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The Wild Swans

The Wild Swans is a classic story from Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales, for children aged 5–9. This page has the English story with a native English narration (about 3 min), plus the Chinese version with Mandarin narration (about 6 min). Free to read and listen, no sign-up.

In Andersen's tale, Elisa frees her eleven brothers from a swan spell by making them nettle shirts without saying a word. With native English narration, plus the Chinese version in Mandarin.

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Read The Wild Swans

Once upon a time, a king had eleven sons and one daughter. Her name was Elisa. The twelve children were very happy together.

Then the king married a new queen. She was cruel, and she did not love the children. She sent Elisa away to a farm. Then she said a bad spell over the princes. "Fly away like big birds!" she cried. And the eleven princes turned into eleven white swans. They flew out of the window and far away.

When Elisa was fifteen, she came home. The queen put dark juice on her face and made her hair messy. Even her father did not know her. Sad and alone, Elisa ran into the forest. "I will find my brothers," she said.

She walked and walked to the sea. At sunset, eleven swans with gold crowns flew down. When the sun went down, they turned into her brothers! "We are swans in the day," they said. "We are men only at night. We live far over the sea."

The brothers made a big net. The next morning, the swans carried Elisa in the net across the sea.

That night, Elisa had a dream. A fairy said, "Pick nettles and make eleven shirts. Put the shirts on the swans, and they will be men again. But do not say one word until you finish. If you speak, your brothers will die."

The nettles hurt her hands, but Elisa did not cry out. She worked day and night, and she did not say a word.

One day, a young king found her in a cave. He took her to his castle and made her his queen. But an old bishop said, "She is a witch!" Soon the people wanted to punish her.

On the way to the square, Elisa was still making the last shirt. Then eleven swans flew down. She threw the shirts over them, and there stood eleven princes! The last shirt had only one sleeve, so the youngest brother still had one swan's wing.

"Now I can speak!" said Elisa. "I did nothing wrong!" Then the wood in the square grew into red roses. The church bells rang, and everyone was happy.

The Chinese version: 野天鹅

从前，有一个国王，他有十一个儿子和一个小女儿。小女儿叫艾丽莎。兄妹十二个每天在王宫里读书、玩耍，过得快快乐乐。

后来，国王娶了一个新王后。新王后心肠很坏，一点儿也不喜欢这些孩子。她把艾丽莎送到乡下一户农民家里，又对着王子们念起了咒语：“飞出去吧，变成不会说话的大鸟，自己去找活路！”只听呼啦啦一阵响，十一位王子变成了十一只雪白的野天鹅，长叫一声，从窗口飞走了。

艾丽莎十五岁那年，回到了王宫。王后见她长得那么美，心里更恨了，就往她脸上抹了黑乎乎的汁水，把她的头发弄得乱蓬蓬的。国王一看，竟认不出这是自己的女儿。艾丽莎伤心极了，一个人跑出王宫，走进了大森林。她心里只想着一件事：一定要找到哥哥们。

她走啊走，一直走到了大海边。太阳快落山的时候，十一只头戴金冠的天鹅排成一行，从远处飞了过来。太阳刚一沉进海里，天鹅的羽毛就纷纷落下，变成了十一位王子。“哥哥！”艾丽莎扑了过去。哥哥们说：“我们白天是天鹅，太阳下山以后才能变回人。我们住在大海那边，一年只能回来一次。”

哥哥们用柳树皮和芦苇编了一张结实的大网。第二天一早，十一只天鹅用嘴衔起大网，带着睡在网里的妹妹，飞过了茫茫大海。

到了大海那边，艾丽莎做了一个梦。梦里，一位仙女对她说：“你的哥哥们有救。去采荨麻，用光脚把它踩碎，纺成线，织成十一件长袖的衣服，披在天鹅身上，魔法就会解开。可是记住，从开始织的那一刻起，直到织完，你一个字也不能说。只要说出一个字，哥哥们就会没命。”

艾丽莎醒来，看见山洞旁边长满了荨麻。她伸手去拔，手上马上起了一个个火辣辣的水泡。可她一声也不吭，一根一根地拔，一件一件地织。

有一天，一位年轻的国王出来打猎，在山洞里发现了她。国王问她是谁，她只是摇头。国王觉得她又美丽又可怜，就带她回了王宫，让她做了王后，还把她的荨麻和织好的衣服都搬了过去。艾丽莎很喜欢这位国王，可她还是不能说话，每天夜里都悄悄地织。

