Sleeping Beauty
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Once upon a time, there was a king and queen. They were happy but they had no children. The queen said every day, “Oh, if only we had a child!”
One day, the queen finally had a baby. She was a beautiful baby girl. The king could not contain his joy. He ordered a great celebration.
The king invited his friends and family, and he also invited the wise women. There were thirteen wise women in the kingdom. But the king had twelve golden plates. One of the wise women was not invited.
The celebration was joyful. The twelve wise women had magic gifts for the baby. One gave her talent, one beauty, one intelligence…The first to the eleventh wise women gave their gifts.
Then suddenly, the thirteenth woman walked in. She was furious that she was not invited. She did not say hello or look anyone in the eye. She yelled with a loud voice, “In the princess’s fifteenth year she shall prick her finger on a spindle and die.”
Silently, she turned and left.
Everyone was shocked. There was total silence. Finally, the twelfth wise woman said, “I have the last gift. It is not possible to stop the curse. The princess will prick her finger. But she will not die. She will only be asleep.”
The king was scared. He ordered an enormous fire. All the spindles were thrown in the fire.
But it was not possible to stop the curse. On the princess’s fifteenth birthday, the girl was alone in the castle. She walked around exploring the castle. Finally she arrived at a small door. In the lock there was a rusty key, and when she turned it the door sprang open. There, in a small room sat an old woman with a spindle. The girl had never seen a spindle.
“Hello” said the princess. “What is that?”
“It is a spindle,” said the old woman.
“What is a spindle?” asked the curious girl.
“Come and see,” said the woman.
The girl approached and touched the spindle. Immediately, she pricked her finger. She fell into a deep sleep. In fact, the entire castle fell asleep. The king, queen, and servants fell asleep. The horses, the dogs, the birds on the roof, and the flies on the walls, all fell asleep.
Time passed. The rose hedges around the castle grew. Year after year, the hedges grew higher and higher. Finally, the castle was covered in red rose hedges. No one could see the castle. One hundred years passed.
One day, a prince arrived at the hedge. It did not look like a castle was inside. It looked like a wall of beautiful roses. Suddenly, the roses moved. The roses moved to create a path. The prince passed through the roses and saw the castle.
He explored the castle and he saw the horses, dogs, and birds asleep. He walked to the throne and saw the king and the queen – asleep. He walked on and on. Then, he saw the little door. He saw the beautiful princess asleep.
She was so beautiful that he bent over and gave her a kiss. When he kissed her, the princess opened her eyes. She was finally awake.
Then the king awoke, and the queen, and all the servants and animals. Everyone was shocked.
And then the prince’s marriage to the princess was celebrated. And they lived happily until they died.