Sleeping Beauty Fairy Tale
Once upon a time there was a Queen who had a beautiful baby daughter. She
asked all the fairies in the kingdom to the christening, but unfortunately
forgot to invite one of them, who was a bit of a witch as well. She came anyway,
but as she passed the baby's cradle, she said:
"When you are sixteen, you will injure yourself with a spindle and die!"
"Oh, no!" screamed the Queen in horror. A good fairy quickly chanted a magic
spell to change the curse. When she hurt herself, the girl would fall into a
very deep sleep instead of dying.
The years went by, the little Princess grew and became the most beautiful girl
in the whole kingdom. Her mother was always very careful to keep her away from
spindles, but the Princess, on her sixteenth birthday, as she wandered through
the castle, came into a room where an old servant was spinning.
"What are you doing?" she asked the servant.
"I'm spinning. Haven't you seen a spindle before?"
"No. Let me see it!" The servant handed the girl the spindle ... and she pricked
herself with it and. with a sigh, dropped to the floor.
The terrified old woman hurried to tell the Queen. Beside herself with anguish,
the Queen did her best to awaken her daughter but in vain. The court doctors and
wizards were called, but there was nothing they could do. The girl could not be
wakened from her deep sleep. The good fairy who managed to avoid the worst of
the curse came too, and the Queen said to her,
"When will my daughter waken?"
"I don't know," the fairy admitted sadly.
"In a year's time, ten years or twenty?" the Queen went on.
"Maybe in a hundred years' time. Who knows?" said the fairy.
"Oh! What would make her waken?" asked the Queen weeplng.
"Love," replied the fairy. "If a man of pure heart were to fall in love with
her, that would bring her back to life!"
"How can a man fall in love with a sleeping girl?" sobbed the Queen, and so
heart-broken was she that, a few days later, she died. The sleeping Princess was
taken to her room and laid on the bed surrounded by garlands of flowers. She was
so beautiful, with a sweet face, not like those of the dead, but pink like those
who are sleeping peacefully. The good fairy said to herself,
"When she wakens, who is she going to see around her? Strange faces and people
she doesn't know? I can never let that happen. It would be too painful for this
unfortunate girl."
So the fairy cast a spell; and everyone that lived in the castle - soldiers,
ministers, guards, servants, ladies, pages, cooks, maids and knights - all fell
into a deep sleep, wherever they were at that very moment.
"Now," thought the fairy, "when the Princess wakes up, they too will awaken, and
life will go on from there." And she left the castle, now wrapped in silence.
Not a sound was to be heard, nothing moved except for the clocks, but when they
too ran down, they stopped, and time stopped with them. Not even the faintest
rustle was to be heard, only the wind whistling round the turrets, not a single
voice, only the cry of birds.
The years sped past. In the castle grounds, the trees grew tall. The bushes
became thick and straggling, the grass invaded the courtyards and the creepers
spread up the walls. In a hundred years, a dense forest grew up.
Now, it so happened that a Prince arrived in these parts. He was the son of a
king in a country close by. Young, handsome and melancholy, he sought in
solitude everything he could not find in the company of other men: serenity,
sincerity and purity. Wandering on his trusty steed he arrived, one day, at the
dark forest. Being adventurous, he decided to explore it. He made his way
through slowly and with a struggle, for the trees and bushes grew in a thick
tangle. A few hours later, now losing heart, he was about to turn his horse and
go back when he thought he could see something through the trees . . . He pushed
back the branches . . . Wonder of wonders! There in front of him stood a castle
with high towers. The young man stood stock still in amazement,
"I wonder who this castle belongs to?" he thought.
The young Prince rode on towards the castle. The drawbridge was down and,
holding his horse by the reins, he crossed over it. Immediately he saw the
inhabitants draped all over the steps, the halls and courtyards, and said to
himself,
"Good heavens! They're dead!" But in a moment, he realised that they were sound
asleep. "Wake up! Wake up!" he shouted, but nobody moved. Still thoroughly
astonished, he went into the castle and again discovered more people, lying fast
asleep on the floor. As though led by a hand in the complete silence, the Prince
finally reached the room where the beautiful Princess lay fast asleep. For a
long time he stood gazing at her face, so full of serenity, so peaceful, lovely
and pure, and he felt spring to his heart that love he had always been searching
for and never found. Overcome by emotion, he went close, lifted the girl's
little white hand and gently kissed it . . .
