Once upon a time, there was a king who had twelve beautiful daughters.
For a while, the king noticed a strange phenomenon: every morning, the shoes of the twelve princesses were worn out, as if they had danced all night long.
However, the king couldn’t figure out where the princesses had gone or with whom they had danced.
The king issued a decree: anyone who could uncover the truth would be allowed to marry their favorite princess and inherit the throne.
Many tried but failed.
One day, a soldier who was passing through the kingdom helped an old woman in the forest.
When the old woman heard that he was homeless, she gave him a cloak and said, “This is an invisibility cloak. Wear it and follow the princesses, and you will find out where they go and who they dance with at night. You will also be able to marry your favorite princess and inherit the throne. Remember, don’t drink the wine offered by the princesses.”
The soldier went to the king and claimed he could solve the mystery of the twelve princesses.
The king brought him to meet the princesses.
That night, the eldest princess handed him a glass of wine.
The soldier secretly poured the wine away and pretended to fall asleep.
The twelve princesses, believing he was asleep, dressed up and went to the bed.
With a clap, the bed sank, revealing a door in the floor, and they descended through it.
The soldier quickly put on the invisibility cloak and followed them.
They went down the stairs and arrived at a forest where the leaves on the trees were made of silver.
Then they passed through a second forest with leaves made of gold.
Finally, they reached a third forest where the leaves were made of diamonds.
In each forest, the soldier broke off a branch as evidence.
Eventually, they arrived at a lake where twelve small boats awaited them, each with a prince.
The princes helped the princesses into the boats.
The soldier also boarded one of the boats.
On the other side of the lake, there was a magnificent palace.
The twelve princes and princesses began to dance.
The soldier, still invisible, joined in the dancing and drinking.
He even took a golden cup as further evidence.
The next day, the soldier went to the king with the three branches and the golden cup, telling him everything he had seen the previous night.
Faced with the evidence, the twelve princesses had no choice but to confess.
In the end, the soldier married the eldest princess and inherited the throne.
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