Latest / Abide Meditation App / Magical Bedtime Fairytale for Calm Sleep _ Enchantment of the Swans _ Fairytale Bedtime Story

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Magical Bedtime Fairytale for Calm Sleep _ Enchantment of the Swans _ Fairytale Bedtime Story · Abide Meditation App

0:02
Speaker 1: Welcome to Get Sleepy, where we listen, we relax, and
0:09
Speaker 1: we get sleepy. My name's Thomas, and it's my honour
0:15
Speaker 1: to be your host. Tonight, I'll be reading a sleepy
0:21
Speaker 1: retelling of a fairy tale once collected by the Brothers Grimm,
0:26
Speaker 1: called The Six Swans. In this version of the story,
0:32
Speaker 1: kind princess commits to a long and challenging task to
0:37
Speaker 1: save her brothers from a most inconvenient enchantment. In the process,
0:44
Speaker 1: she learns the benefits of patience and determination. Okay, let's
0:55
Speaker 1: just take this time to unwind and transition from our
1:00
Speaker 1: active daily lives to into the peace and quiet of
1:05
Speaker 1: the night. Make yourself as comfortable as can be, feeling
1:14
Speaker 1: free to readjust and stretch out your legs and arms
1:19
Speaker 1: if it helps. And when you're ready, take a deep
1:30
Speaker 1: breath in through the nose, holding at the top for
1:36
Speaker 1: just a moment, then letting the air gently flow back out.
1:49
Speaker 1: Whether your eyes are open with a soft gaze into
1:53
Speaker 1: the dark space around you, or they might be closed
1:59
Speaker 1: and ready for sleep, you can just bring your focus
2:04
Speaker 1: into the here and now, using the breath as your
2:10
Speaker 1: anchor for that sense of presence. With your next breath in,
2:23
Speaker 1: try squeezing your shoulders up to your neck, holding tension
2:30
Speaker 1: at the top. then releasing them back down as you
2:37
Speaker 1: breathe out, feeling that tension flow away. Do this a
2:49
Speaker 1: few more times or for as long as you'd like
2:53
Speaker 1: until you feel suitably relaxed and grounded in the present moment.
3:02
Speaker 1: Breathing in, collecting tension in the shoulders, then exhaling and
3:12
Speaker 1: letting all that pent-up tension go. Meanwhile, begin to imagine
3:24
Speaker 1: a beautiful castle under blue skies. Picture yourself walking there,
3:34
Speaker 1: along the paths of a peaceful garden on a sunny day.
3:41
Speaker 1: This is where our story begins. There once was a
4:13
Speaker 1: king and queen who had seven children. The first six
4:19
Speaker 1: of them were all handsome, brave sons. The seventh, however,
4:27
Speaker 1: was a daughter. As the youngest of the children and
4:33
Speaker 1: the only girl, she was doted upon by the family
4:38
Speaker 1: and loved by the people in the court. Her name
4:44
Speaker 1: was May, and she was as sweet as could be.
4:50
Speaker 1: Everyone who knew her said that her kindness and sunny
4:55
Speaker 1: disposition brightened even the gloomiest of days. All the king's
5:03
Speaker 1: subjects thought the royal family was splendid, and the king
5:08
Speaker 1: and queen and their children lived a happy and carefree
5:14
Speaker 1: life together at the palace. As the princes grew older,
5:23
Speaker 1: they became a bit tired of being confined within the
5:27
Speaker 1: tame boundaries of the castle garden, so their parents allowed
5:33
Speaker 1: them to begin exploring the woods from time to time.
5:40
Speaker 1: The brothers loved adventuring out onto the lightly warm paths
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Speaker 1: that crisscrossed the forest, and would sometimes be gone for hours,
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Speaker 1: returning happy and exhausted from their games. It was not
5:59
Speaker 1: at all unusual for them to spill rocks, sticks, and
6:04
Speaker 1: other treasures from their pockets afterwards. and many a royal outfit,
6:10
Speaker 1: came home covered in mud. Their mother would frequently hand
6:18
Speaker 1: out a light scolding, but she was happy to see
6:22
Speaker 1: them enjoying the fresh air and appreciating nature. Their sister, May,
6:32
Speaker 1: was too young to wander in the woods with only
6:35
Speaker 1: her brothers to watch her, she was left behind to
6:41
Speaker 1: content herself with little games in the garden. But some days,
6:48
Speaker 1: she felt it was a stroke of bad luck to
6:51
Speaker 1: be both the youngest and the only girl in the family.