At that kiss, the prlncess qulckly opened her eyes, and wakening from her long
long sleep, seeing the Prince beside her, murmured:
"Oh, you have come at last! I was waiting for you in my dream. I've waited so
long!"
Just then, the spell was broken. The Princess rose to her feet, holding out her
hand to the Prince. And the whole castle woke up too. Everybody rose to their
feet and they all stared round in amazement, wondering what had happened. When
they finally realised, they rushed to the Princess, more beautiful and happier
then ever.
A few days later, the castle that only a short time before had lain in silence,
now rang with the sound of singing, music and happy laughter at the great party
given in honour of the Prince and Princess, who were getting married. They lived
happily ever after, as they always do in fairy tales, not quite so often,
however, in real life.
Ongoing Sleeping Beauty Tales Old Time Fairy Tales
Once upon a time long ago - so long, indeed, that even the very oldest people
now alive could not remember it- there lived a King and Queen in a beautiful
palace, a great white marble palace, with wide halls and high towers, and a
golden roof that flashed in the sun.
And all round the palace, for miles and miles, there were lovely gardens and
pleasure-grounds, with terraces and green lawns, and ancient trees where the
birds would sit and sing all day and all night long, and more flowers than you
could ever think of if you were to think a whole summer through. There were
peacocks and birds of paradise on the broad lawns, and pretty slender brown deer
in the shady glades, and gold and silver fishes in the ponds and fountains, and
great red and yellow fruits ripened in the orchards.
There was everything there that heart could wish - except just one, and that was
the one thing in all the world that this King and Queen wanted to make them
perfectly happy. For there was no little child to run and play about the sunny
gardens and pick the flowers, and pet the birds and beasts that wandered there.
And this would often make them very sad.
But at last, after many years, they had their wish, and a little baby daughter
was born to them - a tiny child with a face like a blush rosebud, eyes like
violets, and a little red mouth like the pimpernel flowers that grow in the
cornfields by the wayside in summer-time.
Now, you can easily think how glad this King and Queen were, and what great
rejoicings were made over all the country.
Bonfires as big as haystacks were kept burning all night, fat oxen were roasted
whole in the market-place of every town, the church-bells were rung and rung
again until the ringers were out of breath and their arms were aching, and every
little child in the kingdom was given a beautiful present for the baby
Princess's sake.
In the palace, of course, all was bustle and hurry to make ready for the
christening-feast; the maids were busy putting flowers all about the halls and
chambers, and sprinkling the shining floors with sweet-smelling leaves and
petals.
For the most important guests invited to this christening were seven very
powerful fairies, and you know, I am sure, how particular fairies are about what
they eat and drink. Not that they are greedy; but they are used to such delicate
food that even the very best of ours seems strange to them. So the Queen was
very anxious that they should be pleased; for they had been asked to be
godmothers to the baby Princess, and she wanted them to be in a good humor so
that they should be kind to her little one.
It was a beautiful summer afternoon, and the roses on the palace terrace were
nodding their heads sleepily in the warm breeze, when the fairies' chariots came
into sight, sailing through the blue sky like a flight of bright-winged
butterflies.
They were all good fairies, and had known the King and Queen all their lives
long, and as they had not seen them for some time there was a great deal of talk
about and much news to tell. And, dear me! how pleased they were with the baby!
They all agreed that she was the prettiest little darling they had ever seen -
almost as pretty as a real fairy baby - and that was a compliment indeed, I can
tell you.
And when they went in to the great banqueting-hall and sat down to table, they
were even more delighted than at first. for each one of them there was a set of
six golden dinner things - knife, spoon, fork, cup, dish, and plate - made on
purpose as a present for each, and all different. One was set with pearls,
another with diamonds, the third with rubies, the fourth with opals, the fifth
with amethysts, the sixth with emeralds, the seventh with sapphires; and nobody
could tell with was the most beautiful.
