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THE SLEEPING BEAUTY
A long time ago there lived a King and Queen who said every-
day, “Ah, if only we had a child!” but for a long time they had
none. So, when a beautiful little daughter came to them, the
King could scarcely contain himself for joy and ordered a great
feast to celebrate the event. He invited not only his kindred,
friends and acquaintances, but also the fairies who give gifts to
children. There were thirteen of these in his kingdom, but as
he had only twelve golden plates, one of them was not invited.
The feast was held with all manner of splendor, and when it
came to an end the fairies bestowed their gifts on the baby. One
gave her virtue, another good nature, a third wisdom, a fourth
beauty, and so on with everything that is good. But when
eleven had said their say, suddenly the thirteenth who had not
been invited presented herself at the door. She was an ugly old
woman whose gifts to children were always evil, so the father of
little Briar-rose had done well to find no place for her at the
feast. But now everyone fell back in a fright before her, so
she forced her way into the hall in a fury to think she had not
been invited, and went straight up to the baby’s cradle.
“This is my gift to the King’s daughter,** she cried. “In
her fifteenth year she shall prick her finger with a spindle and
die!” With these spiteful words, she tossed her head and stormed
out of the hall.
The King was left in a panic; the Queen was left in a panic
and all the guests were struck dumb with terror. But just at
that moment, the twelfth fairy stepped forth, for she had not
yet made her promise for the child.
“Nay,” she said gently, “the Princess shall not die, but fall
into a deep sleep.”
Now the King was so anxious to guard his dear child from
misfortune that he thought the best way would be to remove all
spindles out of his kingdom, and then she would never be able to
prick her finger. So he gave orders the very next day that every
spindle should be burned to ashes and never another one made
or used throughout the length and breadth of the land.
Meantime, the gifts of the fairies were plenteously fulfilled in
the young girl, for she was so beautiful, modest and kind that
all who saw her loved her. But it happened on the very day
when she was fifteen years old, that the King and Queen, being
now quite at rest about their daughter, since they thought they
had put all danger out of her reach, went away from home, leaving
Briar-rose all alone. No sooner were they gone, than the Princess
began to feel a great desire to go poking about the palace into
all the strange places she had never visited before. So she went
into all sorts of great, echoing halls and queer little chambers,
and at last she came to an old stone tower, with a narrow stair
that went winding upward. Up the rickety steps she started.
She climbed and she climbed and at last she came to a little old
door with a queer old rusty key in the lock. When she turned
the key, the door sprang open. There in a dusty little room, sat
a little old woman in gray, and she was working busily.
“Good-day, good dame,” said Briar-rose, “what are you
doing?”
“I am spinning,” said the woman, nodding her head. And
she drew out a thread of flax, twisting it deftly between her
fingers.
“And what is that little thing you send twirling around so
merrily?”
“A spindle! A spindle!”
“Ah!” cried little Briar-rose, “I have never seen anything
merrier!” And she crept up closer and closer. At last, as she
watched the twisting and twirling, she grew so anxious to try it
herself that she said, “Good dame, pray let me try to spin.”
The old woman smiled till the curves of her mouth went
way up under her long hook-nose, then she handed Briar-rose
the distaff and the spindle. The Princess tucked the distatf
under her left arm as she had seen the old woman do, and started
to pull out a thread. But alas! she knew nothing of spindles,
nor had she ever been taught how to handle one properly, so
at the very first turn, she clumsily thrust the point into her hand
and pricked her finger.
In an instant spindle and distaff dropped to the floor; little
Briar-rose sank upon a bed and lay there in a deep sleep which
spread over all the castle. Then the little old woman in gray
disappeared and the room in the tower was quiet and still.
Down below, the King and Queen, who had just returned
to the great hall of the castle, went to sleep on their thrones
and all their courtiers with them. The horses went to
sleep in their stables, the dogs went to sleep in the yard; the
pigeons went to sleep on the roof; the flies went to sleep on the
wall. Even the fire on the kitchen hearth stopped flaming and
slept in its embers; the great iron kettle above left off boiling,
and the cook, who was just going to pull the hair of a careless
scullery boy, let him go and sank down fast asleep. The wind
fell, the flowers and grasses sank down on the earth and on the
trees before the castle not a single leaf stirred again.
Round about all there began to grow a hedge of thorns; snow
fell with ice and sleet. So years passed by and every year the
hedge grew denser and higher, till at last it hid every tower from
sight. Nothing at all could be seen of the castle, not even the
flags on its roof. And over the spot, year in and year out, it
was always frozen winter.
But the story of the beautiful Princess, sleep-bound in her
castle, still went abroad through the land.
From time to time, King’s sons came and tried to force them-
selves in through the thorny hedge to awaken her. All these the
hedge used sadly. The thorns held fast together as if they had
hands and tore their fine clothes, and scratched and pulled and
kept them tight caught as if in a net. And Briar-rose slept on.
At last and at last, after many, many years, there came to
the land a certain King’s son to whom an old man told the tale
of the Princess and how sadly the King’s sons had fared who
tried to do battle with the hedge. But this youth said, “I am
not afraid of the hedge. The hedge is nothing to me. I shall go
and awaken the beautiful Princess.*’
The good old man did all in his power to dissuade the Prince,
but the youth would not listen to his words. Off he set toward
the frozen castle. As he drew near he felt its icy breath, he saw
the snow over all and the giant thorn hedge that rose threatening
before him. But he strode confidently on, and when he came
square upon those dark bushes, lo! they turned suddenly fresh
and green, blossomed with large and splendid flowers, and parted
of their own accord to let him safely through. Above, the snow
stopped falling; beneath his feet, ice melted, flowers and grasses
Ufted up their heads. By the time he reached the castle yard,
all signs of winter had fled, the earth was in bloom about him.
He saw the horses and dogs asleep, the pigeons on the rooftop
still with heads buried under their wings. When he entered the
castle, the flies were still asleep on the wall, the fire still slept in
its embers, and the cook was still holding out her hand as though
to cuff the scullery boy.
Within the great hall, the King and Queen lay asleep on their
thrones with their whole court sleeping about them. All was so
quiet everywhere that a breath could have been heard. At last
the King’s son came to the stone tower with the narrow stair
that went winding upward. Up the rickety steps he climbed
and opened the door of the little chamber. There before him
on the bed lay Briar-rose asleep. Her cheeks were faintly flushed,
her hair was like gold, and her clothes were all quaint and old-
fashioned, like those his great great grandmother had worn. So
beautiful was she that the King’s son could not turn his eyes
from her. As he looked, he stooped down and gently gave her
a kiss. The moment she felt his kiss. Briar-rose opened her
eyes and awoke. Then she looked at him sweetly and slowly
rose from her couch. Hand in hand, down the stairs together
they went. When they entered the great hall of the castle, the
King awoke and the Queen and the whole court, and all jooked
at each other astonished. The horses in the courtyard stood up
and shook themselves; the dogs jumped up and wagged their
tails; the pigeons on the roof awoke and flew away into the open
country; the flies on the wall crept again; the fire on the kitchen
hearth flickered and flamed up; the great iron kettle began to
boil, and the cook soundly boxed the ears of the scullery boy.
The very next day the marriage of the King’s son with Briar-
rose was celebrated with all manner of rejoicing, and inside the
castle and out was the life and bloom of the spring.