6:57
Speaker 1: Her brothers seemed to have access to a whole world
7:01
Speaker 1: of fun that she was missing. One day, The princes
7:09
Speaker 1: headed out for one of their romps in the woods,
7:13
Speaker 1: and they came upon a path they'd never noticed before.
7:19
Speaker 1: The oldest boy only spotted it because he had ducked
7:23
Speaker 1: down to tie his shoe, and he spied it winding
7:28
Speaker 1: away into the underbrush. It didn't take much for him
7:35
Speaker 1: to convince his brothers to follow this mysterious byway, and
7:41
Speaker 1: they were soon pushing down the little used trail, not
7:46
Speaker 1: minding if they lost a bit of their shirt on
7:49
Speaker 1: a branch along the way, or tripped on a root.
7:55
Speaker 1: They were hardy adventurers, and were all determined to find
8:00
Speaker 1: out where the trail would In their pursuit of the
8:08
Speaker 1: mysterious path, the boys didn't notice how deeply they were
8:13
Speaker 1: traveling into the heart of the forest. As they continued on,
8:21
Speaker 1: they were unaware that the birdsong they normally heard in
8:25
Speaker 1: the sunnier places had receded, and that they were increasingly
8:31
Speaker 1: surrounded by a heavy gloom. Finally, they happened upon a clearing.
8:43
Speaker 1: In the center of the clearing was a moss-covered stone
8:47
Speaker 1: cottage with smoke coming from the chimney. There was a
8:54
Speaker 1: chicken coop nearby, and a large black crow regarded them
9:00
Speaker 1: curiously from a wooden stool near the front door. Who
9:07
Speaker 1: do you think lives way out here? one of the
9:10
Speaker 1: brothers said. Maybe it's a woodcutter, another suggested. The boys
9:19
Speaker 1: scanned the clearing for signs of a large woodpile and
9:24
Speaker 1: found none. In the center of the garden, however, was
9:31
Speaker 1: the strangest thing. a pile of enormous white swan feathers,
9:39
Speaker 1: as if the person who lived there was in the
9:42
Speaker 1: process of collecting the stuffing for an eiderdown. As they
9:51
Speaker 1: stood admiring the size of them, an old woman opened
9:56
Speaker 1: the door and stepped out into the yard. I don't
10:03
Speaker 1: like visitors, she said. What is your business here? Then,
10:11
Speaker 1: seeing that a few of them were about to pick
10:13
Speaker 1: up the feathers and examine them, her tone turned to
10:18
Speaker 1: one of caution. Don't touch those. You will be sorry,
10:24
Speaker 1: she warned. Unfortunately, her warning was too late. As they stood,
10:35
Speaker 1: each of the four boys who were holding a feather
10:39
Speaker 1: felt a strange sensation. There was a moment where time
10:45
Speaker 1: seemed to stand still. Then, When they looked at each other,
10:53
Speaker 1: there were only two princes left in sight. Where the
10:59
Speaker 1: other two brothers had been, all that any of them
11:03
Speaker 1: could see was a flock of four white swans. Trying
11:11
Speaker 1: to make sense of what was going on, the last
11:15
Speaker 1: two boys grabbed feathers of their own In moments, the
11:23
Speaker 1: transformation was complete. The old woman opened her mouth to
11:32
Speaker 1: speak again, looking a bit regretful. However, the brothers were
11:39
Speaker 1: in a state of confusion. Before she could say anything,
11:46
Speaker 1: they had flown off into the woods together. leaving only
11:51
Speaker 1: a few snowy white feathers in their wake. The princes
12:00
Speaker 1: did not return home to the palace that night, or
12:04
Speaker 1: the next, or the next. The king sent many search
12:10
Speaker 1: parties into the woods in an attempt to find out
12:14
Speaker 1: where his sons had gone. but the searches always came
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Speaker 1: back empty-handed. After weeks of looking, everyone had to admit
12:30
Speaker 1: that the boys were gone without a trace. Their mother
12:36
Speaker 1: took to her bed in a deep melancholy, and the
12:41
Speaker 1: king could not be consoled. During all of this, their
12:50
Speaker 1: younger sister May was left entirely to her own devices.
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Speaker 1: She wandered the halls of the palace and the paths
13:00
Speaker 1: of the garden restlessly, unsure of how to cheer up
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Speaker 1: her parents or help to find her missing brothers. One day,
13:16
Speaker 1: Months after the disappearance, May was sitting on a bench
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Speaker 1: in the far reaches of the castle garden. She was
13:26
Speaker 1: supposed to be practicing her needlework, but the sun was
13:30
Speaker 1: warm on her shoulders and the flowers smelled intoxicating. She
13:38
Speaker 1: had dropped the tedious stitching on the bench where she
13:42
Speaker 1: sat and was lost in her thoughts. feeling increasingly drowsy.
