Hailing from Sweden, this folktale is rich with heartbreaking generosity and compassion. When a peasant girl is forced to wed a nefarious king he gives her an unparalleled pearl necklace and strictly warns her to never let it leave her neck lest she forfeit her life. When put in the position to protect her life or heal the needs of her people, she chooses one by one to unstring each pearl with tears of compassion, making her choice. When this puts her under the king’s wrath, even the birds come to her aid in response to her kindness. This story comes to us through three languages. Crafted from Swedish oral tradition to the written word by Danish author Helena Nyblom in the late 19th century, it was translated into Swedish by her native husband, and now retold in English by Jane Langton.

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