Long ago, there was a king who wished for a daughter, but the queen bore him twelve sons.
When the king had lost all hope, the queen finally gave birth to a daughter.
This little princess was extremely lovely, with a golden star on her forehead.
The king was overjoyed and cherished the little princess like a precious gem, declaring, “My throne shall be passed to her in the future; she is the queen-to-be!”
The king had a favorite courtier who was skilled in flattery and loved to sow discord.
He said to the king, “However, the little princess has twelve brothers. It’s unlikely they will let her inherit the throne or even share the wealth with her!”
Upon hearing this, the king became anxious and hurriedly asked for a solution.
The courtier replied, “Kill the twelve princes. Then no one will threaten the interests of the little princess.”
The king surprisingly believed his words and ordered him to send someone to kill the prince.
Just then, the passing queen overheard this and was distressed by the king’s foolishness.
She quickly called the twelve princes together, informed them of the situation, and said, “Hurry, escape! Flee to the forest! There’s a magical house there that can protect you.”
So the twelve princes swiftly fled the palace and sought refuge in the forest.
As expected, they found a magical house and settled there, making a living by hunting and finally finding peace.
However, they were deeply angered by their father’s actions and also harbored resentment towards their sister. They said, “Don’t let us see her, or we’ll seek revenge for ourselves!”
Many years later, the little princess in the palace grew up. She was beautiful, intelligent, and kind-hearted, loved by all who knew her.
The queen was delighted to have such a well-behaved daughter, but at the same time, she missed her twelve sons dearly.
Whenever she longed for her sons, she would take out their belongings to look at them.
One day, as she shed tears while holding one of the princes’ clothes, the princess walked in.
She was surprised and asked whose clothes they were.
Only then did the queen notice the princess. She quickly wiped away her tears and said, “These are your father’s clothes.”
The princess replied, “Mother, don’t deceive me. These are clearly clothes for a young boy, neither my father’s nor mine. Please tell me the truth!”
The queen had no choice but to tell her about her twelve brothers.
The princess was overjoyed upon hearing this. She said, “I’ve always wanted to have a brother, but I never imagined having twelve. I’ll go to the forest right away and bring them back.”
Before the queen could stop her, the princess had already run out of the palace and headed for the forest.
She reached the forest, sweating profusely, before finally finding the magical house.
Initially, her twelve brothers harbored resentment towards their sister. However, upon seeing her innocent face and how kind she was to them, they found it impossible to maintain their hatred.
Instead, they grew fond of their sister, with the golden star on her forehead.
So the princess stayed in the magical house.
Whenever her brothers went out hunting, she would cook and clean for them.
The magical house had a garden. One day, the princess discovered twelve lilies in the garden.
Delighted, she thought, “These lilies are so beautiful, exactly twelve of them. I’ll give one to each of my twelve brothers. They will surely be pleased.”
So she picked the lilies.
But as she plucked the lilies, twelve crows flew overhead, and the magical house disappeared, leaving her alone in the forest.
The princess was bewildered, not knowing what had happened, and couldn’t help but cry.
As the princess was at a loss, an old woman appeared.
She sighed and said, “Stop crying, child. These twelve lilies are actually your twelve brothers. If you pluck them, they will turn into twelve crows.”
The princess cried out, “Please, old woman, save my twelve brothers.”
The old woman replied, “There is a way, but I fear you may not be able to do it. To save them, you must not speak for seven years, nor laugh for seven years. If you fail, they will die.”
The princess firmly stated, “I can do it.”
The old woman said, “If that’s the case, then I’ll help you.”
With that, the old woman disappeared.
The princess thought to herself, “Without the magic house and with so many wild beasts in the forest, I must climb up a tree.”
So the princess climbed up a tree.
At that moment, a young king happened to be hunting in the forest.
When he saw the princess up in the tree, he immediately took a liking to her.
He ran to the base of the tree and exclaimed loudly, “Lady, would you be willing to return to the palace with me and become my queen?”
The princess looked down and saw a handsome young man. She also liked him very much, so she nodded in agreement.
And so, the princess returned to the kingdom with the king and became his queen.
Even though she neither spoke nor laughed, the king adored her, and they lived happily together.
However, the king’s mother, the queen dowager, did not like the princess at all.
She remarked, “This girl’s background is suspicious, and on top of that, she is mute and never smiles. How can our kingdom have such a queen?”
The queen dowager consulted a wizard to predict the princess’s fate.
Knowing the queen dowager’s dislike for the princess, the wizard exaggerated and said, “This girl brings misfortune. If you want the king and the kingdom to be safe, you must find a way to get rid of her!”
With the queen dowager’s increasing disdain for the princess, she seized every opportunity to find fault with her.
The princess silently endured, always remembering that if she uttered a single word, her twelve brothers would never return.
Finally, the last day of the seven years arrived.
The princess was filled with joy, thinking, “Today my brothers will turn back into humans, and I can finally reveal the truth to the king and the queen dowager.”
However, on this very day, the queen dowager, believing the wizard’s words, sent the king out of the palace and ordered the princess to be seized and tied to a stake.
She declared, “The wizard said you would bring disaster upon the king and the kingdom. Today, you must die!”
The queen dowager had wood piled around the princess and set it alight.
The princess initially wanted to argue back, but when she glanced at the clock, she realized it was precisely the last moment of the seven years.
She thought to herself, “If I speak now, all will be lost, and my brothers will die.”
With this thought in mind, the princess closed her eyes.
The fire grew larger and the princess could feel it creeping closer.
She clenched her lips tightly, fearing that she might not be able to withstand the pain of the flames and would cry out.
As the fire finally reached her clothes, just when the princess thought she was about to be engulfed by the blaze, twelve crows descended from the sky and instantly transformed into twelve princes.
It turned out that the last moment of the seven years had passed.
The princess smiled, her twelve brothers had finally returned. Her seven years of effort had not been in vain.
The twelve princes quickly extinguished the fire and rescued the princess.
Later, the princess told the king the reason behind her seven years of silence and lack of laughter.
She and the king lived happily ever after, with her twelve brothers frequently visiting her.
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