13:52
Speaker 1: She felt a small movement next to her, and, lo
13:58
Speaker 1: and behold, opened her eyes to see a large black
14:02
Speaker 1: crow sitting at her side. It was observing her with
14:09
Speaker 1: a very intelligent gaze, and at its feet was a
14:15
Speaker 1: large ball of golden yarn. She caught her breath and
14:24
Speaker 1: didn't move, not wanting to startle the bird. The crow
14:31
Speaker 1: didn't seem nervous, though, and merely hopped a few feet,
14:37
Speaker 1: looked at her one more time, and then spread its
14:41
Speaker 1: wings and flew into the forest. May turned and regarded
14:51
Speaker 1: the ball of yarn. Leaning over, she picked it up
14:59
Speaker 1: and turned it around in her hands. It was delightfully
15:05
Speaker 1: soft and sparkled ever so slightly in the light. As
15:12
Speaker 1: she turned the ball in her palms, it rolled lightly
15:17
Speaker 1: off of her fingertips. Unraveling quickly, the ball traveled away
15:25
Speaker 1: from her, down the well-tended garden path, and then disappeared
15:33
Speaker 1: in the direction of the forest. Not wanting to lose
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Speaker 1: her new treasure, May picked up the end of the
15:44
Speaker 1: yarn and began to follow the string into the woods,
15:50
Speaker 1: rewinding it as she went. The ball kept rolling. It
15:58
Speaker 1: never got entirely out of her sight, but she seemed
16:03
Speaker 1: unable to catch it. Over tree roots, under logs, and
16:12
Speaker 1: between mossy boulders the yarn went. It didn't seem in
16:18
Speaker 1: a great hurry, but its pace also did not slow.
16:26
Speaker 1: On and on the yarn traveled, never reaching a resting spot.
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Speaker 1: This went on for so long that before she knew
16:41
Speaker 1: May was deep into the gloom of the thickest part
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Speaker 1: of the forest. If she had taken a moment to
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Speaker 1: rest in her pursuit of the yarn, the princess would
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Speaker 1: have realized she had left no trail behind her to
17:00
Speaker 1: mark her way home either. Finally, as the sun moved
17:09
Speaker 1: lower in the sky, The yarn ball rolled up and
17:14
Speaker 1: over a little wooden bridge that crossed a stream. Mae
17:21
Speaker 1: followed across the bridge and found herself in a snug
17:26
Speaker 1: hollow under towering old trees. In the middle of the
17:32
Speaker 1: clearing was a cottage. The yarn rolled up to the
17:39
Speaker 1: door of the house. and finally stopped. May wrapped the
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Speaker 1: remaining loose end around the yarn ball, put it in
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Speaker 1: her pocket, and lightly knocked on the wooden door. When
18:01
Speaker 1: she heard nothing and nobody answered, she became bold and
18:08
Speaker 1: carefully pushed it open. Hello, she said as she peered
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Speaker 1: through the open door. Inside the one-room cottage were six
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Speaker 1: beds and a table with six chairs. The remains of
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Speaker 1: a fire were smoldering in the hearth. Although she knew
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Speaker 1: she was intruding, May was suddenly so tired she decided
18:43
Speaker 1: to lie down briefly on one of the beds. She
18:50
Speaker 1: sank gratefully into the soft mattress, her head resting on
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Speaker 1: the downy white pillow. The last remnants of the fire
19:03
Speaker 1: glowed warmly in the grate, and she could see through
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Speaker 1: the window that the sun would be setting soon, She
19:14
Speaker 1: would just rest for a moment, she thought. Before she
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Speaker 1: knew it, she was fast asleep. May was awakened by
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Speaker 1: a fluttering sound outside the house, and she sat up
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Speaker 1: on the bed. The sun had set, and it took
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Speaker 1: a moment for her eyes to adjust to the gloom.
