The Girl and the Swan: A Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, a girl was born to poor farmer and his wife who lived deep in the forest. The child, a beautiful babe with bright blue eyes and a tuft of the softest black hair, was blessed by the unicorn, the Great King of all creatures. The unicorn rarely appeared before mortals, but when he did, great things happened. And for a newborn to be blessed by him foretold her future to be a fortunate and happy one. The tip of his horn touched the child on the forehead, creating a soft white light. Upon her brow, a small horn of her own had sprouted. Her blessing had isolated her and her loving parents from the townspeople, but they much preferred the serenity of their forest home to the noisy and bustling town.

The girl grew into an even lovelier young woman as the years passed. Her dark hair grew long, and her eyes always seemed to be smiling. She learned to hear music in the sounds of nature around her and discovered how to dance to it. When her mother and father were away or too busy to admire her dancing, her audience was the birds, the deer, and the butterflies. There was always one admirer that watched her no matter if she danced or not: a swan with feathers as black as her own hair.

The bird followed her everywhere (with the exception of her house), behaving more like an obedient puppy than a wild animal. The girl had grown fond of her new friend and began to visit its lake home everyday with a large piece of bread. While she would toss the crumbs to the bird, she spoke to it like she would the closest of friends. She told all of her secrets to it (like how she was making a new dress for her mother and a sturdier bow for her father) and sometimes asked it questions, all of which were answered by a seemingly blank stare or a flap of its wings.

One night she had fallen asleep by the lake while visiting her feathered friend. The sky then opened up and let loose a rain shower. Unknown to the sleeping girl, the black swan had settled near her head and stretched a dark pinion over her, shielding her from the cold raindrops. When she awoke, the swan had vanished. She stood, finding the grass and trees were damp and the air smelled sweet. “It must have rained while I slept,” she thought aloud. “Then, why am I not wet?” Receiving no response from the lake or trees, she made her way home.

When she opened the door, her mother drew her into a tight embrace. “We were so worried, dear!” she cried into her daughter’s shoulder. “We had no idea where we went to! We thought you had been taken by the townspeople.”

Her father, by far the calmer of the two, then spoke. “Darling, you must never venture off too far from home. Because you were blessed by the unicorn, the people of the town fear you.”

She laughed, an innocent sound. “Why would they have reason to fear me? I have done no harm to them, nor do I harbor any ill will. Why do they fear me when they do not know me?”

Her father’s grey eyes became very sad and her mother’s cries fell silent. “It is just the nature of Man: they fear that which they do not understand. They are afraid of the unknown, and they have gone to extreme measures in the past to be rid of those fears.”

“What do you mean ‘extreme measures’?” she asked.

“They have killed their own kind because they were different,” her mother answered. The girl was horrified. “Anyone who was gifted or special was killed for their talents. And since you have been blessed by the Great King, you bear his horn upon your brow. They do not understand you, therefore they fear you.”

The girl still did not understand, but she said nothing; she wanted to hear no more talk of death or hatred or prejudice. All she wanted was to bask in the love of her parents and enjoy their simple, happy life together.

Many months later, the beautiful girl was walking through the wood when she came across a dirt road she did not recognize. “I do not remember this path being here,” she whispered to herself. Suddenly, a strong and cold wind cut through the air. When it died down a man stood before her. He was very old and stooped, his wrinkled skin the color of granite. He raised his eyes to meet hers and she shuddered at the sight of them. Something about this man frightened her, but she could not say why.

A thin smile appeared on his face as he stepped towards her; she stepped back. “My, my, my,” he marveled in his high, thin voice. “What a beautiful girl you are, my dear.” His gaze soon found the small, spiraled horn on her forehead. “And you are blessed by the unicorn, I see. Such an honor it is.” He made to kiss her hand, but she quickly withdrew it; his touch made her skin shiver in distaste.

“May I ask who you are, sir?” She hoped her voice did not betray her unease.

The man smiled again. “I am a great and powerful wizard,” he answered. “I can make objects appear from nothing.” To prove his point, he cupped his gnarled hands together and opened them. Where there had been only air before now lay three large and dazzling red jewels. The girl was momentarily amazed by this trick. “I can make light appear from darkness.” Indeed, the sky had grown dark with incoming storm clouds, but the wizard waved his hands and a ball of light began to shine on his fingertips. She was now thoroughly impressed. Forgetting her nervousness, she allowed herself to marvel at his skills. She did not see his grin turn as dark as the sky above them. “There is one thing I cannot do, however,” he said mournfully.

She turned curious eyes to the old man. “And what is that?”

“I cannot arrange an audience with the king,” he confessed. “I must warn him of a great danger from a neighboring kingdom, but I must only tell him and no other. Perhaps if a girl such as you, who bears the incredible blessing of the unicorn, were to accompany me he would surely hear my words!”

Her discomfort swiftly returned at his request. She remembered her mother’s and father’s warning about other people who did not understand her and how they shunned her. “I am sorry, sir,” she began, “but I cannot help you. I do not belong in the court of the king. My place is here in the forest that is my home.

The man let out a brief, harsh laugh as he waved his hands again. The light that had been dancing over his fingertips turned to a dark green color. He leisurely moved the light back and forth in front of the girl, and as she started to fall under his spell, his laugh became louder and more maniacal. The girl’s blue eyes slowly began to close as she succumbed to the trance he was putting her in.

