Twelve+Dancing+Princesses

**Summary of Twelve Dancing Princesses **
====There was once a king who had twelve princesses. Every night he would lock their door so they could not escape, but every night the twelve would have the soles of their slippers worn out by dancing. The King had no idea where they went dancing every night, so he "proclaimed" that if any man could find out where they go at night, he may choose one to be his wife and become King, eventually. The only catch was that the man had to find out where they danced in three nights, or else he has to "forfeit" his life. Many suitors tried, but failed to find where the twelve went at night, so theyall died. Noneof them could stay awake at night, because the wine the princesses gave them was a soporific, making them sleep through the dancing. But there was one brave soldier who felt he was up to the quest. He met an old woman on the way to the king's castle; she told him not to drink the wine and to pretend to be asleep. Then the old woman gave him an invisible cloak, so he could follow the princesses without being seen. He was "well received" in the kingdom and the king prepared an adjoining bedroom, in order for him to find out where the princesses danced. Then the oldest princess gave the Soldier a cup of wine, but he "tied a sponge" around his chin so he would not drink the sleeping potion. When the twelve princesses heard the Soldier's fake snores, the eldest tapped her bed and then it "sank into the earth." And the twelve descended into the ground, where there were steps. The Soldier then put on his invisible coat and followed them; by accident he stepped on a princess's dress and she shrieked, but at nothingness. When they came to the bottom of the staircase there were beautiful trees bedazzled with diamonds, the soldier took a branch as a "token." The Princesses then came upon twelve little boats- one for each princess- equipped with twelve handsome princes waiting for them. They then rowed all the way to a huge castle, the place where they danced with the boat-princes all night. The twelve princesses danced unit their soles had holes, and retired to their room at three o'clock in the morning. The Soldier was so surprised that the next night he again went with them in the little boats, too. He brought a gold cup back from the dancing castle. The third day the King asked where the princesses went at night. The Soldier told him about the "underground castle" and showed him the tokens. The soon-to-be king chose the eldest as his wife. And the Boat- ====

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====heard the stories, that were passed down for generations, and decided to write them down. The tales are mostly from Europe, like "TheTwelveDancing Princesses," which is from central Europe. Also, There are many other names for ==== ===="The Twelve Dancing Princesses," including: "The Twelve Dancing Shoes," and "The Shoes that Were Danced to Pieces." There have been many "failed" attempts to recreate this tale by different authors, but most recreations have received little notoriety or publicity. The first english translation from this tale was in a collection of tales by Iona and Peter Opie's book. ====

**How previous versions compare to your version **
====The two most popular versions are from Hesse and Paderborn. Hesse and Paderborn both have similar themes and plots. Hesse's version explains that twelve pairs of slippers are "worn out" by one princess, who is under an unknown "spell" that makes her wear out her shoes every night. Twelve male apprentices make her new slippers every night; the twelfth apprentice breaks the spell and marries her. The Paderborn version tells of the three princesses whose slippers have holes in them by the end of the night. Again, another spell is accounted for, where any man can win the love, affection, and marriage of the youngest princess. Twelve men die on the quest, until at last a soldier breaks the curse and lives happily ever after with the youngest. ==== ====These two versions are very different from my original one. First, there is no dancing, a key element to my tale! Second, there is a curse or spell that binds the princess to her slippers, and a suitor releases her from the "shoe-binding" spell and wins marriage. But, one common theme present in all versions: the slippers, they are all worn out by the end of the night. ==== ==== ====

====Invisibility Cloak: Refers to how the Soldier is able to spy at night on the girls and enter a secret world. Broadly an invisiblity cloak gives a description of something that can hide the try motive of a person, making them invisible to be seen or judged. In this tale, the girls are oblivious to his ulterior motives, since his true personality is blinded by the cloak. ====

====The magic bed that sinks to the ground, revealing a secret place: this refers to a portal which transfers the girls from their terrible bedroom into a haven where they have fun and happiness all night. ====

This is very abstract and broad interpretation, so please don't laugh. I guess this is a Freud interpretation.
====The twelve princesses are being locked away from all of society by their father, the King, this means at night they are not allowed to interact with men. So, the twelve girls are going to a "secret castle," also may be a sexual fantasy, where they "dance" every night until their slippers are worn. The slippers may refer to the girls "virtues," meaning every night their "virtues" are worn out. My theory can also be further asserted by the fact that there are "twelve princes" awaiting the twelve girls' arrival. And every princess and prince has their own boat, meaning they have their own "bedroom." Then the each prince and princess are "dancing" or having intimate encounters until dawn, this results in the holes in the soles of the slippers, and the slippers refer back to the princesses "virtue." At the end of each "night" the twelve princesses and princes say goodbye and the girls return to their room at dawn, back at home with their domineering father. ====

**The Orange Shoes**
====Once upon a time, there were twelve women inmates, all arrested for prostitution, in a prison near Las Vegas. Every night the inmates would leave their cell, and come back at dawn with their orange lace-ups marked with glitter and sparkles. The warden had no idea where the went at night, especially since they were in a padded cell with the highest security. The warden then hired eleven secret spies to find out wear the women went at night. All the spies the warden hired, were actually inmates of the prison. So, why did they willingly do this? Because any spy who found out where the women went, would be granted full autonomy and could leave the prison for life. Eleven inmates-turned-spies tried and failed to find out where the women went at night. This was since the spies could not help but fall asleep at night, but then there was a brave twelfth man who was up for the challenge. He was told by his trusted inmate to not drink the water the women will try to give him. Instead, spit it out she they are not looking. When the twelfth man came to the women's cell, he did not drink the water they gave him and instead faked being asleep. When the girls thought the man was finally asleep, they changed into risqué outfits, including heavy eyeliner and perfume. Then the most beautiful inmate, named Princess, pressed a button on the edge of her silver bed. A secret compartment then opened, it was only big enough to crawl into. All twelve crawled in, and the man followed. he was wearing all black clothes, so no one could see him. They all crawled for about fifteen minutes, then made a turn. Once the man waited for all the girls to walk out of the crawl space, he ascended too. He was opened into a huge room, equipped with poles and blaring music. There were cards nearby on a table, the man picked up a card as a token. He then saw the twelve girls dancing on poles, twelve men were at each girl's pole. Princess was wearing the most elaborate outfit, gold with fake diamonds, it matched her gold pole, too. At the end of the night the girls exited their poles, and went back to the crawl space. When they were in the cell finally, they tried to brush the glitter off their orange shoes unsuccessfully. The man went to the gentlemen's club for two more nights. On the third night he finally told the warden where they went and gave her the card, it had a picture of Princess on the back of it. The man then was granted full autonomy, while the girls all had to live in separate padded cells and never danced again. ====