19:48
Speaker 1: moving to the window. she was amazed to see six
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Speaker 1: regal swans landing in the clearing. As each one gracefully
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Speaker 1: touched the ground, his wings and white feathers disappeared, and there,
20:09
Speaker 1: instead of a bird, stood a young man. May realized
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Speaker 1: immediately that she had found her missing brothers. Naturally, the
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Speaker 1: boys were overjoyed to see their sister again. A new
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Speaker 1: fire was built in the hearth, and the princes and
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Speaker 1: the princess had a lively evening inside the house. so
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Speaker 1: glad to once again be together. The boys told May
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Speaker 1: what had happened to them that day many months ago
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Speaker 1: in the old woman's garden, and how they had built
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Speaker 1: this house in the forest to hide their predicament from
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Speaker 1: their parents. They explained that with each sunrise, they transformed
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Speaker 1: back into swans. They roamed the land during the day
21:19
Speaker 1: and returned at sunset to their house, where they spent
21:24
Speaker 1: the night in their human forms once again. But brothers,
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Speaker 1: she said, surely there is a way that this spell
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Speaker 1: can be broken. The boys looked at each other mournfully
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Speaker 1: and hung their heads. The oldest prince explained, The old
21:52
Speaker 1: woman regretted that we stumbled upon her enchanted feathers. However,
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Speaker 1: she says she cannot break the spell herself. Mei looked
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Speaker 1: from one brother to the next, Is there anyone who
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Speaker 1: can reverse this spell? she asked. The oldest continued, a
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Speaker 1: mother or a sister may, but the task is impossibly difficult.
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Speaker 1: But May was determined to help her brothers out of
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Speaker 1: this dilemma and bring them home to her parents. Go on,
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Speaker 1: she said. Tell me what I must do. You must
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Speaker 1: sew a new shirt for each of us, using only
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Speaker 1: thread and daisies, he explained. Until the last shirt is finished,
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Speaker 1: you can never speak or laugh, not even once. If
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Speaker 1: you do, our chance of breaking the spell will be lost.
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Speaker 1: and the enchantment will be permanent. Mei pondered what her
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Speaker 1: brother had told her. This would be a difficult task indeed,
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Speaker 1: and she feared she would not have the courage. Still,
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Speaker 1: there was no alternative. She could not return to the
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Speaker 1: castle and ask her mother to take on this impossible test.
23:42
Speaker 1: If the spell was to be broken, she would have
23:46
Speaker 1: to do it herself. The brothers agreed reluctantly, and it
23:55
Speaker 1: was decided that she would begin the task tomorrow. Fortunately,
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Speaker 1: the daisies were in bloom, she would begin by collecting
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Speaker 1: as many as she could. Her brothers made her a
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Speaker 1: comfortable bed by the hearth, and she bid them good night,
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Speaker 1: knowing this was the last word she would speak to
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Speaker 1: them for quite some time. When May awakened in the morning,
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Speaker 1: The sun was high in the sky, and her brothers
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Speaker 1: had vanished. They had left her a plate with some
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Speaker 1: brown bread and soft cheese, as well as a cup
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Speaker 1: of coffee. She gladly ate her breakfast while she thought
24:56
Speaker 1: about what she needed to do. She knew from her
25:02
Speaker 1: many hours in the castle garden that daisies tended to
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Speaker 1: prefer sunshine, and this was not a particularly bright spot
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Speaker 1: in the forest. How would she search for some daisies
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Speaker 1: without losing her way, she wondered. Then, she had an idea.
25:27
Speaker 1: May took the ball of golden yarn to the doorstep
25:32
Speaker 1: and dropped it on the ground. Immediately, it rolled off
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Speaker 1: into the woods, as if it knew where it must go.
25:45
Speaker 1: May followed after it, but this time she did not
25:50
Speaker 1: roll up the end of the yarn behind her, knowing
25:54
Speaker 1: that she needed to see the way home. The yarn
26:00
Speaker 1: bumped along, over tree roots and under fallen logs. It
26:07
Speaker 1: rounded mossy boulders and skipped over streams. After a little while,
26:15
Speaker 1: she saw sunshine ahead. The yarn ball rolled to a
26:21
Speaker 1: stop in a field absolutely covered in wildflowers. May spent
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Speaker 1: the rest of the morning gathering as many daisies as
26:36
Speaker 1: she could carry. When her arms could hold no more,
26:43
Speaker 1: she followed the length of the yarn back to the
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Speaker 1: house in the woods, rolling the ball up as she went.
26:53
Speaker 1: By mid-afternoon, she was settled in the cozy cottage with
26:58
Speaker 1: a large pile of daisies covering the tables. May realized
27:07
Speaker 1: that although she'd left her needlework behind in the castle garden,
27:13
Speaker 1: she still had her needles and thread in her dress pocket.
