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The Twelve Wild Ducks

As soon as they reached the palace, an old woman staggered forward to meet them. She was the King's guardian, and the moment she set eyes upon the lovely maiden, she was filled with jealously and anger. Noticing that the maiden said nothing, the old woman ushered the King aside and whispered, "Can't you see that this thing whom you have brought home to marry is in fact a witch? Why, look at her! She can neither talk nor laugh nor weep!"

But the King did not care a straw whether the sweet young woman he intended to marry spoke or not. He held to the wedding and married the Princess, and they lived in great joy and glory.

The Princess did not forget to go on working on her shirts, and all this time she neither talked nor laughed nor wept. Though she was making very good progress, she found that she still had not enough cloth to finish all twelve shirts, and she needed to go back to the witches' moor one last time.

That night, while all the palace slept, she quietly slipped out to pick her thistledown. Now the old woman who was the King's guardian saw her leave, and she knew well where the young Queen was going, for I must tell you that she was the same wicked witch who had changed the twelve Princes into wild ducks in the first place. She hurried to the King's chamber, shook him aware and said, "Now, come with me! I'll prove to you that your new bride is a witch! She can't help but return to the witches' moor at midnight, where no doubt she'll join her wicked company." The King would not listen to her at first, but when he saw that the Queen's bed was empty, he got up and went with the old woman.

Upon the edge of the moor they stopped. In the clear moonlight they could see the Queen stooping amongst the horrid hags and trolls. The King turned away sadly and said not a word, for he loved his quiet Queen very much.

The wicked old woman began to whisper and tell everyone at court about the Queen's nightly visit to the witches' moor.

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