The Sleeping Beauty

The Sleeping Beauty - How an entire castle fell asleep for a hundred years

After a long wait, a daughter was born at last to the King and the Queen – and they invited all their subjects to a feast. Thirteen fairies also lived in the realm. But as the King only had twelve golden plates one of them was not invited. This fairy became very angry and cast a spell on the girl. On her fifteenth birthday she would prick herself on a spindle and die from the wound. Another fairy moderated the spell by turning it into a hundred years of sleep. To protect his child against this, the King had all the spindles in the land burnt.

On her fifteenth birthday, the King's daughter was at home alone – and she set off to explore the great castle. In a room in a tower she found an old woman spinning flax. The princess tried spinning too – and pricked her finger. She then fell into a hundred years of sleep along with the whole court: The King and Queen who had just come home fell asleep, the servants, the horses in the stable and the flies on the wall. The fire stopped burning and the roast stopped sizzling on the hearth. The cook was just about to give his disobedient kitchen boy a clip round the ear when he stopped in the mid-motion and fell asleep.

A giant hedge of thorns grew all round the castle and it soon became impenetrable. The saga of the sleeping beauty made its way through the land – and many a prince tried to free her. But none of them got through the mighty hedge. After a hundred years, the son of a king passed by and wanted to free the Sleeping Beauty. Just when he arrived at the castle, overrun with thick undergrowth, exactly a hundred years had passed. On approaching the hedge roses were blooming all over it and the thorns fell away of their own accord. So he arrived in the castle unhurt and found everyone asleep in from of him - including the Sleeping Beauty. Our hero was so enchanted with her beauty that he kissed her. At which point, the princess opened her eyes. The King and the Queen woke up too, and the horses in the stable and the flies on the wall. The fire flickered again, the roast sizzled and the cook missed giving the kitchen boy a clip round the ear. The Sleeping Beauty and the Prince celebrated their marriage and lived happily ever after.