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Speaker 1: How lucky was that? Grateful that she had paid at
27:25
Speaker 1: least some attention during her sewing lessons, May sat down
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Speaker 1: at the table, and in the light from the window,
27:36
Speaker 1: she found a way to begin sewing daisies together. When
27:45
Speaker 1: her brothers returned that evening, they found her hard at
27:49
Speaker 1: work by the light of the fire, and so their
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Speaker 1: new routine together began. Each morning, the brothers would transform
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Speaker 1: into swans and fly away. If the weather was pretty,
28:12
Speaker 1: as it often was in the summer and early autumn,
28:16
Speaker 1: May would sit outside on the steps or in the
28:20
Speaker 1: branches of a nearby tree. Sowing in the dappled sunlight,
28:28
Speaker 1: she would work all day, never speaking, even to herself
28:38
Speaker 1: The work was very slow and difficult, and weeks passed
28:43
Speaker 1: before the first shirt was even partially finished. Her eyes
28:50
Speaker 1: grew tired from threading the needle, and her fingers became
28:56
Speaker 1: rough from the flower stems. Still, she worked on. She
29:07
Speaker 1: sowed outside in fair weather and inside by the fire
29:12
Speaker 1: if it rained. Sometimes the familiar black crow would appear
29:20
Speaker 1: and sit with her in companionable silence. She did get lonely,
29:27
Speaker 1: but her resolve did not waver. Her brothers tried to
29:35
Speaker 1: keep her spirits up by bringing food and drink and
29:39
Speaker 1: other pretty things to comfort her. One time, it was
29:45
Speaker 1: a lovely red hair ribbon. As the weather began to
29:50
Speaker 1: grow colder and autumn arrived, they gave her a pretty,
29:56
Speaker 1: soft wool cape to keep her warm. Eventually, the days
30:05
Speaker 1: grew short, which was wonderful for the brothers, because they
30:10
Speaker 1: had more time after sunset in their human form. The
30:17
Speaker 1: boys all sat down around the fireplace, telling stories at night.
30:25
Speaker 1: May was careful to listen, but not join in. She
30:30
Speaker 1: was always mindful of her responsibility to uphold her vow
30:35
Speaker 1: of silence. As the winter wore on, May sewed by
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Speaker 1: the firelight while the snow flew outside, burying the world
30:51
Speaker 1: in white. One shirt was nearing completion. She had only
30:58
Speaker 1: to finish the sleeve and it would be done. The
31:05
Speaker 1: snow melted and the crocuses appeared. The days got longer
31:12
Speaker 1: and brighter again. Finally, as summer dawned, she had one
31:20
Speaker 1: entire shirt made of daisies. It had taken almost one
31:28
Speaker 1: year to make the first and now May was completely
31:35
Speaker 1: out of flowers. Luckily, it was once again early summer
31:42
Speaker 1: and the flowers had returned. She followed the yarn ball
31:49
Speaker 1: back to the field where she'd found the daisies the
31:52
Speaker 1: year before. As she had last She filled her arms
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Speaker 1: with as many daisies as she could possibly carry, and
32:05
Speaker 1: then returned to the little house she shared with her brothers,
32:10
Speaker 1: pursuing the yarn trail the entire way. Beginning again, she
32:20
Speaker 1: sewed from morning to night. She sat outside in the sun,
32:27
Speaker 1: or inside with a candle. The second shirt took shape
32:34
Speaker 1: slowly but surely. It was completed by the following June.
32:44
Speaker 1: By the time the third shirt had been finished, another
32:48
Speaker 1: year later, May had grown from a girl into a
32:52
Speaker 1: lovely young woman. Sometimes, while she sat threading her needle,
33:02
Speaker 1: she wondered if she'd ever remember how to speak or
33:06
Speaker 1: laugh again. Halfway through this test of her will, she
33:13
Speaker 1: was as determined as ever to break the enchantment on
33:17
Speaker 1: her brothers. She did, however, miss singing, laughing, telling stories,
33:28
Speaker 1: and having some company. She knew that, had she been
33:33
Speaker 1: at home, she'd be attending balls and meeting suitors. However,
33:41
Speaker 1: she did not feel that she was making the wrong choice.
33:46
Speaker 1: Saving her brothers was more important. She was sitting on
33:54
Speaker 1: the crook of her favorite tree one day with the
33:58
Speaker 1: black crow keeping her company when something unusual happened. A
34:06
Speaker 1: small group of riders emerged from the forest and stopped
34:12
Speaker 1: in the clearing where she was working. It had been
34:17
Speaker 1: years since she'd seen anyone other than her brothers. But luckily,
34:24
Speaker 1: she remembered not to speak and just stared at these strangers,
34:30
Speaker 1: hoping they didn't mean any harm. The party consisted of
34:37
Speaker 1: three men and two ladies. All of them were richly
34:42
Speaker 1: dressed in velvet and rode beautiful, noble-looking horses. they seemed
34:52
Speaker 1: as taken aback to see May as she was to
34:56
Speaker 1: see them. Looking around the clearing, they concluded that she
35:03
Speaker 1: was alone, and the man on the finest-looking white horse
35:09
Speaker 1: spoke to her. Excuse me, do you live here, miss?