They were just going to begin, and everybody was as happy as happy could be,
when, all of a sudden, there was a clashing of brazen claws and a rushing of
wings, and something like a black cloud seemed to pass before the tall windows
and darken all the room, so that the guests could hardly see their plates. Then
the great doors burst open with a terrible bang, and an old fairy in a long
trailing black gown, with her face almost hidden in a black hood, jumped out of
a black chariot drawn by fierce griffins, and stalked up to the table.
The King turned pale, and the Queen nearly fainted away, for this was the
spiteful fairy Tormentilla, who live all alone, an immense distance away from
everywhere and everyone, in a dismal black stone castle in the middle of a
desert. The poor Queen had been so happy and so busy that she had forgotten all
about her, and never sent her an invitation.
However, they all tried to make the best of it, and another chair was brought,
and another place laid for Tormentilla; and both the King and Queen told her
over and over again how very, very sorry they were not to have asked her.
It was all in vain. Nothing could please her; she would eat and drink nothing,
and she sat, scowling and looking angrily at the other fairies' jeweled cups and
dishes, until the feast was over, and it was time to give the presents.
Then they all went into the great tapestried room where the tiny Princess lay
sleeping in her mother-o'-pearl cradle, and the seven fairies began to say what
they would each give her.
The first stepped forward and said: "She shall always be as good as gold"; the
second: "She shall be the cleverest Princess in the world"; the third: "She
shall be the most beautiful;" the fourth: "She shall be the happiest"; the
fifth: "She shall have the sweetest voice that was ever heard"; the sixth:
"Everyone shall love her." And then the wicked old cross fairy strode over to
the cradle with long quick steps, and said, shaking her black crooked stick a
the King and Queen: "And I say that she shall prick her hand with a spindle and
die of the wound!"
At this the Queen fell on her knees and begged and prayed Tormentilla to call
back her cruel words; but suddenly the seventh fairy, the youngest of all, who
knew Tormentilla well, and had hidden herself behind the curtains for fear that
some such thing might happen, came out and said:
"Do not cry so, dear Queen; I cannot quite undo my cousin's wicked enchantment,
but I can promise you that your daughter shall not die, but only fall asleep for
a hundred years. And, when these are past and gone, a Prince shall come and
awaken her with a kiss."
So the King and Queen dried their tears and thanked the kind fairy Heartsease
for her goodness; and all the fairies went back to their homes, and things went
on much as usual in the palace. But you can imagine how careful the Queen was of
her little girl; and the King made a law that every spindle in the country must
be destroyed, and that no more should be made, and that anyone who had a spindle
should be heavily punished, if not executed at once.
Well, the years went by happily enough until the Princess Miranda was almost
eighteen years old, and all that the six fairies had promised came true, for she
was the best and the prettiest and the cleverest Princess in all the world, and
everybody loved her. And, indeed, by this time Tormentilla's spiteful words were
almost forgotten.
"Poor old thing," the Queen would sometimes say, "she was so angry at having
been left out that she did not know what she was saying. Of course, she did not
really mean it."
Now, the King and Queen had to go away for a few days to a great entertainment
that one of their richest nobles was giving at his country house; and, as the
Princess did not wish to go, they left her behind with her ladies-in-waiting in
the beautiful old palace. For the first two days she amused herself very well,
but on the third she missed her father and mother so much that, to pass the time
till they came back, she began exploring all the old lumber-rooms and
out-of-the-way attics in the palace, and laughing at the dusty furniture and
queer curiosities she found there.
At last she found herself at the top of a narrow winding stairway in a tall
turret that seemed even older than all the rest of the palace. And when she
lifted the latch of the door in front of her she saw a little low chamber with
curiously painted walls, and there sat a little old, old woman in a high white
cap, spinning at a wheel.
For some time she stood at the door, watching the old woman curiously; she could
not imagine what she was doing, for the Princess had never seen a spinning-wheel
in her life before, because, as I told you, the King had ordered them all to be
destroyed.
