Telling Stories

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Telling Stories

“Sleeping Beauty”

          Once upon a time a king and queen wished and wished for a child.  At last their wish came true.  A princess was born.  The king and queen were very happy. 

The queen decided to give a party.  She asked everyone to come.  She even asked the three good fairies.  But there was one fairy who was not asked.  She was a wicked fairy.  When she heard about the party, her green eyes burned with anger.

The wicked fairy: “They will be sorry they did not ask me.”

        She told her big black bird

        On the day of the party, all the lords and ladies of the land came to the castle.  They rode up in fine coaches.  Each coach was filled with gifts for the little princess.

        The party had just begun when the three good fairies appeared.

The first good fairy: “We have very special gifts for the little princess.”

        She waved her wand over the sleeping baby.

The first good fairy: “Little princess, I give you the gift of beauty.”

        Then the second good fairy stepped up.

The second good fairy: “Little princess, I give you the gift of kindness.”

        Just as the third good fairy started to speak, there was a terrible sound.

        The castle door flew open.  There-in a cloud of smoke-stood the wicked fairy.  Her big black bird was with her.

The wicked fairy: “You did not ask me to your party, but I have a gift for the princess, too.”

        The wicked fairy smiled a terrible smile.

The wicked fairy: “When the little princess is sixteen, she will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel-AND SHE WILL DIE!”

The lord: “Oh, no!”

The king: “Grab her!”    

        But just as the king’s men reached the wicked fairy-POOF! - She disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The third good fairy: “I still have my gift to give.  I cannot take away the wicked fairy’s gift, but I can change it.  Little princess, you will not die when you prick your finger.  You will only go to sleep.  But you will sleep until a prince comes and breaks the spell.”

        Then the king had an idea.

The king: “If there are no spinning wheels, then the princess cannot prick her finger.”

        So the king’s men burned all the spinning wheels in the castle.  They made a great fire in the yard.  But there was one spinning wheel that was not burned.  It stood in a little room at the top of the castle.  No one ever went into the room.  No one knew the spinning wheel was there. 

Sixteen years went by.  The princess grew up to be very beautiful and very kind.  But she was also very curious.     

One day she came upon some stairs.

The princess: “I wonder where these stairs go.”

        She climbed and climbed.  The stairs went around and around-all the way up to the top of the castle.  There she saw a little door.  So she opened it.  And she stepped into a little room.  There stood the one spinning wheel that had not been burned.

The princess: “I wonder what this is.”

        When she reached out to touch it, she pricked her finger on the spindle.  Suddenly the princess felt very dizzy.  She lay down on a little bed and went to sleep. 

        When the princess went to sleep, the good fairies came and put a sleeping spell on the castle.  The king and queen were having dinner.  Everyone went to sleep right where they were.  Even the dogs and horses and chickens fell sleep.  Nothing moved.  Nothing made a sound.  Only a prince could break the spell.  But the wicked fairy did not give up.  She told her big black bird.

The wicked fairy: “I will make sure that a prince does not get into the castle.  That sleeping spell will never end.”

        She made a great forest of roses grow up around the castle.  The roses had terrible thorns.  No one dared to go into the forest.  And so the castle slept and slept.  It stayed that way for a hundred years.

        Then, after all those years, a prince rode by.  He saw three women.  They were the three good fairies.

The prince: “What is inside this forest?”

The three good fairies: “No one knows, no one has ever tried to go in.”

The prince: “Then I will try.”

The three good fairies: “Take this sword, it is a magic sword.”

        And before the prince could speak-POOF!-the three women were gone.

        The prince cut off one branch with the sword.  Suddenly the branches moved out of his way.  The prince rode into the rose forest.  But he did not see that a big black bird was watching him.  The bird went off to tell the wicked fairy.  When she heard about the prince, she flew into a rage.

The wicked fairy: “I must kill him; I shall turn myself into a dragon and wait for him in the rose forest.”

        When the prince saw the terrible dragon, he held up his sword.  The dragon blew hot flames at him.  But the prince was very brave.  He charged the dragon.  The magic sword flashed with light just before it found its spot.  The dragon screamed and fell to the ground.  It was dead.  And so the prince rode on.

        At last he saw an old castle.  When he went inside the castle, he saw a strange sight.  No one was moving.  No one was making a sound.  The prince looked around and saw some stairs.  He decided to climb them.  They went up to the top of the castle.  There he saw a little door.

        When he opened the door, he found the sleeping princess.  She was so beautiful he bent down and kissed her.  Suddenly the princess woke up.  The spell was broken.

        When they went downstairs, everyone was waking up.

The king: “You have saved us!  Prince, you shall have anything you wish.”

The prince: “My only wish is to marry the princess.”

        And he did.  The prince and the princess lived happily ever after.