There was a king who had twelve beautiful daughters. They slept intwelve beds all in one room; and when they went to bed, the doors wereshut and locked up; but every morning their shoes were found to be quiteworn through as if they had been danced in all night; and yet nobodycould find out how it happened, or where they had been.

Then the king made it known to all the land, that if any person coulddiscover the secret, and find out where it was that the princessesdanced in the night, he should have the one he liked best for hiswife, and should be king after his death; but whoever tried and did notsucceed, after three days and nights, should be put to death.

A king's son soon came. He was well entertained, and in the evening wastaken to the chamber next to the one where the princesses lay in theirtwelve beds. There he was to sit and watch where they went to dance;and, in order that nothing might pass without his hearing it, the doorof his chamber was left open. But the king's son soon fell asleep; andwhen he awoke in the morning he found that the princesses had all beendancing, for the soles of their shoes were full of holes. The same thinghappened the second and third night: so the king ordered his head to becut off. After him came several others; but they had all the same luck,and all lost their lives in the same manner.

Now it chanced that an old soldier, who had been wounded in battleand could fight no longer, passed through the country where this kingreigned: and as he was travelling through a wood, he met an old woman,who asked him where he was going. 'I hardly know where I am going, orwhat I had better do,' said the soldier; 'but I think I should like verywell to find out where it is that the princesses dance, and then in timeI might be a king.' 'Well,' said the old dame, 'that is no very hardtask: only take care not to drink any of the wine which one of theprincesses will bring to you in the evening; and as soon as she leavesyou pretend to be fast asleep.'

Then she gave him a cloak, and said, 'As soon as you put that onyou will become invisible, and you will then be able to follow theprincesses wherever they go.' When the soldier heard all this goodcounsel, he determined to try his luck: so he went to the king, and saidhe was willing to undertake the task.

He was as well received as the others had been, and the king orderedfine royal robes to be given him; and when the evening came he was ledto the outer chamber. Just as he was going to lie down, the eldest ofthe princesses brought him a cup of wine; but the soldier threw it allaway secretly, taking care not to drink a drop. Then he laid himselfdown on his bed, and in a little while began to snore very loud as ifhe was fast asleep. When the twelve princesses heard this they laughedheartily; and the eldest said, 'This fellow too might have done a wiserthing than lose his life in this way!' Then they rose up and openedtheir drawers and boxes, and took out all their fine clothes, anddressed themselves at the glass, and skipped about as if they were eagerto begin dancing. But the youngest said, 'I don't know how it is, whileyou are so happy I feel very uneasy; I am sure some mischance willbefall us.' 'You simpleton,' said the eldest, 'you are always afraid;have you forgotten how many kings' sons have already watched in vain?And as for this soldier, even if I had not given him his sleepingdraught, he would have slept soundly enough.'

When they were all ready, they went and looked at the soldier; but hesnored on, and did not stir hand or foot: so they thought they werequite safe; and the eldest went up to her own bed and clapped her hands,and the bed sank into the floor and a trap-door flew open. The soldiersaw them going down through the trap-door one after another, the eldestleading the way; and thinking he had no time to lose, he jumped up, puton the cloak which the old woman had given him, and followed them;but in the middle of the stairs he trod on the gown of the youngestprincess, and she cried out to her sisters, 'All is not right; someonetook hold of my gown.' 'You silly creature!' said the eldest, 'it isnothing but a nail in the wall.' Then down they all went, and at thebottom they found themselves in a most delightful grove of trees; andthe leaves were all of silver, and glittered and sparkled beautifully.The soldier wished to take away some token of the place; so he brokeoff a little branch, and there came a loud noise from the tree. Then theyoungest daughter said again, 'I am sure all is not right--did not youhear that noise? That never happened before.' But the eldest said, 'Itis only our princes, who are shouting for joy at our approach.'

Then they came to another grove of trees, where all the leaves were ofgold; and afterwards to a third, where the leaves were all glitteringdiamonds. And the soldier broke a branch from each; and every time therewas a loud noise, which made the youngest sister tremble with fear; butthe eldest still said, it was only the princes, who were crying for joy.So they went on till they came to a great lake; and at the side of thelake there lay twelve little boats with twelve handsome princes in them,who seemed to be waiting there for the princesses.

One of the princesses went into each boat, and the soldier stepped intothe same boat with the youngest. As they were rowing over the lake, theprince who was in the boat with the youngest princess and the soldiersaid, 'I do not know why it is, but though I am rowing with all my mightwe do not get on so fast as usual, and I am quite tired: the boatseems very heavy today.' 'It is only the heat of the weather,' said theprincess: 'I feel it very warm too.'

On the other side of the lake stood a fine illuminated castle, fromwhich came the merry music of horns and trumpets. There they all landed,and went into the castle, and each prince danced with his princess; andthe soldier, who was all the time invisible, danced with them too; andwhen any of the princesses had a cup of wine set by her, he drank itall up, so that when she put the cup to her mouth it was empty. At this,too, the youngest sister was terribly frightened, but the eldest alwayssilenced her. They danced on till three o'clock in the morning, and thenall their shoes were worn out, so that they were obliged to leave off.The princes rowed them back again over the lake (but this time thesoldier placed himself in the boat with the eldest princess); and on theopposite shore they took leave of each other, the princesses promisingto come again the next night.

When they came to the stairs, the soldier ran on before the princesses,and laid himself down; and as the twelve sisters slowly came up verymuch tired, they heard him snoring in his bed; so they said, 'Now allis quite safe'; then they undressed themselves, put away their fineclothes, pulled off their shoes, and went to bed. In the morning thesoldier said nothing about what had happened, but determined to see moreof this strange adventure, and went again the second and third night;and every thing happened just as before; the princesses danced each timetill their shoes were worn to pieces, and then returned home. However,on the third night the soldier carried away one of the golden cups as atoken of where he had been.

As soon as the time came when he was to declare the secret, he was takenbefore the king with the three branches and the golden cup; and thetwelve princesses stood listening behind the door to hear what he wouldsay. And when the king asked him. 'Where do my twelve daughters dance atnight?' he answered, 'With twelve princes in a castle under ground.' Andthen he told the king all that had happened, and showed him the threebranches and the golden cup which he had brought with him. Then the kingcalled for the princesses, and asked them whether what the soldier saidwas true: and when they saw that they were discovered, and that it wasof no use to deny what had happened, they confessed it all. And the kingasked the soldier which of them he would choose for his wife; and heanswered, 'I am not very young, so I will have the eldest.'--And theywere married that very day, and the soldier was chosen to be the king'sheir.