Seven Brothers

transcribed at

The Seven Brothers  [duchas:5174014]

Once upon a time there were seven brothers whose mother died and the father married again.  The step mother hated them and did not want them in the house.  But the father loved them and would not let them go.
A baby girl was born and when she grew up, her mother saw that her husband loved the seven (brothers) sons better than his own daughter.
So she told him unless he put away the sons, she would not stay.
The father told them what the step mother said and they agreed it was better to leave and seek  their fortune away.
They travelled till they came to a wood - here they built a house and lived there.
They spent their time hunting.  One of them stayed in turn to keep down the fire.
There lived a king in a castle a mile away who if he knew they lived in the wood would kill them.
All the brothers except the youngest hated their step sister.
One day she came to the house in the wood in search of them and the youngest was at home.
She hear the others coming.  He told her to hide or his brothers would kill her.  She hid behind the door and they came in.

The Seven Brothers  [duchas:5174015]

When they were eating their supper, the youngest said "Wouldn't it be lovely to have our step sister here with us now.  She would mind the house and keep down the fire and all of us could go hunting.
The seven brothers said they would give all they had now to have her here with them.
Then she came out from behind the door and they were very glad to see her.
Next day they all went out hunting and they told the girl not to let out the fire, and if she did, not to go to the king's palace for a coal.
During the day she feel asleep and the fire went out.  She went to the king's palace for a coal and when she was going back the king followed her to she where she lived.  She never told her stepbrothers that she went in the king's palace because she was afraid they would kill her.
That night the king and his wife came to the house in the wood where the 7 brothers lived and began breaking in the door and windows.  The girl had a magic wand and with it she struck the king and his wife and they fell dead.
Then they went to the palace and live there happily.