The Twelve Dancing Princesses

A king had twelve beautiful young daughters. They slept in twelve beds in one room; the doors were shut and locked, yet every morning their shoes were worn through as if danced to pieces all night—and no one knew how or where.

The king proclaimed that whoever discovered the secret might choose one daughter for his wife and inherit the crown; but whoever tried and failed after three days and nights would die. A king’s son came first to try his luck. He was well entertained, then housed in the chamber next door, the connecting door left open so he might hear all that passed. He fell asleep; by morning the shoes were full of holes again. The same happened the second and third nights, and he lost his life. Others came and failed the same way.

Now a poor wounded soldier was wandering through the country. An old woman met him and asked where he was going. “I hardly know,” he said—“I thought I might find out where the princesses danced, and thus earn a wife and a kingdom.”

“That is not hard,” said the old woman—“do not drink the wine they bring you at night, and pretend to sleep.” She gave him a cloak. “When you wear this you will be invisible, and then you may follow the twelve.”

Heartened by her advice and the cloak, he presented himself to the king and asked leave to try the riddle of the shoes. The king agreed on the usual hard terms. In the evening the soldier was led to the outer chamber beside the princesses’ room. The eldest princess brought him a cup of wine; he threw it away secretly, lay down, and soon snored as if in deep sleep. Then the twelve rose, opened wardrobes, and dressed in fine clothes, laughing at the young man who thought to catch them. The youngest, though, felt afraid. “All is not right—I am sure some mishap will overtake us.”

“You silly goose,” said the eldest; “you are always afraid. Have I not brought the prince to sleep?” Softly the eldest tapped her bed; it sank into the floor, and a trap opened. They went down, the eldest leading.

The soldier, seeing all, threw on the cloak and followed. In the middle of the stair he trod on the youngest’s gown. She cried out that someone had caught her dress.

“Nonsense,” said the eldest—“it is only a nail.” At the bottom they entered a grove of trees with leaves of silver that glittered. The soldier broke off a twig as a token; the crack made the youngest start again, but her sisters mocked her. They passed a second grove with leaves of gold, then a third with leaves of diamond; each time he broke a twig, and each time the youngest trembled while the others laughed.

Next they came to a great lake. Twelve little boats waited; in each sat a prince, and each prince took one princess. The soldier sat in the boat with the youngest. “I do not know why,” said the prince in that boat, “but the boat is much heavier tonight.”

“It may be the hot weather,” said the princess. On the far side stood a splendid lighted castle; music of trumpets and kettle-drums poured from its doors. Inside, each prince danced with his princess until three in the morning, when their shoes were worn through and they could dance no longer. The princes rowed them back; the soldier went first on the return and lay in his bed so that when the twelve came tired up the stair he was snoring again.

The next two nights he followed them again the same way, watching the silver, gold, and diamond groves and the lake crossing, and on the third night he carried off a golden cup from the underground castle as further proof. When the time came to answer the king, he brought out the three twigs and the cup and told the whole journey without leaving out the trap-door or the princes’ boats. The princesses knew they were found out and confessed every part of it. “Which will you marry?” asked the king.

“I am not very young,” said the soldier, “so I will have the eldest.” They were married that very day, and he was named the king’s heir.

Where this story comes from

Margaret Hunt’s 1884 translation calls this German tale “The Shoes that were Danced to Pieces”, number 133 in the Grimm collection (Die zertanzten Schuhe). The more familiar title, “The Twelve Dancing Princesses”, is the one in the Project Gutenberg English based on Taylor and Edwardes, followed here. It is not an Indian tale.

In this retelling the soldier disposes of the drink, pretends to sleep and collects physical evidence. The silver, gold and diamond branches distinguish three successive groves on the secret route.

The king executes unsuccessful investigators. Those deaths remain part of the mystery’s stakes, even though they are described briefly.

Read the original: Grimms’ Fairy Tales, tr. Edgar Taylor and Marian Edwardes (Project Gutenberg #2591, The Twelve Dancing Princesses)

Reading guidance: older children with adult discussion. Includes executions, a drugged drink, secret surveillance and a marriage awarded without the daughter’s stated choice.

Reading the story closely

The youngest princess notices real clues, but her sisters repeatedly explain them away. The soldier needs more than his invisible presence: the branches and cup turn a private observation into something he can show the king. Solving the mystery establishes where the shoes wore out; it does not make the king’s executions or marriage bargain fair.

Pair each disturbance with its explanation: a caught dress, a snapping branch, a heavy boat. Which explanation comes from evidence and which from reassurance? Then separate the question ‘What happened?’ from ‘Who had the right to decide the punishment and marriage?’

Talk about it

• What advice did the old woman give the soldier, and why was it so important?
• Why do you think the princesses kept their night-time dancing a secret?
• The soldier broke off twigs and took a cup as proof. What would you have brought back to show the king?

Related stories

• The Frog-Prince — a Grimm princess who has to keep a promise she did not want to keep
• The Blue Light — another Grimm soldier whose magic brings him into conflict with a king
• Briar Rose — a Grimm princess hidden away under a spell inside a castle