王宫里的大主教却总说：“她一定是个女巫！”有一天夜里，荨麻用完了，艾丽莎只好一个人出去采。大主教偷偷跟在后面，看见了，就去告诉国王。这一回，国王也没法再护着她了。人们说她是女巫，要在广场上惩罚她。

被押往广场的路上，艾丽莎还在飞快地织最后一件衣服。忽然，天上传来一阵扑扑的翅膀声，十一只天鹅飞下来，围在了她的身边。艾丽莎把十一件衣服往天鹅身上一抛，十一位王子站在了那里！只是最后那件衣服还少一只袖子，所以最小的哥哥，有一只胳膊还是白白的天鹅翅膀。

“现在我可以说话了！”艾丽莎说，“我没有做坏事！”哥哥们把一切都讲给大家听。就在这时，广场上的那堆木柴生了根，长出绿叶，开满了红红的玫瑰。最高处开着一朵雪白的花，国王把它摘下来，放在艾丽莎的胸前。教堂的钟自己当当地响了起来，一群群鸟儿飞来，大家欢欢喜喜地回到了王宫。

The Wild Swans: the moral of the story

Keep going for the people you love, even when it hurts and seems too hard. Kindness and patience bring the truth out in the end.

Chinese words in The Wild Swans

Play the Chinese narration and listen for these words. The pinyin shows the tones.

  • 野天鹅yě tiān é

    wild swans

  • 哥哥gē ge

    older brother

  • 妹妹mèi mei

    younger sister

  • 仙女xiān nǚ

    fairy

  • 荨麻qián má

    nettle

  • 说话shuō huà

    to speak

  • 袖子xiù zi

    sleeve

  • 玫瑰méi gui

    rose

Bedtime storytelling tips

  • When the fairy says Elisa must not say a word, agree with your child to stay silent for one minute and talk only with your hands. It shows how hard Elisa's task was.
  • Slow down for the moment at sunset when the swans turn back into princes. Spread your arms with your child and drift down like swans landing.
  • Count the elevens: eleven sons, eleven swans, eleven shirts. Children learning Chinese can say it in Chinese too: 十一 (shí yī).

Things to talk about afterwards

  • What hard things did Elisa do to save her brothers?
  • When people said Elisa was a witch, why didn't she explain?
  • Why does the youngest brother still have one swan's wing?

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The Wild Swans: common questions

What is the moral of The Wild Swans?
Keep going for the people you love, even when it hurts. Elisa keeps working and keeps silent even when she is called a witch, and in the end she saves her brothers and the truth comes out.
Who wrote The Wild Swans?
The Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published in 1838. The Brothers Grimm have a similar tale called The Six Swans.
What happens in The Wild Swans?
A wicked queen turns eleven princes into swans and sends their sister Elisa away. In a dream, a fairy tells Elisa to make eleven shirts from nettles without saying a word until she is done. A young king makes her his queen, but a bishop says she is a witch. On the way to be punished, she throws the shirts over the swans, and her brothers become men again.
Why does the youngest brother have a swan's wing in The Wild Swans?
Elisa did not have time to finish the last shirt, so it had only one sleeve. When she threw it over the youngest swan, he became a prince again but kept one swan's wing.
Is The Wild Swans suitable for young children?
We suggest it for ages 5–9. Our retelling leaves out the darker parts of Andersen's original, such as the witches in the churchyard and the plan to burn Elisa, and the story ends happily, with roses and church bells.

Source and how we retold it

By the Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen, De vilde Svaner, first published in 1838 and now in the public domain. The original is long; our retelling follows Andersen's plot but shortens it. We left out the queen putting toads in Elisa's bath, the witches Elisa sees in the churchyard when she goes to pick nettles at night, and the night the swans spend on a rock in the sea as they fly her across. In the original, Elisa is condemned as a witch and is to be burned in the town square; here the people only want to punish her, with no details of a burning. The ending, where the brothers are saved and the pile of wood bursts into roses, is unchanged.

The narration on this page is AI-generated: the English is read by 英伦绅士 and the Chinese by 温柔妈妈. The audio files are labeled as AI-generated.

If you liked The Wild Swans, there are more stories in Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales. You can also read this one to your child in your own voice.

More Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales