The poor girl thought，“I can no longer stay here.I will go and seek my brothers.”And when night came，she ran away，and went straight into the forest.She walked the whole night long，and next day also without stopping，until she could go no farther for weariness(weariness n.疲倦，厌烦，疲劳).Then she saw a foresthut，and went into it，and found a room with six little beds，but she did not venture to get into one of them，but crept under one，and lay down on the hard ground，intending to pass the night there.Just before sunset(sunset n.日落，晚年)，however，she heard a rustling(rustling n.瑟瑟声，沙沙声)，and saw six swans come flying in at the window.They alighted on the ground and blew at each other，and blew all the feathers off，and their swans，skins stripped off like a shirt.Then the maiden looked at them and recognized her brothers，was glad and crept forth from beneath the bed.The brothers were not less delighted to see their little sister，but their joy was of short duration(duration n.持续时间，为期).“Here you cannot abide.”they said to her.“This is a shelter for robbers，if they come home and find you，they will kill you.”“But can you not protect me.”asked the little sister.“No，”they replied，“only for one quarter of an hour each evening can we lay aside our swans，skins and have during that time our human form，after that，we are once more turned into swans.”The little sister wept and said，“Can you not be set free.”“Alas，no，”they answered，“the conditions are too hard.For six years you may neither speak nor laugh，and in that time you must sew together six little shirts of starwort for us.And if one single word falls from your lips，all your work will be lost.”And when the brothers had said this，the quarter of an hour was over，and they flew out of the window again as swans.
可怜的姑娘想，“我在这里呆不长了，我要去寻找我的兄长们。黑夜来临，她逃出宫门，径直朝密林中走去。她一个劲儿地走啊走啊，走了一整夜，白天也没有停，直到精疲力竭。然后，她看见一间猎人栖身的小屋，便走进去，发现屋里有六张小床。可是，她不敢上任何一张床，而是爬到了一张床下，准备就在硬邦邦的地上过夜。不会儿，太阳快落山了，她突然听见嗖嗖的响声，一看是六只天鹅飞进窗户来啦。天鹅们落在地上，并且相互吹气，吹掉了身上的所有羽毛，接着，它们的天鹅皮也像衬衫一般地脱落了。姑娘再注意瞧它们，认出了她的几位哥哥。她喜出望外，赶紧从床下爬出来。他们一见自己的小妹妹．也非常高兴，只不过，他们高兴的时间很短。“你不能呆在这里，”他们对她说，“这是个强盗窝。他们回来发现了你，会杀死你的。”“难道你们不能保护我吗？”小妹妹问。“不能，”他们回答，“因为我们每晚只有一刻钟时间脱掉天鹅皮，恢复人的形状，随后又要变成天鹅。”小妹妹哭了，说：“难道你们就没法获得解脱了吗？”“唉，不行啊，”哥哥们回答，“条件太难。你六年不许讲话，不许笑，在这期间还必须用翠菊替我们缝六件衬衫。只要你嘴里漏出一个字，一切努力都白费。”话刚说完，一刻钟已经过去，哥哥们又变成天鹅，从窗口飞走了。