35:16
Speaker 1: he asked. May was able to nod But she could
35:21
Speaker 1: say nothing else. Are you here all by yourself? He continued.
35:28
Speaker 1: Surely you aren't surviving out here on your own. May
35:34
Speaker 1: could say nothing. The nobles discussed quietly among themselves. And finally,
35:45
Speaker 1: the man spoke to May again. Come. Fetch your things.
35:53
Speaker 1: We'll take you to the castle where you will have
35:56
Speaker 1: company and safety in our care. I cannot be guilty
36:02
Speaker 1: of leaving a lady in distress. May was not in
36:08
Speaker 1: distress at all. She was not interested in coming with
36:13
Speaker 1: these lords and ladies to their castle. Unfortunately, She had
36:20
Speaker 1: no way to protest without speaking, and they seemed quite
36:26
Speaker 1: sure of their plan. Seeing that they were quite determined
36:32
Speaker 1: to rescue her, she reluctantly gathered the three finished shirts
36:39
Speaker 1: and her needle and thread, and she put the golden
36:43
Speaker 1: yarn ball in her pocket. She might need it to
36:49
Speaker 1: find her way back. The man who had spoken to
36:56
Speaker 1: May helped her up in front of him on his horse,
37:01
Speaker 1: and they rode away from the little house in the clearing.
37:07
Speaker 1: As the trees closed behind them and her view of
37:11
Speaker 1: the cottage disappeared, she felt concern. She knew her brothers
37:20
Speaker 1: would wonder where she had gone. It made her sad
37:25
Speaker 1: to think that they might assume she had given up
37:28
Speaker 1: in her quest to end their enchantment, but there was
37:33
Speaker 1: nothing she could do about it right now. She would
37:38
Speaker 1: find a way to finish the shards and be reunited
37:43
Speaker 1: with them. After riding for some time, Mae and her
37:52
Speaker 1: new acquaintances came to a more sparsely wooded part of
37:57
Speaker 1: the forest, which eventually gave way to a view of
38:01
Speaker 1: an unfamiliar, walled city. A beautiful castle stood in the
38:09
Speaker 1: middle of it. Mae felt rather shy about seeing so
38:16
Speaker 1: many people after having spent all this time alone for
38:20
Speaker 1: the past three years. But she summoned her most royal
38:27
Speaker 1: sense of dignity and sat up straight on the horse.
38:33
Speaker 1: After all, she was a princess. When they reached the castle,
38:43
Speaker 1: some groomsmen came into the courtyard to help the riders
38:48
Speaker 1: down and take the horses. To her surprise, they referred
38:55
Speaker 1: to the man she'd been riding with as Your Highness.
39:02
Speaker 1: Unbeknownst to her, May had been riding with a king
39:07
Speaker 1: this entire time. She blushed at the realization, but she
39:14
Speaker 1: could not say anything. As she was helped down from
39:22
Speaker 1: the horse, She merely nodded to the king and to
39:27
Speaker 1: the groomsmen, clutching her shirt made of daisies and waiting
39:33
Speaker 1: to be told what to do. We have come upon
39:39
Speaker 1: this lady alone in the forest and wish for her
39:43
Speaker 1: to be given rooms and garments appropriate for a courtier,
39:48
Speaker 1: the king told the servants. Looking at her a bit strangely,
39:56
Speaker 1: they nonetheless nodded their agreement and motioned for her to
40:01
Speaker 1: follow them into the castle. That night, May slept in
40:10
Speaker 1: a gorgeously soft canopied bed that was draped in velvets
40:16
Speaker 1: and covered in a pillowy eiderdown. She had hung the
40:23
Speaker 1: three completed shirts with her own new dresses in the wardrobe,
40:29
Speaker 1: and resolved to find out in the morning where she
40:33
Speaker 1: might get more daisies to begin the fourth. The courtiers
40:41
Speaker 1: were not sure what to make of this lovely and
40:44
Speaker 1: silent young woman the king had brought back from his excursion.
