Once upon a time, there was a young huntsmen.
He lived with his old mother, in a little cottage by a hill near a forest.
One day he set out to hunt a swan, for the young prince of his kingdom for there was going to be a ball that evening and the prince wished to have a roasted swan for his guests to eat.
So the huntsmen went out into the forest, with his shotgun slung around his shoulder and his thick woollen coat on his back, for it was a chilly autumn morning.
Dry leaves crunched beneath his heavy boots and the air smelled of Earth and pine cones. He breathed it in deeply, letting it fill his lungs and then exhaled in a puff of white clouds.
He knew that most swans were gone leaving their homes behind and had flown to warmer places to spend the winter. They wouldn't return until the warmer weather of spring.
But, he also knew that there was a little lake, deep in the forest, hidden behind thick bushes, where a colony of swans resided throughout the whole year, seemingly unfazed by the colder temperatures of the autumn wind, snow and ice.
And that was where he was headed.
The huntsmen found the lake, with gleaming water and sunlight penetrating between the leaves of tall trees after hours of searching. Beautiful swans lived in peace and harmony. The huntsmen took his his shotgun and aimed it at the most beautiful swan he could see, just as he was about to pull the trigger. The swan turned and looked at him and said " Hello huntsmen" it had the voice of a human and the serenity of nature itself.
The huntsmen ignored the swan and dismissed it's peculiar nature as a mental illness, the huntsmen aimed for the head but the swan spoke again, "Why do you wish to take such beauty that is me, from the world"
The huntsman reeled back taken aback by this sorcery, of a talking swan. The huntsman realised that he had a lot to drink the night before so the alcohol must be taking affect on him, but if he killed this Swan the prince would give him enough silver to buy all the alcohol he wants and a fine blanket for his mother, who he loved so very much.
He remembered a time in his life when he was a boy, he had taken his late father's shotgun in an attempt to prove that he was a man, while aiming at a deer be held the shotgun incorrectly and it flew out of his hand breaking his nose, he ran home expecting to see his angry mother but instead hisbmoter was their with warm food and a warm blanket she comforted and told him that part of being a man is patience, and that he did was wrong and dangerous and that's what she loved about him.
He aims at the Swan closely, his shotgun levelled, and before he pulls the trigger the swan says "If you are prepared to take beauty from the world then be ready to lose it to the world" "BAM"
The huntsmen takes the swan back to the prince and gets many silver coins in return, and after a nights worth of drinking he goes home to his mother's Lodge and when he opens the door he finds his mother laying on the floor. Dead. It might have been the alcohol but the mother had never looked more beautiful.
