurts far over us， but we thank God for the rock. There we pass the night in our human form; but for this rock we could never visit our beloved native land， for we require two of the longest days in the year for our journey. Only once in each year is it granted to us to visit our home. For eleven from whence we can see days we may stay here and the palace in which we were fly over the great wood，born and in which our father lives， and the high church tower， beneath whose shade our mother lies buried. Here it seems to us as though the bus hes and trees were our relatives； here the wild horses career across the steppe， as we have seen them do in our childhood; here the charcoal-burner sings the old songs to which we danced as children; here is our fatherland; hither we feel ourselves drawn， and here we have found you， our dear little sister. Two days more we may stay here; then we must away across the sea to a glorious land， but which is not our native land. How can we bear you away? For we have neither ship nor boat.\"

\"In what way can I release you?\" asked the sister; and they conversed nearly the whole night， only slumbering for a few hours.

She was awakened by the rustling of the swans' wings above her head. Her brothers were again enchanted， and they flew in wide circles and at last far away; but one of them， the youngest， remained behind， and the swan laid his head in her lap， and she stroked his wings; and the whole day they remained together. Towards evening the others came back， and when the sun had gone down they stood there in their own shapes.

\"Tomorrow we fly far away from here， and cannot come back until a whole year has gone by. But we cannot leave you thus! Have you courage to come with us? My arm is strong enough to carry you in the wood; and should not all our wings be strong enough to fly with you over the sea?\"

\"Yes， take me with you，\" said Eliza.

The whole night they were occupied in weaving a net of the pliable willow bark and tough reeds; and it was great and strong. On this net Eliza lay down; and when the sun rose， and her brothers were changed into wild swans， they seized the net with their beaks， and flew with their beloved sister， who was still asleep， high up towards the clouds. The sunbeams fell exactly upon her face， so one of the swans flew over her head， that his broad wings might over-shadow her.

They were far away from the shore when Eliza awoke; she was still dreaming， so strange did it appear to her to be carried high through the air and over the sea. By her side lay a branch with beautiful ripe berries and a bundle of sweet-tasting roots. The youngest of the brothers had collected them and placed them there for her. She smiled at him thankfully， for she recognized him; he it was who flew over her and shaded her with his wings.

They were so high that the first ship they descried beneath them seemed like a white seagull lying upon the waters. A great cloud stood behind them--it was a perfect mountain; and upon it Eliza saw her own shadow and those of the eleven swans; there they flew on， gigantic in size. Here was a picture， a more splendid one than she had ever yet seen. But as the sun rose higher and the cloud was left farther behind them， the floating shadowy images vanished away.

The whole day they flew onward through the air， like a whirring arrow， but their flight was slower than it was wont to be， for they had their sister to carry. Bad weather came on; the evening drew near; Eliza looked anxiously at the setting sun， for the lonely rock in the: ocean could not be seen. It seemed to her as if the swans beat the air more strongly with their wings. Alas! She was the cause that they did not advance fast enough. When the sun went down， they must become men and fall into the sea and drown. Then she prayed a prayer from the depths of her heart; but still she could descry no rock. The dark clouds came nearer in a great black threatening body， rolling forward like a mass of lead， and the lightning burst forth， flash upon flash.

Now the sun just touched the margin of the sea. Eliza's heart trembled. Then the swans darted downwards， so swiftly that she thought they were falling， but they paused again. The sun was half-hidden below the water. And now for the first time she saw the little rock beneath her， and it looked no larger than a seal might look， thrusting his head forth from the water. The sun sank very fast; at last it appeared only like a star; and then her foot touched the firm land. The sun was extinguished like the last spark in a piece of burned paper; her brothers were standing around her， arm in arm， but there was not more than just enough room for her and for them. The sea beat against the rock and went over her like small rain; the sky glowed in continual fire， and peal on peal the thunder rolled; but sister and brothers held each other by the hand， and sang psalms， from which they gained comfort and courage.

林中是如此寂靜，她能清晰地聽(tīng)到自己的腳步聲，還有腳下每片枯葉的嚓嚓聲。這里看不見(jiàn)一只鳥(niǎo)兒，沒(méi)有一絲陽(yáng)光能穿透巨大濃密的枝葉。高聳的樹(shù)干靠得那么近，她朝前面探望的時(shí)候，覺(jué)得自己好像被困在密密的柵欄里。啊，她從沒(méi)有經(jīng)歷過(guò)這種孤寂。

夜里四處一片漆黑。草地上沒(méi)有一個(gè)螢火蟲(chóng)兒。她傷心地躺在地上，睡了。她好像看見(jiàn)頭頂?shù)臉?shù)枝被分開(kāi)了，天使在高高的空中，用溫柔的目光注視著她。

第二天早晨，她不知道那是真的，還是自己做的夢(mèng)。

她朝前走了幾步，遇見(jiàn)了一個(gè)提著一籃草莓的老太婆。老太婆給了她幾個(gè)草莓吃。愛(ài)麗莎問(wèn)她有沒(méi)有看見(jiàn)11個(gè)王子騎馬穿過(guò)森林。

“沒(méi)有，”老太婆答道，“但昨天我看見(jiàn)11只天鵝在附近的一條小河里游水，它們頭上都戴著金冠?！?/p>

她領(lǐng)著愛(ài)麗莎朝前走了不遠(yuǎn)，來(lái)到一個(gè)山坡下，一條小河繞著山腳流淌。兩岸的樹(shù)木向?qū)γ嫔斐鲩L(zhǎng)滿綠葉的枝條，雖然自然無(wú)法讓它們長(zhǎng)到一起，但它們的根卻從土里伸出來(lái)，懸在水面上，和枝條纏繞在一起。

愛(ài)麗莎和老太婆道了別，然后沿著小河走，來(lái)到了一個(gè)寬闊的大海邊。

壯麗的大海展現(xiàn)在年輕的姑娘眼前，但海面上空無(wú)一物，沒(méi)有一片帆，也不見(jiàn)一艘船。她該如何前行呢?她看著海灘上數(shù)不清的小石子兒，海水已經(jīng)把它們磨得渾圓了。玻璃、鐵片和所有的東西都被海水打磨了一番，比她那白嫩的小手還要柔和。

“海水不知疲倦地沖刷，讓堅(jiān)強(qiáng)的東西都變得柔和了。我也要像它一樣堅(jiān)定。謝謝你的指點(diǎn)，你這清轍涌動(dòng)的波浪。我的心告訴我，總有一天你會(huì)把我?guī)У礁绺鐐兩磉叺?。?/p>

在泡沫覆蓋的海草上面，有11根白天鵝羽毛，她把它們?cè)梢皇Ｓ鹈线€有水珠——但沒(méi)有人知道那是露水還是眼淚。海邊一片沉寂，但她一點(diǎn)也感覺(jué)不到，因?yàn)榇蠛Ｗ兓脽o(wú)窮——幾小時(shí)的變化比可愛(ài)的湖泊一年的變化都要多。這時(shí)，一片烏云飄過(guò)來(lái)。大海好像在說(shuō)，“我也會(huì)發(fā)怒的。”風(fēng)起來(lái)了，頓時(shí)白浪滔滔。但當(dāng)云彩散發(fā)出紅光后，風(fēng)就睡著了，大?？雌饋?lái)像一片玫瑰花瓣。它有時(shí)變得綠綠的，有時(shí)又白白的。但不管它有多么平靜，海邊總有輕微起伏。海水輕輕地涌起來(lái)，像一個(gè)睡覺(jué)的孩子呼吸時(shí)起伏的胸口。

太陽(yáng)快落山的時(shí)候，愛(ài)麗莎看見(jiàn)11只野天鵝，頭上戴著金冠，朝陸地飛過(guò)來(lái)。他們一個(gè)接一個(gè)排開(kāi)，看起來(lái)像一個(gè)長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的白帶。愛(ài)麗莎爬上山坡，藏在一叢荊棘后面。天鵝落在她的附近，拍著他們長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的白翅膀。

