Way, way back, in a sunny kingdom, lived a kind king. He had eleven brave sons and one sweet daughter named Elisa. They loved to play in the palace gardens, their laughter echoing like happy bells.

But one day, a new queen came to the palace. Uh-oh! This queen had a grumpy face and a heart as cold as an icicle. She did not like the children one bit.

She waved a wicked wand (or maybe just said some very mean words!) and POOF! The eleven princes turned into eleven beautiful, white swans. "Fly away!" she cackled. Then, she tried to make Elisa ugly, but Elisa was so good and kind, the magic just slid right off her! Still, the queen sent Elisa away from the palace, all alone.

Poor Elisa walked and walked, her heart full of sadness. She missed her brothers so much! Finally, by the big, blue sea, she saw eleven white swans. At sunset, guess what? The swans turned back into her brothers! "Elisa!" they cried, hugging her tight. They could only be human at night. During the day, they had to be swans.

That night, Elisa had a dream. A kind fairy told her, "You can save your brothers! You must pick stinging nettles from graveyards – ouch! – and spin them into thread. Then, knit eleven shirts. But here’s the tricky part: you must not speak a single word until the very last shirt is finished. Not one peep!"

Elisa woke up and knew what she had to do. She found the stinging nettles. Ouch, ouch, ouch! Her hands got all red and sore. But she kept picking and spinning and knitting. Day after day, she worked in silence, her fingers flying, making soft green shirts.

One day, a handsome young king was out hunting. He saw Elisa, quietly knitting. He thought she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, even though she didn’t say a word. He gently took her to his grand castle and wanted to make her his queen.

But not everyone was happy. A grumpy old archbishop whispered to the king, "She’s strange! She never speaks and she collects those weird plants. She must be a witch!"

Oh no! The people believed him. They decided Elisa must be punished. They took her to the town square. Elisa was so scared, but she kept knitting the very last sleeve of the very last shirt. Just as things looked their worst, FLAP, FLAP, FLAP! Eleven white swans swooped down from the sky!

Quick as a flash, Elisa threw the eleven nettle shirts over the swans. WHOOSH! Ten of her brothers stood there, handsome princes again! The youngest brother still had one swan wing because his shirt was missing a sleeve. But he was human! And now, Elisa could finally speak! "My brothers!" she cried. She told everyone the whole story.

The young king was overjoyed. The grumpy archbishop felt a bit silly. Everyone cheered for brave Elisa and her brothers. And so, Elisa married the kind young king, her brothers stayed with her, and they all lived happily, with lots of laughter and no more grumpy queens or ouchy nettles (unless they were for very special, non-magical sweaters!).

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