Return to site

WILD SWANS

there's a fairy tale, the wild swans.

in it, a loyal sister has to stay silent until she finishes making nettle shirts for her eleven cursed brothers, or they will stay swans forever.

while silent, a king falls in love with her, marries her, and they have a child. his evil witch mother takes the baby, paints the sister's face with blood so it looks like she consumed her own child. As rumors swirl, the sister, overwhelmed with grief and alienated from her king, goes behind the castle.

She has kept silent all these years, but in this moment, she digs a hole and screams helplessly into the ground.

It is one of the most human moments in any story I've ever read. I also love the fact it ultimately doesn't count against her. As if even the curse understands this is too much to bear.

(Eventually she frees her brothers and gets the child back. In case you were worried.)