Long ago, there lived a King who had eleven sons, and one daughter named Eliza. The eleven brothers wrote with gold pencils. One could see directly that they were Princes. Their sister Eliza sat on a little chair made of glass, but life was not always like this.
Their father married a new Queen who did not love the poor children at all. They could notice this on the very first day. In the whole palace there was a great party, the children were only given some sand in a tea-cup instead of the spare cakes and the roasted apples, and were told that was something good.
The next week the Queen took Eliza into a village, to a farmer and his wife. And she also told the King many bad words about the Princes. After that King did not care about them any longer.
"Fly out into the world and get your own living, " the Queen said to the Princes. "Fly like great birds without a voice. "
But she could not make it so bad for them as she wished. The Princes became eleven beautiful wild swans. With a strange cry they flew out of the palace windows, far over the park and into the sky.
It was quite early morning when they came by the place where their sister Eliza lay asleep. They hovered（盘旋）over the farmer's house, turned their long necks（扇 动）their wings, but no one heard or saw it. They had to fly on, far away into the wide world. They flew into a great dark forest finally.
Poor little Eliza stood in the farmer's room and played with a green leaf, for she had no other things to play with. She made a hole in the leaf and looked through it up at the sun. It seemed to her that she saw her brothers' clear eyes. Each time the warm sun shone upon her face, she thought of all the kisses they gave her.
When she was fifteen years old, she went home. When the Queen saw how beautiful she was, she became angry and hated her. She wanted to change her into a wild swan, because the King wished to see his daughter.
①The King got married to a new wife.
②The eleven brothers were turned into swans.
③The Queen sent Eliza to a farmer in a village.
④Eliza went back to the palace to see her father.
⑤Eliza's brothers stopped to see her on the way to the forest.
