Briar Rose
A long time ago there lived a King and Queen, who said every day, 'Ifonly we had a child'; but for a long time they had none.
It fell out once, as the Queen was bathing, that a frog crept out ofthe water on to the land, and said to her: 'Your wish shall befulfilled; before a year has passed you shall bring a daughter intothe world.'
The frog's words came true. The Queen had a little girl who was sobeautiful that the King could not contain himself for joy, andprepared a great feast. He invited not only his relations, friends,and acquaintances, but the fairies, in order that they might befavourably and kindly disposed towards the child. There were thirteenof them in the kingdom, but as the King had only twelve golden platesfor them to eat from, one of the fairies had to stay at home.
The feast was held with all splendour, and when it came to an end thefairies all presented the child with a magic gift. One gave hervirtue, another beauty, a third riches, and so on, with everything inthe world that she could wish for.
When eleven of the fairies had said their say, the thirteenth suddenlyappeared. She wanted to revenge herself for not having been invited.Without greeting any one, or even glancing at the company, she calledout in a loud voice: 'The Princess shall prick herself with a distaffin her fifteenth year and shall fall down dead'; and without anotherword she turned and left the hall.
Every one was terror-struck, but the twelfth fairy, whose wish wasstill unspoken, stepped forward. She could not cancel the curse, butcould only soften it, so she said: 'It shall not be death, but a deepsleep lasting a hundred years, into which your daughter shall fall.'
'The Thirteenth Fairy.']
The King was so anxious to guard his dear child from the misfortune,that he sent out a command that all the distaffs in the whole kingdomshould be burned.
{The King could not contain himself for joy.}]
As time went on all the promises of the fairies came true. ThePrincess grew up so beautiful, modest, kind, and clever that everyone who saw her could not but love her. Now it happened that on thevery day when she was fifteen years old the King and Queen were awayfrom home, and the Princess was left quite alone in the castle. Shewandered about over the whole place, looking at rooms and halls as shepleased, and at last she came to an old tower. She ascended a narrow,winding staircase and reached a little door. A rusty key was stickingin the lock, and when she turned it the door flew open. In a littleroom sat an old woman with a spindle, spinning her flax busily.
'Good day, Granny,' said the Princess; 'what are you doing?'
'I am spinning,' said the old woman, and nodded her head.
'What is the thing that whirls round so merrily?' asked the Princess;and she took the spindle and tried to spin too.
But she had scarcely touched it before the curse was fulfilled, andshe pricked her finger with the spindle. The instant she felt theprick she fell upon the bed which was standing near, and lay still ina deep sleep which spread over the whole castle.
The King and Queen, who had just come home and had stepped into thehall, went to sleep, and all their courtiers with them. The horseswent to sleep in the stable, the dogs in the yard, the doves on theroof, the flies on the wall; yes, even the fire flickering on thehearth grew still and went to sleep, and the roast meat stoppedcrackling; the cook, who was pulling the scullion's hair because hehad made some mistake, let him go and went to sleep. The wind dropped,and on the trees in front of the castle not a leaf stirred.
But round the castle a hedge of briar roses began to grow up; everyyear it grew higher, till at last it surrounded the whole castle sothat nothing could be seen of it, not even the flags on the roof.
But there was a legend in the land about the lovely sleeping BriarRose, as the King's daughter was called, and from time to time princescame and tried to force a way through the hedge into the castle. Theyfound it impossible, for the thorns, as though they had hands, heldthem fast, and the princes remained caught in them without being ableto free themselves, and so died a miserable death.
But round the castle a hedge of briar roses began to grow up.]
After many, many years a Prince came again to the country and heard anold man tell of the castle which stood behind the briar hedge, inwhich a most beautiful maiden called Briar Rose had been asleep forthe last hundred years, and with her slept the King, Queen, and allher courtiers. He knew also, from his grandfather, that many princeshad already come and sought to pierce through the briar hedge, and hadremained caught in it and died a sad death.
Then the young Prince said, 'I am not afraid; I am determined to goand look upon the lovely Briar Rose.'
{The young Prince said, 'I am not afraid; I am determined to go and look upon the lovely Briar Rose.'}]
The good old man did all in his power to dissuade him, but the Princewould not listen to his words.
Now, however, the hundred years were just ended, and the day had comewhen Briar Rose was to wake up again. When the Prince approached thebriar hedge it was in blossom, and was covered with beautiful largeflowers which made way for him of their own accord and let him passunharmed, and then closed up again into a hedge behind him.
In the courtyard he saw the horses and brindled hounds lying asleep,on the roof sat the doves with their heads under their wings: and whenhe went into the house the flies were asleep on the walls, and nearthe throne lay the King and Queen; in the kitchen was the cook, withhis hand raised as though about to strike the scullion, and the maidsat with the black fowl in her lap which she was about to pluck.
He went on further, and all was so still that he could hear his ownbreathing. At last he reached the tower, and opened the door into thelittle room where Briar Rose was asleep. There she lay, looking sobeautiful that he could not take his eyes off her; he bent down andgave her a kiss. As he touched her, Briar Rose opened her eyes andlooked lovingly at him. Then they went down together; and the Kingwoke up, and the Queen, and all the courtiers, and looked at eachother with astonished eyes. The horses in the stable stood up andshook themselves, the hounds leaped about and wagged their tails, thedoves on the roof lifted their heads from under their wings, lookedround, and flew into the fields; the flies on the walls began to crawlagain, the fire in the kitchen roused itself and blazed up and cookedthe food, the meat began to crackle, and the cook boxed the scullion'sears so soundly that he screamed aloud, while the maid finishedplucking the fowl. Then the wedding of the Prince and Briar Rose wascelebrated with all splendour, and they lived happily till they died.