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the Twelve Brothers
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Once upon a time there were a king and a queen. They lived happily together and had twelve children, all boys. One day the king said to his wife, "If our thirteenth child, which you are soon going to bring into the world, is a girl, then the twelve others shall die, so that her wealth may be GREat, and so that she alone may inherit the kingdom."
Indeed, he had twelve coffins made. they were filled with wood shavings and each was fitted with a coffin pillow. He had them put in a locked room, and gave the key to the queen, ordering her to tell no one about them.
the mother sat and mourned the entire day, until the youngest son —— who was always with her, and who was named Benjamin after the Bible —— said to her, "Dear mother, why are you so sad?"
"Dearest child," she answered, "I cannot tell you."
However, he would not leave her in peace, until she unlocked the room and showed him the coffins, already filled with wood shavings.
then she said, "My dearest Benjamin, your father had these coffins made for you and your eleven brothers. If I bring a girl into the world, you are all to be killed and buried in them."
As she spoke and cried, her son comforted her, saying, "Don't cry, dear mother. We will take care of ourselves and run away."
then she said, "Go out into the woods with your eleven brothers. One of you should climb the highest tree that you can find. Keep watch there and look toward the castle tower. If I give birth to a little son, I will raise a white flag. If I give birth to a little daughter, I will raise a red flag, and then you should escape as fast as you can, and may God protect you. I will get up every night and pray for you, in the winter that you may warm yourselves near a fire, and in the summer that you may not suffer from the heat."
After she had blessed her children, they went out into the woods. One after the other of them kept watch, sitting atop the highest oak tree and looking toward the tower. After eleven days had passed, and it was Benjamin's turn, he saw that a flag had been raised. It was not the white one, but instead the red blood-flag, decreeing that they all were to die.
When the boys heard this they became angry and cried out, "Are we to suffer death for the sake of a girl! We swear that we will take revenge. Wherever we find a girl, her red blood shall flow."
then they went deeper into the woods, and in its middle, where it was darkest, they found a little bewitched house that was empty.
they said, "We will live here. You, Benjamin, you are the youngest and weakest. You shall stay at home and keep house. We others will go and get things to eat."
Thus they went into the woods and shot rabbits, wild deer, birds, and doves, and whatever they could eat. These they brought to Benjamin, and he had to prepare them to satisfy their hunger. They lived together in this little house for ten years, but the time passed quickly for them.
the little daughter that their mother, the queen, had given birth to was now grown up. She had a good heart, a beautiful face, and a golden star on her forehead.
Once on a large washday she saw twelve men's shirts in 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."
the girl said, "Where are my twelve brothers? I have never even heard of them."
She answered, "Only God knows where they are. They are wandering about in the world."
then she took the girl, unlocked the room for her, and showed her the twelve coffins with the wood shavings and the coffin pillows.
"these coffins," she said, "were intended for your brothers, but they secretly ran away before you were born," and she told her how everything had happened.
then the girl said, "Dear mother, don't cry. I will go and look for my brothers."
then she took the twelve shirts and went forth into the GREat woods. She walked the entire day, in the evening coming to the bewitched little house.
She went inside and found a young lad, who asked, "Where do you come from, and where are you going?"
He was astounded that she was so beautiful, that she was wearing royal clothing, and that she had a star on her forehead.
"I am a princess and am looking for my twelve brothers. I will walk on as long as the sky is blue, until I find them." She also showed him the twelve shirts that belonged to them.
Benjamin saw that it was his sister, and said, "I am Benjamin, your youngest brother."
She began to cry for joy, and Benjamin did so as well. they kissed and embraced one another with GREat love.
then he said, "Dear sister, I must warn you that we have aGREed that every girl whom we meet must die."
She said, "I will gladly die, if I can thus redeem my twelve brothers."
"No," he answered, "you shall not die. Sit under this tub until our eleven brothers come, and I will make it right with them."
She did this, and when night fell they came home from the hunt. As they sat at the table eating, they asked, "What is new?"
Benjamin said, "Don't you know anything?"
