A King had twelve daughters who were all beautiful. But the beauty of the eldest was extraordinary. However, she was so proud and arrogant that no suitor was good enough for her. She rejected one after the other and made fun of them as well. She ridiculed especially one good king whose chin was a little crooked. She called him King Thrushbeard because he had a chin like a thrush's beak. Her father lost patience and banished Pandora to her room until she accepted a suitor. Now it was the custom of the time that none of the younger sisters could marry until the eldest did. The twelve sisters slept in twelve beds all in one room, and when they went to bed that night, the doors were shut and locked. By proclamation of the King, they could not go dancing and seek husbands until the eldest sister married. However, the next morning their shoes were quite worn out as if they had been danced in all night. This happened the next night and the next and the next. The king proclaimed that if anyone found where his daughters went each night to wear out their shoes, he could take the one he liked best for his wife and be king after the old king's death. A soldier of fortune applied. He had a beard like a bird's nest. The king found him well qualified for the job, since he was a foot soldier. He followed the princesses and took notes of all that he found, foot notes. What did he find? Which princess did he marry? And did Princess Pandora learn her lesson? Come and see.
