Once upon a time, there was an old castle deep in a large forest. An evil witch lived there.
During the day, she turned into a cat or an owl. In the evening, she became an old woman again.
Anyone who came too close to the castle could not move. The witch turned young girls into birds. She locked the birds in cages.
There were thousands of cages in the castle.
In a village lived Jorinda and Joringel. They loved each other very much and wanted to get married soon.
One day, they went for a walk in the forest. They wanted to spend some quiet time together.
Joringel said:
"Be careful, Jorinda! We must not go too close to the castle."
It was a beautiful evening. The sun was slowly setting.
After some time, they became lost in the forest. They did not know how to get home.
They became worried and sad.
Suddenly, Joringel saw the old castle walls through the trees.
They had come too close to the castle without knowing it!
Joringel became very afraid.
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Suddenly, Jorinda began to sing a sad song:
"My little bird with a ring of red,
sings a sad song full of dread."
Then she turned into a nightingale!
The little bird sang:
"Tweet, tweet!"
A large owl with glowing eyes flew around her three times.
"Hoo, hoo, hoo!" cried the owl.
Joringel wanted to help Jorinda. But he could not move. The magic held him still.
When the sun went down, the owl turned into an old woman. It was the evil witch!
She took the nightingale and carried it into the castle.
Later, the witch came back and broke the spell that held Joringel still.
He fell to his knees and begged:
"Please give me my Jorinda back!"
But the witch answered:
"No! You will never see her again!"
Joringel was very sad. He cried and called for Jorinda. But the witch was already gone.
At last, he went to another village. There, he worked as a shepherd and looked after sheep.
But he could not forget Jorinda.
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Joringel thought about Jorinda every day.
He often walked near the castle. But he was afraid to go too close.
One night, he had a special dream.
He saw a beautiful red flower. A large, shining pearl was in its center.
In his dream, the flower could break any evil spell.
He also dreamed that he could use it to save Jorinda.
The next morning, he began to search for the flower.
He walked through forests, over hills, and through valleys.
He searched for many days.
On the ninth day, he finally found the red flower!
In its center was a large drop of dew. It shone like a pearl.
Joringel carefully picked up the flower.
He went straight to the witch's castle.
When he came close to the castle, he could still move. The flower protected him from the magic.
He touched the big gate with the flower.
The gate opened at once!
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Joringel bravely entered the castle.
Soon, he heard many birds singing.
He followed their voices and came to a large room.
There were thousands of cages filled with nightingales.
The witch was feeding the birds.
When she saw Joringel, she became very angry.
But the magic flower protected him. The witch could not hurt him.
Joringel looked for Jorinda. But how could he find her among so many birds?
Suddenly, he saw the witch secretly carrying away a cage.
Joringel quickly ran to her.
He touched the cage and the witch with the red flower.
At once, the witch lost her magic powers.
And suddenly, Jorinda stood in front of him!
She was no longer a bird.
They were so happy that they hugged each other.
Then Joringel touched all the other cages with the flower.
All the birds turned back into young women.
At last, everyone was free!
Jorinda and Joringel went home happily. They stayed together and lived happily ever after.
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