| The king was so happy about the birth of the princess
that he held a great celebration. He also invited the fairies who lived
in his kingdom, but because he had only twelve golden plates, one had to
be left out, for there were thirteen of them.
The fairies came to the celebration, and as it was ending they
presented the child with gifts. The one promised her virtue, the second
one gave beauty, and so on, each one offering something desirable and
magnificent. The eleventh fairy had just presented her gift when the
thirteenth fairy walked in. She was very angry that she had not been
invited and cried out, "Because you did not invite me, I tell you that
in her fifteenth year, your daughter will prick herself with a spindle
and fall over dead."
The parents were horrified, but the twelfth fairy, who had not yet
offered her wish, said, "It shall not be her death. She will only fall
into a hundred-year sleep." The king, hoping to rescue his dear child,
issued an order that all spindles in the entire kingdom should be
destroyed.
The princess grew and became a miracle of beauty. One day, when she
had just reached her fifteenth year, the king and queen went away,
leaving her all alone in the castle. She walked from room to room,
following her heart's desire. Finally she came to an old tower. A narrow
stairway led up to it. Being curious, she climbed up until she came to a
small door. There was a small yellow key in the door. She turned it, and
the door sprang open. She found herself in a small room where an old
woman sat spinning flax. She was attracted to the old woman, and joked
with her, and said that she too would like to try her hand at spinning.
She picked up the spindle, but no sooner did she touch it, than she
pricked herself with it and then fell down into a deep sleep.
At that same moment the king and his attendants returned, and
everyone began to fall asleep: the horses in the stalls, the pigeons on
the roof, the dogs in the courtyard, the flies on the walls. Even the
fire on the hearth flickered, stopped moving, and fell asleep. The roast
stopped sizzling. The cook let go of the kitchen boy, whose hair he was
about to pull. The maid dropped the chicken that she was plucking. They
all slept. And a thorn hedge grew up around the entire castle, growing
higher and higher, until nothing at all could be seen of it.
Princes, who had heard about the beautiful Brier-Rose, came and tried
to free her, but they could not penetrate the hedge. It was as if the
thorns were firmly attached to hands. The princes became stuck in them,
and they died miserably. And thus it continued for many long years.
Then one day a prince was traveling through the land. An old man told
him about the belief that there was a castle behind the thorn hedge,
with a wonderfully beautiful princess asleep inside with all of her
attendants. His grandfather had told him that many princes had tried to
penetrate the hedge, but that they had gotten stuck in the thorns and
had been pricked to death.
"I'm not afraid of that," said the prince. "I shall penetrate the
hedge and free the beautiful Brier-Rose."
He went forth, but when he came to the thorn hedge, it turned into
flowers. They separated, and he walked through, but after he passed,
they turned back into thorns. He went into the castle. Horses and
colorful hunting dogs were asleep in the courtyard. Pigeons, with their
little heads stuck under they wings, were sitting on the roof. As he
walked inside, the flies on the wall, the fire in the kitchen, the cook
and the maid were all asleep. He walked further. All the attendants were
asleep; and still further, the king and the queen. It was so quiet that
he could hear his own breath.
Finally he came to the old tower where Brier-Rose was lying asleep.
The prince was so amazed at her beauty that he bent over and kissed her.
At that moment she awoke, and with her the king and the queen, and all
the attendants, and the horses and the dogs, and the pigeons on the
roof, and the flies on the walls. The fire stood up and flickered, and
then finished cooking the food. The roast sizzled away. The cook boxed
the kitchen boy's ears. And the maid finished plucking the chicken. Then
the prince and Brier-Rose got married, and they lived long and happily
until they died. |
