"The Silent Princess" tells of a spoiled prince cursed by an old woman he mistreated to fall in love with a princess who never speaks. Lovesick years later, he journeys to her palace, where suitors face death if they fail to make her talk. The prince cleverly uses a talking nightingale, hidden during his visits, to tell stories and pose riddles; by engaging in staged debates with the nightingale about the riddles' solutions, he successfully provokes the intelligent princess into interrupting and speaking three times to correct their flawed reasoning. Having broken her silence and won her hand in marriage, the story concludes with their happy life together, emphasizing themes of consequences, cleverness, perseverance, and redemption, as the initially wronged old woman finds joy caring for their children.

"The Silent Princess" tells of a spoiled prince cursed by an old woman he mistreated to fall in love with a princess who never speaks. Lovesick years later, he journeys to her palace, where suitors face death if they fail to make her talk. The prince...

The Silent Princess | Fairy Tales