Sleeping Beauty

by the Grimm Brothers

A long time ago there were a king and queen who said every day, "Ah, if

only we had a child," but they never had one.

But it happened that once when the queen was bathing, a frog crept out

of the water on to the land, and said to her, "Your wish shall be fulfilled,

before a year has gone by, you shall have a daughter."

What the frog had said came true, and the queen had a little girl who was

so pretty that the king could not contain himself for joy, and ordered a

great feast. He invited not only his kindred, friends and acquaintances,

but also the wise women, in order that they might be kind and

well-disposed towards the child. There were thirteen of them in his

kingdom, but, as he had only twelve golden plates for them to eat out of,

one of them had to be left at home.

The feast was held with all manner of splendor and when it came to an

end the wise women bestowed their magic gifts upon the baby - one

gave virtue, another beauty, a third riches, and so on with everything in

the world that one can wish for.

When eleven of them had made their promises, suddenly the thirteenth

came in. She wished to avenge herself for not having been invited, and

without greeting, or even looking at anyone, she cried with a loud voice,

"The king's daughter shall in her fifteenth year prick herself with a

spindle, and fall down dead." And, without saying a word more, she

turned round and left the room.

They were all shocked, but the twelfth, whose good wish still remained

unspoken, came forward, and as she could not undo the evil sentence,

but only soften it, she said, it shall not be death, but a deep sleep of a

hundred years, into which the princess shall fall.

The king, who would fain keep his dear child from the misfortune, gave

orders that every spindle in the whole kingdom should be burnt.

Meanwhile the gifts of the wise women were plenteously fulfilled on the

young girl, for she was so beautiful, modest, good-natured, and wise,

that everyone who saw her was bound to love her.

It happened that on the very day when she was fifteen years old, the king

and queen were not at home, and the maiden was left in the palace quite

alone. So she went round into all sorts of places, looked into rooms and

bed-chambers just as she liked, and at last came to an old tower. She

climbed up the narrow winding-staircase, and reached a little door. A

rusty key was in the lock, and when she turned it the door sprang open,

and there in a little room sat an old woman with a spindle, busily

spinning her flax.

"Good day, old mother," said the king's daughter, "what are you doing

there?"

"I am spinning," said the old woman, and nodded her head.

"What sort of thing is that, that rattles round so merrily," said the girl,

and she took the spindle and wanted to spin too. But scarcely had she

touched the spindle when the magic decree was fulfilled, and she pricked

her finger with it.

And, in the very moment when she felt the prick, she fell down upon the

bed that stood there, and lay in a deep sleep. And this sleep extended

over the whole palace, the king and queen who had just come home, and

had entered the great hall, began to go to sleep, and the whole of the

court with them. The horses, too, went to sleep in the stable, the dogs in

the yard, the pigeons upon the roof, the flies on the wall, even the fire

that was flaming on the hearth became quiet and slept, the roast meat left

off frizzling, and the cook, who was just going to pull the hair of the

scullery boy, because he had forgotten something, let him go, and went

to sleep. And the wind fell, and on the trees before the castle not a leaf

moved again.

But round about the castle there began to grow a hedge of thorns, which

every year became higher, and at last grew close up round the castle and

all over it, so that there was nothing of it to be seen, not even the flag

upon the roof. But the story of the beautiful sleeping briar-rose, for so

the princess was named, went about the country, so that from time to

time kings' sons came and tried to get through the thorny hedge into the

castle. But they found it impossible, for the thorns held fast together, as

if they had hands, and the youths were caught in them, could not get

loose again, and died a miserable death.

After long, long years a king's son came again to that country, and heard

an old man talking about the thorn-hedge, and that a castle was said to

stand behind it in which a wonderfully beautiful princess, named

briar-rose, had been asleep for a hundred years, and that the king and

queen and the whole court were asleep likewise. He had heard, too, from

his grandfather, that many kings, sons had already come, and had tried to

get through the thorny hedge, but they had remained sticking fast in it,

and had died a pitiful death.

Then the youth said, "I am not afraid, I will go and see the beautiful

briar-rose." The good old man might dissuade him as he would, he did

not listen to his words.

But by this time the hundred years had just passed, and the day had come

when briar-rose was to awake again. When the king's son came near to

the thorn-hedge, it was nothing but large and beautiful flowers, which

parted from each other of their own accord, and let him pass unhurt,

then they closed again behind him like a hedge. In the castle yard he saw

the horses and the spotted hounds lying asleep, on the roof sat the

pigeons with their heads under their wings. And when he entered the

house, the flies were asleep upon the wall, the cook in the kitchen was

still holding out his hand to seize the boy, and the maid was sitting by the

black hen which she was going to pluck.

He went on farther, and in the great hall he saw the whole of the court

lying asleep, and up by the throne lay the king and queen. Then he went

on still farther, and all was so quiet that a breath could be heard, and at

last he came to the tower, and opened the door into the little room where

briar-rose was sleeping.

There she lay, so beautiful that he could not turn his eyes away, and he

stooped down and gave her a kiss. But as soon as he kissed her,

briar-rose opened her eyes and awoke, and looked at him quite sweetly.

Then they went down together, and the king awoke, and the queen, and

the whole court, and looked at each other in great astonishment. And the

horses in the courtyard stood up and shook themselves, the hounds

jumped up and wagged their tails, the pigeons upon the roof pulled out

their heads from under their wings, looked round, and flew into the

open country, the flies on the wall crept again, the fire in the kitchen

burned up and flickered and cooked the meat, the joint began to turn and

sizzle again, and the cook gave the boy such a box on the ear that he

screamed, and the maid finished plucking the fowl.

And then the marriage of the king's son with briar-rose was celebrated

with all splendor, and they lived contented to the end of their days.