當(dāng)太陽(yáng)從海面上落下去以后，天鵝的羽毛脫落下來(lái)，站在愛(ài)麗莎旁邊的是11個(gè)瀟灑的王子。她發(fā)出一聲大驚叫，盡管他們已經(jīng)長(zhǎng)大變了模樣，她還是認(rèn)出這就她的哥哥們。她撲進(jìn)了他們的懷抱，呼喊著他們的名字。王子們又看見(jiàn)了自己的小妹妹，都高興極了。他們還認(rèn)得出她，盡管她已經(jīng)長(zhǎng)得又高挑又漂亮。他們盡情地笑，流出歡喜的眼淚。他們馬上知道了繼母對(duì)他們有多么惡毒 “只要太陽(yáng)一升起來(lái)，”老大說(shuō)，“我們兄弟就得變成白天鵝在天上飛；只要太陽(yáng)一落下山去，我們就恢復(fù)了人形。因此我們一定要小心，在太陽(yáng)落下去的時(shí)候必須找到一個(gè)落腳的地方，否則我們就會(huì)像人一樣從天上掉進(jìn)大海里。我們不住在這里。在海的另一邊，有一塊土地，和這兒一樣美麗。我們必須越過(guò)大海，旅程中沒(méi)有可以過(guò)夜的陸地，只有一塊海浪中的礁石。礁石不大，只有我們擠在一起才容得下。要是大海起了大風(fēng)浪，浪花就會(huì)飛濺過(guò)我們的頭頂，但我們?nèi)愿兄x上帝給了我們這塊礁石。我們變成人形在那兒過(guò)夜。要是沒(méi)有這塊礁石，我們?cè)僖矡o(wú)法回到我們深愛(ài)的祖國(guó)了，因?yàn)槲覀冃枰ㄙM(fèi)一年中最長(zhǎng)的兩天，才能飛到家。每年我們只能回一次家，只能在那兒停留11天，盤旋在大森林上空，注視我們出生的地方，父親居住的宮殿，還有那高高的教堂尖頂。在尖頂?shù)挠白酉?，埋葬著我們的母親。這里，灌木和樹(shù)林就是我們的親人；野馬越過(guò)草地，就像我們小時(shí)候見(jiàn)過(guò)的一樣；燒炭工唱著古老的歌謠，我們跟著節(jié)奏像孩子般地跳舞。這是我們的第二個(gè)故鄉(xiāng)。我們被吸引到這兒來(lái)，竟然發(fā)現(xiàn)了你，我們親愛(ài)的妹妹。我們還能在這里住兩天，然后就得飛越大海，到達(dá)一片美麗的土地，但那不是我們的老家。我們?cè)趺床拍馨涯阋矌ё吣?我們沒(méi)有大船，連小木舟都沒(méi)有?！?/p>

“我怎么才能把你們救出來(lái)呢？”妹妹問(wèn)。他們差不多討論了一整夜，只睡了兩三個(gè)小時(shí)。

她被頭頂天鵝翅膀的拍打聲吵醒了。她的哥哥們又著了魔，繞著大圈飛行了一會(huì)兒，然后就飛遠(yuǎn)了。但其中一位，就是最小的哥哥，落后留了下來(lái)。他把頭放在妹妹的膝上，她撫摸著他的翅膀。他倆一整天都呆在一起，傍晚，兄弟們都回來(lái)了。太陽(yáng)落下去以后，他們又恢復(fù)了人形。

“明天我們就要遠(yuǎn)走高飛，等到一年后才能回來(lái)。但我們不能把你一個(gè)人丟在這兒!你有膽量跟我們一起走嗎？我的胳膊很結(jié)實(shí)，足以支撐著你穿過(guò)森林。難道我們大家的翅膀，不是一樣地強(qiáng)壯，可以把你帶過(guò)大海嗎?”