Now, it happened that the poor old woman who lived in this tower had never heard
the King's command, for she was so deaf that if you shouted until you were
hoarse she would never have been able to understand you.
"What pretty work you are doing there, Goody? And why does that wheel go whirr,
whirr, whirr?" said the Princess. The old woman neither answered nor looked up,
for, of course, she did not hear.
So the Princess stepped into the room and laid her hand upon the old woman's
shoulder.
Goody started then, looked up, and rubbed her eyes.
"Deary, deary me!" cried she, in a high, cracked voice, "And who may you be, my
pretty darling?"
"I'm the Princess Miranda," screamed the maiden in her ear, but the old woman
only shook her head - she could hear nothing.
Then the Princess pointed to the spindle, and made the old woman understand that
she wanted to try if she could work it.
So Goody nodded, and laughed, and got up from her seat, and the Princess sat
down and took the spindle in her hand. But no sooner did she touch it than she
pricked the palm of her hand with the point, and sank down in a swoon.
Immediately a deep silence fell on all around. The little bird that only a
moment before had been singing so sweetly upon the window-sill hushed his song.
The distant hum of voices from the courtyard beneath ceased; even Goody stopped
short in the directions she was giving the Princess, and neither moved hand nor
foot towards the poor little maid, and all because she had fallen fast asleep as
she stood.
Below in the castle it was just the same. The King and Queen, who had that
moment returned from their journey and were inquiring for their daughter, fell
asleep before the lady-in-waiting could answer them, and as to the lady herself
she had begun to snore - in a ladylike manner, of course - before you could have
winked your eye.
The soldiers and men-at-arms slumbered as they stood. The page-boy fell asleep
with his mouth wide open, and a fly that had just been going to settle on his
nose fell asleep too in mid-air.
Although the sun had been shining brightly when the Princess took the spindle in
her hand, no sooner did she prick herself with the point than deep shadows
darkened the sunny rooms and gardens.
It was just as though night had overtaken them, but there was no one in or near
the palace to heed whether it were dark or light.
This suddenly darkness had been caused by a magic wood which had sprung up all
around the palace and its grounds. It was at least half a mile thick, and was
composed of thorns and prickly plants, through which it seemed impossible for
anyone to penetrate. It was so thick and high that it hid even the top-most
towers of the enchanted castle, and no one outside could have dreamed that such
a castle lay behind it.
Well, and so the years went on, and on, and on, until a hundred years had
passed, and the palace and the story of it were all but forgotten. And it
happened that a King's son from a neighboring country came hunting that way with
his men, and horses, and dogs. And in the excitement of the chase he rode on and
on until he became separated from his servants and attendants, and found himself
in a part of the country where he had never been before. In vain he tried to
retrace his steps: he only seemed to wander farther away in the wrong direction.
Presently he came to a woodcutter's cottage, and dismounted to ask his way. An
old, old man lived in this hut, and after he had directed the Prince as to the
best way back, the young man pointed to a thick wood ahead, and asked what lay
beyond it. Then the old man told him that there was a legend that beyond the
wood was an enchanted palace where a beautiful Princess had laid sleeping for a
hundred years, and whom a Prince was to awaken with a kiss.
Directly the Prince Florimond heard this, nothing would serve but he must go
there and see for himself if the tale were true. So he rode and he rode until he
came to the edge of the wood, and there he got off his horse and began to push
his way through the thorny thicket. It was hard work indeed, for the briars were
so strong and so sharp that you would never believe that anyone could get past
them, and they closed up behind him as he went.
But he was strong and brave, and after a time the way became easier, until at
last he came to the palace.
There everyone was sleeping - the sentinels and soldiers in the court-yard, the
cooks in the kitchen, and pages and lords-and ladies-in-waiting in the corridors
and chambers; and, in the great throne-room the King and Queen on their golden
and ivory thrones.
Prince Florimond passed on, wondering more and more, till he came at length to
the narrow staircase which led to the little tower in which the Princess had
fallen asleep. He mounted this, and then came the greatest wonder of all - the
beautiful sleeping lady, in her glistening white robes. She was so beautiful
that to see her almost took away his breath; and, falling on his knees, he bent
to kiss her cheek. And as he kissed her, she opened her lovely blue yes and
said, smiling: "Oh! Prince, have you come at last? I have had such pleasant
dreams."