40:51
Speaker 1: Although they whispered about her in hushed tones and traded
40:56
Speaker 1: gossip about her origins, they all wanted to please the king,
41:02
Speaker 1: so they were not unkind to her. May's initial worries
41:10
Speaker 1: about finding more material for her shirts turned out to
41:15
Speaker 1: be unfounded. As it happened, the castle had an expansive
41:22
Speaker 1: flower garden, and nobody minded that May brought armfuls of
41:29
Speaker 1: daisies to her room, as they grew in great abundance,
41:34
Speaker 1: along with other plants that flourished in the summer. It
41:41
Speaker 1: became commonplace for the lords and ladies to see May
41:46
Speaker 1: sewing her shirts on the veranda, in the parlor, or
41:51
Speaker 1: through the open door of her chamber. They all secretly
41:57
Speaker 1: thought she was quite strange, never uttering a word, and
42:03
Speaker 1: working on this unusual project day and night. The king, however,
42:12
Speaker 1: found that he was slowly becoming enamored of this silent
42:17
Speaker 1: and beautiful woman, who demanded nothing of him and didn't
42:23
Speaker 1: try at all to flatter him or gain his favor.
42:29
Speaker 1: On the contrary, he was impressed by her dedication and perseverance.
42:37
Speaker 1: In short, he realized he had fallen in love with her.
42:47
Speaker 1: On the one-year anniversary of May's arrival at the castle,
42:52
Speaker 1: the king got up the courage to ask her if
42:56
Speaker 1: she would marry him. Surely, he thought, if she truly
43:02
Speaker 1: felt something for him, she could break her silence and
43:07
Speaker 1: accept his proposal. He sought her out on the veranda,
43:15
Speaker 1: where she was beginning to sew the fifth shirt. Kneeling
43:23
Speaker 1: next to her, he said, Dearest lady, you have not
43:28
Speaker 1: been able to tell me your name, but I have
43:32
Speaker 1: become enchanted by your beauty and your peaceful humility. Would
43:39
Speaker 1: you overcome your vow of silence and agree to be
43:43
Speaker 1: my wife? Mei set her needle down sorrowfully and looked
43:52
Speaker 1: at the king without responding. In truth, she wanted more
43:59
Speaker 1: than anything to accept his offer, because she had come
44:04
Speaker 1: to love him as well. But she was not willing
44:10
Speaker 1: to give up her task with only two shirts left
44:15
Speaker 1: to complete. She said nothing. The king was dejected. He continued,
44:27
Speaker 1: Perhaps you do not love me yet, but I will
44:31
Speaker 1: give you more time. I will ask you again in
44:36
Speaker 1: a year. Maybe then you will be ready to give
44:41
Speaker 1: me an answer. Another autumn and winter passed by. The
44:51
Speaker 1: fifth shirt was completed. When exactly a year had elapsed,
44:59
Speaker 1: the king came to her again while she was sewing
45:03
Speaker 1: on the veranda. Kneeling next to her, he repeated, Dearest lady,
45:13
Speaker 1: another year has passed. and I still do not know
45:17
Speaker 1: your name, but I am head over heels in love
45:22
Speaker 1: with you. Would you now consider giving up your vow
45:27
Speaker 1: of silence and agreeing to be my wife? It took
45:35
Speaker 1: everything she had in her for May not to respond.
45:41
Speaker 1: By waiting patiently for another year, and asking again. The
45:47
Speaker 1: king had made her love him even more. Still, she
45:55
Speaker 1: was not finished with all six shirts. Freeing her brothers
46:01
Speaker 1: was more important to her than marrying the king. She
46:07
Speaker 1: felt it was her duty to maintain her silence. the
46:15
Speaker 1: king was very sad that she didn't respond again. He said,
46:23
Speaker 1: I cannot admit defeat just yet. I will ask you
46:28
Speaker 1: to declare your love for me just once more in
46:32
Speaker 1: a year's time. If then, you still cannot break your silence,
46:40
Speaker 1: I will assume you never want to marry me. and
46:44
Speaker 1: I will obey your wishes and return you to your
46:48
Speaker 1: solitary life in the forest. The last year of her
46:57
Speaker 1: task seemed like the hardest. As the seasons wore on,
47:05
Speaker 1: May tried to speed her process, knowing that she must
47:09
Speaker 1: finish the sixth before the king came to ask her
47:14
Speaker 1: for her hand one final time. It felt, however, as
47:21
Speaker 1: if the enchantment slowed the work. Despite May having five
47:28
Speaker 1: years of practice with sewing the daisies, this shirt did
47:34
Speaker 1: not come together any faster than the first five. As
47:43
Speaker 1: the summer season neared, she worked day and night. Finally,
47:51
Speaker 1: one glorious early summer day, she cut and knotted the
47:57
Speaker 1: final thread. All six of the shirts made of daisies
48:05
Speaker 1: were done. To break the enchantment, however, she would have
48:13
Speaker 1: to be reunited with her brothers, and they did not
48:17
Speaker 1: know where she was. Furthermore, she didn't even know how
48:25
Speaker 1: to get back to their house in the forest. How
48:30
Speaker 1: would she get the shirts to her brothers? Then the
48:38
Speaker 1: answer came to her. That night, She rose when the
48:44
Speaker 1: moon was high in the sky, gathered the shirts in
48:48
Speaker 1: her arms, and went to a side door of the castle.