“好啊，把我?guī)ё甙??！睈?ài)麗莎答道。

整整一夜，他們都在用柔軟的柳樹(shù)皮和堅(jiān)韌的蘆葦編一個(gè)網(wǎng)，這網(wǎng)又大又結(jié)實(shí)。愛(ài)麗莎被放進(jìn)這張網(wǎng)里。當(dāng)太陽(yáng)升起后，他們用嘴銜住網(wǎng)，帶上他們親愛(ài)的妹妹一起飛上云端，愛(ài)麗莎還在里面熟睡。陽(yáng)光照到她的臉上，于是一只天鵝就在上面飛，用自己寬大的翅膀替她遮住陽(yáng)光。

他們離岸飛了老遠(yuǎn)后，愛(ài)麗莎才醒來(lái)。她以為自己還是在做夢(mèng)，眼前的一切多么離奇，她被帶入空中，懸在大海之上。她的身邊放著一根枝條，上面結(jié)著誘人的熟透了的草莓，還有一束甜甜的草根。那是小哥哥找來(lái)，特地給她準(zhǔn)備的。她感激地沖他笑笑，因?yàn)樗苷J(rèn)出他，他就是在她頭頂上飛的天鵝，用自己的翅膀給妹妹乘涼。

他們飛得那么高，他們看見(jiàn)下面的第一艘船，小得像浮在海面上的白海鷗一樣。他們身后好像有一大片云——那是一座完美的大山的形狀。在云塊上愛(ài)麗莎可以看見(jiàn)自己和11只天鵝的影子。影子也在飛翔著，氣勢(shì)很大。這種景象，比她見(jiàn)過(guò)的任何一幅圖畫都要美。太陽(yáng)升高以后，云塊就被落在后面很遠(yuǎn)，流動(dòng)的影像也逐漸消失了。

整整一天他們都在空中飛行，像一枝射出去的箭一樣。但他們本來(lái)還應(yīng)該飛得再快些，因?yàn)樗麄円兄约旱拿妹醚?。天氣開(kāi)始變壞了。傍晚時(shí)分，愛(ài)麗莎望著西沉的夕陽(yáng)，內(nèi)心充滿焦慮，因?yàn)楹Ｖ械墓陆甘€不見(jiàn)蹤影。她能感覺(jué)得出天鵝正在用力地扇動(dòng)翅膀。唉!正是由于她，天鵝才沒(méi)有飛得足夠快。等太陽(yáng)落下去以后，他們就會(huì)變成人，掉進(jìn)海里淹死的。她從心底里默默地禱告，但還是看不見(jiàn)礁石。烏云越逼越近，黑色的龐然大物像鉛堆一樣翻滾著，一時(shí)閃電頻頻，劃破長(zhǎng)空。

這時(shí)太陽(yáng)已經(jīng)懸在海平面上了，愛(ài)麗莎的心不禁顫抖起來(lái)。天鵝俯沖下去，速度是那么快，愛(ài)麗莎以為他們是掉了下去，但不久他們又停止下落了。太陽(yáng)還露著半面臉，這時(shí)，她第一次看見(jiàn)下面的小礁石，從空中看起來(lái)像只海豹腦袋從水中探出來(lái)一樣。太陽(yáng)落得很快，最后變得像一顆星星一樣。這時(shí)她的腳終于踏上了堅(jiān)實(shí)的土地。太陽(yáng)像一張燒過(guò)的紙的最后一點(diǎn)火星，轉(zhuǎn)眼間熄滅了。她的哥哥們站在她的四周，手拉著手。但礁石上再?zèng)]有多余的空地了。海浪拍打著礁石，落下來(lái)細(xì)雨般的水滴。天空不停地閃爍著電光，雷聲陣陣。但兄妹都手拉著手，唱著贊美詩(shī)，這讓他們得到了許多安慰，增加了許多勇氣。