Once upon a time there were twelve royal children – eleven brothers and one older sister, Elisa.

Det var en gång tolv kungabarn – elva bröder och en storasyster, Elisa.

One day the mother died, and some time later the king married again. The new wife, however, was an evil witch.

En dag dog modern, och efter en tid gifte sig kungen på nytt. Men den nya kvinnan var en elak häxa.

She turned the eleven princes into swans and sent them far away to a distant land beyond the large forest.

Hon förtrollade de elva prinsarna så att de blev svanar och skickade dem långt bort till ett fjärran land bakom den stora skogen.

She dressed the girl in rags and smeared an ointment onto her face that turned her so ugly, that even her own father no longer recognized her and chased her out of the castle.