So they went forth into the wood , and shot hares and roe-deer , birds and wood-pigeons , and any other game they came across . They always brought their spoils home to Benjamin , who soon learnt to make them into dainty dishes . So they lived for ten years in this little house , and the time slipped merrily away . In the meantime their little sister at home was growing up quickly . She was kind-hearted and of a fair countenance , and she had a gold star right in the middle of her forehead . One day a big washing was going on at the palace , and the girl looking down from her window saw twelve men 's shirts hanging up to dry , and asked her mother : ` Who in the world do these shirts belong to ? Surely they are far too small for my father ? ' And the Queen answered sadly : ` Dear child , they belong to your twelve brothers . ' ` But where are my twelve brothers ? ' said the girl . ' I have never even heard of them . ' ` Heaven alone knows in what part of the wide world they are wandering , ' replied her mother . Then she took the girl and opened the locked-up room ; she showed her the twelve coffins filled with shavings , and with the little pillow laid in each . ` These coffins , ' she said , ` were intended for your brothers , but they stole secretly away before you were born . ' Then she to tell her all that had happened , and when she had finished her daughter said : ` Do not cry , dearest mother ; I will go and seek my brothers till I find them . ' So she took the twelve shirts and went on straight into the middle of the big wood . She walked all day long , and came in the evening to the little enchanted house . She stepped in and found a youth who , marvelling at her beauty , at the royal robes she wore , and at the golden star on her forehead , asked her where she came from and whither she was going . ' I am a Princess , ' she answered , ` and am seeking for my twelve brothers . I mean to wander as far as the blue sky stretches over the earth till I find them . '
Then she showed him the twelve shirts which she had taken with her , and Benjamin saw that it must be his sister , and said : ' I am XXXXX , your youngest brother . '
Benjamin Princess Queen day hares right roe-deer whither wood-pigeons years