48:55
Speaker 1: Opening the door, she pulled the golden ball of yarn
49:00
Speaker 1: from her pocket and dropped it on the ground, leaving
49:06
Speaker 1: the unraveled portion undisturbed behind her. Mei began to follow
49:13
Speaker 1: the magic fiber. It led her steadily through the castle gardens,
49:22
Speaker 1: down the streets of the town, and then outside the
49:27
Speaker 1: walled city and into the forest. The moon shone kindly
49:36
Speaker 1: on May, lighting her path On foot, it took her
49:43
Speaker 1: many hours longer to cover the distance she'd traveled on
49:48
Speaker 1: horseback three years before. But by morning, May was overjoyed
49:57
Speaker 1: to see the little house in the clearing, looking just
50:02
Speaker 1: as she had left it. Because it was after sunrise,
50:10
Speaker 1: her brothers were already gone. She knew that they would
50:15
Speaker 1: be in the form of swans until nightfall, so she
50:20
Speaker 1: sat down in the house to rest, taking some of
50:25
Speaker 1: the bread and cheese they had left behind. Then, feeling
50:32
Speaker 1: overwhelmed with tiredness, she laid the shirts on one of
50:37
Speaker 1: the beds and curled up on another. The soft pillow
50:45
Speaker 1: embraced her, and before she knew it, she was in
50:51
Speaker 1: a deep sleep. May awakened as the sun was dropping
51:01
Speaker 1: lower in the sky. Not wanting to miss the arrival
51:07
Speaker 1: of the swans, She gathered the shirts and went into
51:13
Speaker 1: the garden to wait. She had been there for only
51:19
Speaker 1: a few moments when, to her amazement, the king rode
51:26
Speaker 1: into the clearing. He had followed her long strand of
51:32
Speaker 1: golden yarn all the way from the castle. Dear lady,
51:41
Speaker 1: he said as he dismounted from his horse, I was
51:46
Speaker 1: so distressed to see you had left this morning because
51:51
Speaker 1: I am resolved to ask you one more time if
51:55
Speaker 1: you can break your silence to accept my proposal of marriage.
52:05
Speaker 1: As the king stood there, hopefully, He was distracted by
52:10
Speaker 1: the sound of wings entering the clearing. At that moment,
52:18
Speaker 1: six enormous swans appeared, alighting near May in the garden.
52:26
Speaker 1: May's eyes lit up at the sight of her brothers.
52:32
Speaker 1: and before even a moment had passed, she had thrown
52:36
Speaker 1: a shirt over the head of each of the swans.
52:44
Speaker 1: The king watched in astonishment as, in the warmth of
52:49
Speaker 1: the afternoon sunlight, the swans turned into six fully grown men.
52:59
Speaker 1: It was the first time they'd felt daylight on their
53:03
Speaker 1: human shoulders in more than six years, and they embraced
53:09
Speaker 1: May with happy tears. Seeing her task was finally complete,
53:20
Speaker 1: May turned to the king with a hopeful expression. Noticing
53:26
Speaker 1: a change in her, He understood that a great weight
53:31
Speaker 1: had somehow been lifted, and he knelt, hoping he would
53:37
Speaker 1: succeed in finally getting her answer. Dear lady, will you
53:47
Speaker 1: now break your silence and consent to be my wife?
53:56
Speaker 1: May gave him her most beautiful smile, and finally spoke, Yes,
54:04
Speaker 1: I will. After that triumphant day, the brothers were reunited
54:14
Speaker 1: with their parents, who were overjoyed at their return. The
54:21
Speaker 1: entire family attended May's long-awaited wedding to the king. Everyone
54:30
Speaker 1: lived very happily after that. May and her handsome king
54:40
Speaker 1: ruled their kingdom together. And it was always said that
54:47
Speaker 1: the queen was a lovely person. who is patient, careful
54:53
Speaker 1: with her words, and very, very talented at needlework.
56:05
Speaker 2: Thank you for watching. Thank you for watching. Thank you.
59:26
Speaker 2: Thank you. Thank you for watching.
1:00:38
Speaker 1: You you