SLEEPING BEAUTY
There was once a kind and wise king who ruled over a large kingdom.
The only thing that the king and queen were sad about was that they had no child, but
finally their prayers were answered, and they were blessed with a beautiful baby daughter.
I am so happy today.
The little princess is so beautiful, I couldn’t have asked for anything more.
We must celebrate.
We shall have a grand ball and invite everyone in the kingdom.
I would like everyone to come and bless my lovely child.
The king instructed his men to arrange for the celebrations and invite everyone to come
and bless the princess.
All the fairies were invitied also, but the king’s men forgot to invite one fairy who
lived deep in the woods, and who was known to be mean and wicked.
At the ball, all the fairies came up to bless the little princess.
I bless the princess with beauty.
I bless the princess with wisdom and a kind heart.
Suddenly, the mean fairy went up to the queen.
You did not invite me to the ball, and you shall pay for it.
Everyone else has blessed the princess, but I will put a curse on her.
When she is 16, she will prick her finger on a spindle and fall dead!
Oh no, no, no, no.
I am so sorry that you were not invited.
Please, please do forgive us.
We have been blessed with a child after so many years, do not take away our happiness.
Please take your curse back, I beg of you.
I said you shall pay, and so you shall.
Ha ha ha ha ha!!
So saying, the evil fairy left the ball, leaving everyone shocked.
Oh, how could she?
She does not deserve to be called a fairy.
She is just an evil witch I say.
I don’t think I will be able to bear this.
My dear fairies, isn’t there anything you can do to break this curse?
All the fairies got together to see what they could do.
After their discussion, they approached the queen.
Your Majesty, it is not possible for us to break the curse of the evil fairy, but what
we can do is make sure that the sweet princess will not die, but fall into a deep sleep for
100 years.
Then, the kiss of a young prince will awaken her.
But by then we shall all be dead!
And when she awakens, she will not recognize anyone!
Oh!
How will we enjoy seeing our daughter grow?
Once again the fairies put their heads together to find a solution, and after discussing for
sometime, they went back to the queen.
Your Majesty, we have thought about this.
When the princess falls into a sleep, everyone in the palace will also fall asleep, and when
she awakens, the whole palace will awaken with her.
This way, she will know everyone.
There was nothing more anyone could do, and everyone was very sad.
Listen everyone, first thing tomorrow morning, go out and destroy all the spindles in the
kingdom.
Not a single spindle should be left.
The king’s men set out the next morning and broke and burned every spindle they could
find.
However, they did not see an old spindle lying in a small dusty room in the palace itself.
Years passed.
The princess grew up to be a beautiful and kind young lady.
Everyone in the palace loved here.
She spent her days roaming around the palace and in the beautiful gardens outside.
And then, the princess turned 16.
People came from far and away to wish her.
I am so overjoyed to see our daughter grow up to be such a gracious and charming young
lady.
But now the curse of the evil fairy is coming back to haunt me.
Let us not worry my dear.
I have done my best to ensure that all the spindles in the kingdom have been destroyed.
If there is no spindle, the princess will not be able to prick her finger on it.
I know, I know, but the face of that evil fairy and her horrible curse just won’t
leave me in peace.
The princess spent the entire morning meeting all the people who had come to wish her on
her 16th birthday, and then went to her room to rest.
In the evening, she decided to be by herself and explore some parts of the large palace
that she had not seen.
I never realized the palace was so huge.
I don’t remember ever seeing these rooms before.
Oh, what is this?
It seems to be some sort of tunnel.
I wonder where it leads to.
The princess was very curious, and started to go along the tunnel, which led to a dusty
room full of old things.
I never knew there was a room full of such old things in the palace.
Oh, there seems to be a light coming from the far corner and some funny sound.
I wonder what it could be.
The princess made her way to where she could see the light and hear the sound.
When she went near, she was surprised to see an old woman sitting and working with some
yarn on some kind of rod.
The princess did not know that that was a spindle, as her father had instructed that
all the spindles in the kingdom be destroyed.
And alas!
The old woman sitting there was none other than the horrible fairy who had cursed the
princess!
She had somehow entered the palace, and with a spell, she had made the princess follow
the path to the old and dusty room.
Hello, I don’t think I have seen you before in the palace.
What are you doing?
I am spinning yarn, can’t you see?
Oh, I’m so sorry, but I have never seen anything like this before.
Hmm.
Would you like to try it?
It is not very difficult, you know.
The poor princess had no idea about the evil plan of the wicked fairy, and eagerly agreed
to try her hand at the spindle.
And, as the witch had cursed when she had been born, she pricked her finger, and immediately
fell into a deep slumber.
Ha ha ha ha ha!
I had told the queen she would pay for not inviting me to her grand ball, and I have
now taken revenge for my humiliation.
Ha ha ha ha ha!
I will take her precious daughter’s body and show her.
Ha ha ha ha ha!
The evil fairy carried the princess to the main part of the palace to show the queen
how she had taken her revenge for her insult.
But what a strange sight met her eyes!
Time had come to a total standstill, and everyone in the palace seemed to have just frozen in
whatever act they were performing.
Hey!
What is this?
What has happened to all these stupid people?
The evil fairy did not know that the good fairies had changed her curse, and that the
princess together with all the other people in the castle had fallen into a deep, deep
sleep.
My revenge is complete, but I would have been happier to see the queen’s expression on
seeing her dead daughter.
Ah well, it’s time for me to be on my way.
Away walked the evil fairy from the palace, not knowing that the princess was not dead.
A hundred years passed, and everything and everyone in the palace remained frozen in time
But the beautiful gardens around the palace were overgrown with wild plants and now looked
like a thick forest.
In fact, the palace could now not be seen by anyone who was passing by.
One fine day, a prince from a neighbouring kingdom was out hunting.
He was an adventurous fellow, and was not scared to go into the deep forest.
Suddenly, the prince happened to see something much farther ahead.
Goodness gracious!
Whatever can that be?
It looks like the tip of a tower, but why would there be a tower in the middle of such a dense forest?
I have to see for myself.
The prince cut through all the wild plants and bushes growing along the way, his feet
crunching on the fallen twigs, till he finally reached the palace.
I can’t believe my eyes!
A palace in the middle of such a thick forest!
I wonder if there is anyone around, though can’t imagine that anyone could stay here.
The prince made his way into the palace, and couldn’t believe the sight that met his
eyes.
I need to pinch myself, I seem to be dreaming.
Ouch!
Okay, so this is no dream, but I just can’t figure out what this is.
The prince wandered from room to room, seeing the same scene of people who seemed to be
frozen like statues.
Then, the prince entered the room where lay the princess, and on seeing her, he just stopped.
What a beautiful young lady, prettier than any I have ever seen.
The prince could not stop himself.
He went forward, bent down beside the princess, and kissed her smooth white forehead.
No sooner had he done this that the evil fairy’s curse was broken.
The princess opened her eyes and came to life, and with her awoke all the other people in
the palace.
The king and queen rushed to their daughter, tears of joy in their eyes.
Er, can someone please tell me what is happening?
Oh, young man, we have all been under the curse of an evil fairy, and by kissing the
princess, you have broken the curse and brought us all to life.
We don’t know how to thank you.
Well, I know how you can do that.
I fell in love with your daughter as soon as I saw her, and you would make me the happiest
man by giving me your daughter’s hand in marriage.
Young man, we couldn’t ask for anything more.
And so the palace that had slept for 100 years finally came to life.
The silence was replaced with days of music and laughter and dancing to celebrate the
wedding of the princess to her handsome prince, who lived happily ever after.