The Twelve Brothers by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
"The Twelve Brothers" by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Today's fairy tale is just chock full of goodies. We've got an evil father, a loving mother, a young innocent woman who marries a king, a mean mother-in-law, an enchanted cottage in the woods, people who turn into birds, an old mysterious woman. A little bit of everything really.
The story starts off with a king and queen who seem happy enough and have twelve sons. Dad though tells his wife what will happen if the thirteenth child is a girl.
If the thirteenth child which thou art about to bring into the world, is a girl, the twelve boys shall die, in order that her possessions may be great, and that the kingdom may fall to her alone.
Apparently, he actually wants a daughter to pass his kingdom on to, which I found surprising. Nice change in that he values the daughter, but crazy too. He actually has the 12 coffins built and locks them...