Just when the spell was almost complete, a flurry of wind and black feathers forced itself between them. The girl and the wizard fell to the ground and a dark shadow cast itself over the old man. Shaking her head to clear it from its temporary hypnosis, the girl looked up and beheld a glorious sight: standing as a barrier between her and the wizard was a young man with dark flowing hair and a magnificent pair of wings as black as pitch stretching from his back. She gazed upon him in awe, wondering where he had come from, when an evil cackle permeated the air.

“So,” the wizard said, “you have finally broken the curse I put on you all those years ago.”

“I have, sorcerer.” His voice was deep and rich, reminding her of the slow call of an owl. “And now that I am no longer bound by your foul magic, I will see to it that you never harm anyone again.” Without warning, he reached into the wizard’s robes and withdrew a small black box. Before he could rise to his feet to stop him, the winged man crushed the box in his hands. A faint yet terrible odor arose from the box’s remains, and the wizard fell to the ground once more. His breath came in slow wheezes now, and the storm clouds that had gathered disappeared, leaving the sky a vibrant blue once again.

“Now you are nothing more than an old man,” the winged man said. “You have no magic, no power. You cannot even perform card tricks.” He turned from the defeated wizard and extended his hand to the girl from the forest. She took it without thinking and pulled herself to her feet with his aid. His skin was very warm and seemed to comfort her.

“Who are you, kind sir?” she asked, her eyes wide in wonder.

He smiled, a wonderful and bright image that radiated love and care. “You do not recognize me?” His voice was teasing and on the verge of a gentle laugh. “I am the black swan that has watched you dance these many months.”

She drew in a sharp breath at the revelation. Her fingers gingerly touched his face, his shoulders, and his arms until she came to the pinions on his back. Now that she could see clearly she did indeed recognize them as belonging to her beloved swan. “But how are you human now?”

“What you see is my true form,” he explained. “I am the adopted son of our king. When I heard of the reason behind this wizard’s desire to see him, I grew suspicious. Our neighbors have given us no cause to fear an invasion, so I questioned him. When he discovered that I knew of his plan to start a war between the kingdoms, he placed a curse on me. I was to remain trapped in the form of a swan and remain in this forest forever. However, if I could fall in love with a beautiful girl and protect her from harm, the curse would be broken and I would become human again.”

“And so you fell in love?”

He nodded. “I fell in love with you. When I first saw you dance, and when you spoke to me as if I were human I knew I had found the one I would love for the rest of my life. And since his magic is now broken, he can no longer cast his evil spells.” He looked down towards the old man. His hunched form slowly rose to a standing position. His black eyes glanced briefly at the two before him, his gaze somewhat confused, before turning and making his way down the long dirt path. When he was out of sight, the road also vanished, leaving the pair in solitude.

She felt a surge of pity for the wizard as she watched him walk away, but it was short-lived. “I do not understand,” she confessed softly. “If you were human, why do you retain your swan’s wings?”

“Because they remind me of the first time I protected you: when you fell asleep by the lake and it started to rain. I put my wing over you to keep you dry. It was not enough to satisfy the conditions of my curse, but I could not bear to see you drenched by the rain like that.”

She raised a hand and gently ran it along the edge of one wing, all the way to the tip and back to where it met his fawn-colored flesh. “They are very beautiful,” she said with a smile. She suddenly let out a laugh as she thought of something. “You know, my mother and father once told me that someone like me would be forever feared by normal humans. How strange that we should find each other so soon after their warning.”

He joined her in smiling and offered her his hand. “Will you become my wife and allow me to love you as long as you will have me?”

In the winged man’s eyes shone such love and devotion that even in her innocence she knew them not to be false emotions. She delicately joined her hand with his, his warmth flowing into her body and settling into her heart. He drew her into his waiting arms and tenderly embraced her, smiles brighter than the sun itself on their faces.

All the creatures of the forest attended their wedding, her parents looking on proudly. Even the wise and great unicorn who had blessed the girl as an infant stood as a silent and unseen witness to the ceremony.

Not long after their union, the girl persuaded her new husband to visit his adoptive father, the king. “I am sure that he is still worried about you and misses you terribly,” she said. “He agreed, but only if she would go with him to give him the courage to face his father and his subjects in his winged state. After consulting with her parents, they relented and the lovers journeyed to the castle.

People stared in wonder as they passed, but none made any move to harm them. The guards lowered their spears as they beheld their long-lost prince. The king was overjoyed at seeing his son again after so many years; he leapt from his throne and embraced him, hardly heeding the black wings that sprouted from his back. The king’s joy was so great that he announced a feast in honor of his son and his beautiful young bride. He also invited the couple to live in the castle in luxury for the rest of their lives, should they so choose. They agreed happily, on the condition that the girl could visit her parents and her forest home whenever she liked. Such a simple request was easily granted, and the entire kingdom celebrated the return of their prince and their new princess.

And so, the girl who was cursed with isolation from others because of the unicorn’s gift to her and the man who was cursed out of evil intentions found one another. The love that bloomed between them was stronger than anything in the world to them. They lived until the end of their days, dying peacefully together in each other’s arms, as the happiest people in the untrusting, sometimes cruel world.

- THE END -