Swan Lake
1. Prince Zigfried
Once upon a time, in a far away land, there lived a Prince. His name was Zigfried, and he was very unhappy. His father, the
King, had died, and since then, everyone in the palace had forgotten how to smile. Without his father, Zigfried thought he would
never feel happy again.
Every day, Zigfried sat at the window in his room in the palace, looking at the birds in the trees.
"How can they sing and fly so free? They must not feel like me."
His servant, Ozlowe, tried to make the prince smile by telling him jokes or doing funny tricks for him. But the Prince would
not smile.
"I know you love me Ozlowe, but I cannot smile. My heart is broken."
Ozlowe would not give up.
"Let's go for a walk, good Prince. Maybe we can find something outside which will make you happy."
"If you wish Ozlowe, but I don't think there's anything that can make me happy."
Ozlowe put on his hunting cap, and he took his crossbow. He enjoyed hunting and he hoped to catch a bird or a rabbit for the
Prince.
They walked through the forest until they came to a lake. 0n the lake there was a beautiful white swan. It had a gold crown on
its head, that only Princesses wear. The swan swam towards the prince and looked into his eyes. The swan's eyes were so sad that
Prince Zigfried felt sorry for it.
"Here is a creature which feels worse than I do. But why do you have that crown on your head?"
The swan opened its wings and cried out.
"I think it's trying to tell me something."
Ozlowe had his crossbow in his hands. He wanted to shoot the swan.
"I'll get that swan for you. Prince. Just one minute."
"Ozlowe, no!"
Before Ozlowe could shoot, a magic owl flew from a tree and took Ozlowe's cap off his head. This cast a spell on him, and he
was turned to stone. The Prince did not understand.
"Ozlowe, what has happened to you? Speak to me!"
He looked back at the lake. The swan was gone.
"Everything I do goes wrong. This must have happened because of me!"
The Prince returned to the palace sadder than before, thinking to himself:
"If only Ozlowe were here! There is nothing good in my life any more".
Zigfried's mother came to see him that night. She had something important to say.
"Zigfried, soon you will be eighteen years old. You must take your father's place as King. I am having a ball on your birthday
so that you may choose a wife, and I will invite all the princesses from the other kingdoms."
"But I do not wish to marry, Mother. I do not love anyone." "You will learn to love someone. First, you must stop thinking of
yourself."
"If this will make you happy, I'll do it, Mother." "It is not for my happiness that I am doing this. It is for yours, and all the
other people in this land. You see, love is more powerful than we know. Without it, you will not be a great King."
His mother left him. He sat at the window, thinking of what she had said. He wanted to love someone with all his heart, but he
didn't know who it would be.
2. The Beautiful Princess
On the morning of the Royal Ball, everybody was very busy in the palace. The Queen's maids were preparing the Queen's dress.
The servants cleaned the floors and windows, and the cooks were cooking enough food for a thousand people.
The prince looked handsome in his red outfit. But he was still not happy. He left the palace to be alone and think, and went to
the stone statue of Ozlowe.
"It's my birthday today Ozlowe. I'm eighteen. That means that I must marry someone and become King. The problem is I don't
want to get married; I don't love anyone."
There was a quiet splashing in the lake. Zigfried looked and saw the beautiful swan with the gold crown.
"There it is! The beautiful swan has come back."
He went closer to the water to look at it. Its eyes had the same sadness in them, but it was happy to see Zigfried and it swam
close to him. Zigfried looked into its eyes and talked to it.
"I think you understand me. I think you know how people feel."
A tear fell from the swan's eye.
"Don't cry. You should be happy that you are a swan. You will never have to marry someone you do not love. You will never
feel sad when someone dies." Тhе swan made a loud cry. Its wings moved back and forth at its sides. Suddenly, an owl appeared
as if from nowhere and flew at Zigfried's head, but it missed. The owl flew off, and the swan began to swim away.
"Wait. Don't leave."
Zigfried ran round the edge of the lake, following the swan. He had to run fast to see where it went. Soon, he was in a part of
the forest he did not know. Tall trees blocked out the sun. It was very dark.
The swan swam to an ugly old castle. When it left the water, something magical happened; the swan turned into a beautiful
Princess. She had long blonde hair and she wore a long white dress. The crown was still on her head. Zigfried ran to where she
stood at the castle door.
"Wait! Where are you going?"
The Princess stopped, but she did not look at him.
"Look at me, please. My name is Prince Zigfried and I want to know who you are."
The Princess turned to look at the Prince. She had the same dark, sad eyes of the swan.
"My name is Princess Odile."
"But why were you a swan? Why do you look so sad?"
"An evil wizard called Rocford cast a spell on me. I may only leave the castle during the day as a swan."
"Where is this wizard? I will talk to him. I will tell him this is wrong."
"No, you mustn't. He will hurt you, I know. He does not want me to see another man."
"Tell me where this man is! I will fight him and free you."
"No, you must leave. He is dangerous."
"I won't leave until I see him; You must be set free."
"Please. You are very kind, but you must go away."
"I won't!"
She looked into his eyes again.
"If you want to do something for me, you will leave now."
"Odile, I will leave if you want me to. But I want you to come to the ball tonight. I must choose a wife and I want to choose
you."
"I can't. The wizard won't let me."
"Find a way. Promise me you'll try."
She spoke softly.
"All right. I'll try."
3. Odet
Zigfried left, and Odile went inside the castle. Odet, the wizard's evil daughter, was behind a tree. When she saw Odile talking
to the Prince, she was jealous; she wanted to go to the ball, and what was more, she wanted to marry the Prince. She didn't like
Odile, because she was so beautiful and kind. But the wizard loved her, so Odet couldn't do anything to hurt her ... until now!
Odet went to the wizard's room, but he was not there. The room looked like a museum. There was an Egyptian statue against
one wall, and large aquariums full of strange fish. On a table stood many different coloured bottles. Odet opened one of the
bottles. Smoke came out of it. It smelled of burning wood.
The magic owl flew into the open window, unseen by Odet, and changed back into the wizard. "Do you like the smell?" "Oh,
Father! You scared me."
"You wouldn't be afraid if you were not in my room when I wasn't here."
"I know father, but I have something very important to tell you. It's about Odile."
The wizard opened his eyes wide. He was a tall man, with a long, white beard and long, white hair. He wore a big black hat
and a long black robe with stars on it.
"Tell me what you know!"
"First, you must promise to do something for me."
"What is it?"
"I can't tell you now. First, I must tell you about Odile, then I will ask for something. Will you do it?"
"Tell me, before I turn you into a frog!"
The wizard was very much in love with Odile. He would change his daughter into a frog because he wanted to know about
Odile.
"Today, I saw Odile talking to Prince Zigfried. The Prince asked Odile to go to the royal ball tonight. He wants to marry her
and free her from your evil powers."
The wizard turned in a circle and pointed his hand at the floor. Fire came from his fingers and hit the floor. The whole castle
shook.
"I should have destroyed the Prince today, when I saw him with Odile."
"You saw him, too?"
"Yes, at the lake. I attacked him, but I was only an owl. Odile knew this and she left him. He must have followed her here."
"Oh yes Father, and he is so handsome! You should see his face!"
"Silence!"
The wizard turned himself into a large, stone ball. He threw himself against the walls, making the castle shake again. Alone in
her room, Odile felt the castle shaking. She hid her head under a pillow on her bed; she hated it when the wizard got angry.
The wizard changed back into himself in his room.
"Now Father, you promised you'd do something for me."
"I never promised you anything!"
"Oh, Father. I want to go to the ball! I want to marry the prince."
The wizard angrily raised his hand again. Then, he thought of something.
