The Twelve Dancing Princesses

There was once a king who had twelve daughters, each more beautiful than the last. They slept together in one great room with their beds side by side, and every night when they had gone to bed, the king shut the door and bolted it. But every morning, when he unlocked it, he saw that their shoes had been danced to pieces, and no one could find out how it happened.

So the king proclaimed that whoever could discover where the princesses danced at night could choose one of them as his wife and be king after his death. But anyone who came forward and failed to find out within three days and nights would lose his life.

Soon a king’s son presented himself. He was warmly received, and in the evening he was led to a room next to the princesses’ bedchamber, with the door left open so that he could watch where they went. But his eyelids grew heavy as lead and he fell asleep, and when he woke in the morning all twelve had been dancing, for their shoes stood there with holes in the soles. The same thing happened the second and third nights, and his head was struck off without mercy. Many others came after him, and all of them lost their lives.

Now it happened that a poor soldier, who had been wounded and could no longer serve, was making his way toward the city. An old woman met him and asked where he was going. “I hardly know myself,” he said, and added as a joke, “I’d like to find out where the princesses dance their shoes to pieces, and then I’d be king.” “That’s not so hard,” said the old woman. “Don’t drink the wine they bring you at night, and pretend to be fast asleep.” Then she gave him a little cloak. “When you put this on you will be invisible, and you can follow the twelve.”

With this good advice the soldier presented himself to the king as a suitor. That evening the eldest princess brought him a cup of wine, but he had tied a sponge under his chin and let the wine run into it without drinking a drop. Then he lay down and began to snore as if in the deepest sleep. The princesses laughed, and the eldest said, “He too could have saved his life.” They got up, opened their wardrobes and chests, put on splendid dresses, and primped before the mirrors, skipping about in delight at the thought of the dance. Only the youngest said, “I don’t know why. You are all so happy, but I have a strange feeling. Some misfortune is going to happen to us.” “You silly goose,” said the eldest, “you’re always frightened. Have you forgotten how many princes have already come here in vain?”

When they were ready, the eldest tapped on her bed, and it sank into the floor, opening a trapdoor. The soldier watched them go down one after another, threw on his cloak and followed behind the youngest. Halfway down he stepped on the hem of her dress. “Someone is pulling at my dress!” she cried. “Don’t be silly,” said the eldest. “You caught it on a hook.”

At the bottom they came to a wonderful avenue of trees whose leaves were all of silver, shining and glittering. The soldier thought, I’d better take a token, and broke off a twig. The tree let out a loud crack. “Something is wrong,” cried the youngest. “Did you hear that?” “It’s a salute,” said the eldest, “because we’ll soon be rid of our princes.” Then they came to an avenue where the leaves were of gold, and finally one where they were of glittering diamonds, and from each he broke a twig, and each time the crack made the youngest jump with fright.

They came to a great lake where twelve little boats were waiting, and in each sat a handsome prince. Each princess stepped into a boat, and the soldier climbed in with the youngest. “The boat is so heavy tonight,” said her prince. “I have to row with all my strength.” On the far side stood a splendid, brightly lit castle, filled with the merry music of drums and trumpets. There each prince danced with his princess, and the invisible soldier danced along too. Whenever a princess lifted a cup of wine, he drank it dry before it reached her lips, which frightened the youngest, though the eldest always hushed her. They danced until three in the morning, when all their shoes were worn through and they had to stop.

On the way home the soldier ran on ahead and was lying in bed snoring loudly when the tired princesses crept back. “We’re safe from him,” they said, put away their fine dresses, set the worn-out shoes under their beds and lay down. The soldier went along the second night and the third, and the third time he took a golden cup as a token.

When the time came for him to give his answer, he brought the three twigs and the cup before the king, while the twelve princesses listened behind the door. “Where have my daughters danced their shoes to pieces?” asked the king. “In an underground castle, with twelve princes,” said the soldier, and he told the whole story and showed his tokens. The king called his daughters and asked whether the soldier spoke the truth. Seeing that they were found out and that denying it would do no good, they confessed everything. The king asked the soldier which one he would like for his wife. “I am no longer young,” he said, “so give me the eldest.” The wedding was held that very day, and he was promised the kingdom after the king’s death. As for the princes, they were cursed to stay under the earth for as many more days as they had danced nights with the princesses.