Then she sat up laughing and rubbing her eyes, and gave him her hand, and they
went hand in hand together down the stairs and along the corridors, till they
came to the throne-room. And there were the King and Queen rubbing their eyes
too, and they kissed their daughter and welcomed the Prince most gladly.
And, all at the same time, the whole palace was awake. Cocks crowed, dogs
barked, the cats began to mew, the spits to turn, the clocks to strike, the
soldiers presented arms, the heralds blew their trumpets, the head cook boxed a
little scullion's ears, the butler went on drinking his half-finished tankard of
wine, the first lady-in-waiting finished winding her skein of silk.
Everything, in short, went on exactly as though the spell had lasted a hundred
seconds instead of years. To be sure, Princess Miranda's pretty white dress was
just such a one as Prince Florimond's great-grandmother might have worn. But
that gave them something to laugh at.
And now my story is done, for I need hardly tell you that the Prince and
Princess were married amid great rejoicings, and lived happily ever after; and
that the seven fairy godmothers danced at the wedding. So all ended well, and
what more could anyone wish?
Sleeping Beauty: A fairy tale of rape and cannibalism
A beautiful tale in which they all live happily ever after. Or do they?
In 1697, a French author named Charles Perrault published a classic book titled
Tales of Times Passed. Today the book is better known as Mother Goose Tales.
Seven of its eight tales have become classics for children. I'm sure that you
know some of these: "The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood" (Sleeping Beauty), "Little
Red Riding Hood", "Blue Beard", "The Master Cat: or Puss in Boots", "Diamonds
and Toads", and "Cinderella".
Perrault, however, did not write any of these stories. They were all re-workings
of stories passed from one generation to the next.
These stories were actually very cruel and downright nasty in their original
form. Perrault simply cleaned them up and let everyone live happily ever after.
The earliest known written version of Sleeping Beauty was actually published 61
years earlier by an Italian named Giambattista Basile.
Here is how the story was originally told:
A great king was forewarned by some wise (old?) men that his newborn daughter
named Talia was in great danger. It seems that a poison splinter was in the
palace's flax, and it would destroy her. The king immediately ordered a ban on
flax inside the palace walls.
But, as all great fairy tales go, Talia somehow encountered a flax-spinning
wheel and got that nasty splinter in her finger.
What happened?
Talia dropped dead.
As a result, King Dad placed his daughter's body on a velvet cloth, locked the
palace gates, and left the forrest forever and ever.
Enter the great nobleman, who turned out not to be so noble.
While hunting in the woods one day, he just happened to stumble on the abandoned
palace and Talia's dead body.
One would think he kissed her at this point, but no such thing happened.
Instead, he raped her.
He planted the noble seed and nine months later Talia gave birth to twins, a boy
and a girl. Their names were Sun and Moon (which is the boy and which is the
girl?) and the fairies took care of them.
One day, the boy was sucking on mom's finger and sucked out the poisonous flax
splinter.
Talia awoke from her death bed.
Many months go by and the horny young nobleman returns to the woods to have
another encounter with the princess. To his surprise, he found her alive and
well.
He confesses that he is the father of her children and they enjoy a hot weekend
fling in the hay (Would you have a love affair with your rapist?).
The nobleman then returns home to his wife. Somehow she learns about his
illegitimate children.
The wife orders the capture of the children. Her cook is then told to slash
their young throats and to cook a hash with their flesh.
At dinner that night, the wife gleefully watches her husband eat his meal. When
he has finished, she announces "You are eating what is your own!".
We can be sure that the nobleman did not feel too well at that moment. But then,
he did rape a dead woman, so he deserves a little suffering.
But all fairy tales must have a happy ending, so check out this one:
It turns out that the cook had a soft heart and never slaughtered the children.
Instead, goat meat was substituted.
The enraged wife ordered the capture of Talia and that she be burned at the
stake.
But she was saved from death by her rapist and they lived happily ever after.
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