“This is what you must do to break the spell on your brother,’ the old woman said. “Collect as many stinging thorns from the forest as you can bear. Weave them into thread and make eleven long-sleeved coats. If you throw these coats over the eleven swans, the spell will be broken. But you must not speak a single word from the time you begin until the time you finish. If you do, the first word you speak will pierce through the hearts of your brothers like a deadly dagger. Their lives hang on your tongue. Remember what I’ve told you,” the peasant woman said