Once upon a time, there was a husband and wife who were happily married. They wanted
very badly to have a child of their own, but they never could. They lived next door to an
unfriendly old woman who had a beautiful garden full of exotic herbs and vegetables. One of
the herbs was called rapunzel and it smelled so fragrant and delicious.
The wife thought she would go mad it smelled so tempting. She couldn’t eat, she couldn’t
sleep. One day, she gave in to her temptation and sneaked into the garden and stole a bite
of Rapunzel. She felt immediately better and went home and forgot all about it.
A short while later, the husband and wife were astonished to find they were expecting
a child. But soon the wife grew weak and unwell.
One day, they had a visit from their strange neighbor. She brought them a sprig of rapunzel,saying
“Eat, you will feel better.” After a few bites, the wife did indeed feel much better.
But the following day, she fell ill again. The neighbor returned with another handful
of rapunzel, a nd again, her strength returned.
But on the third day, the neighbor returned with an impossible request. “If I give you
my rapunzel, you must give me your child.” The husband and wife were horrified. “No!
Never!” they cried. “Very well,” the old witch replied (for of course, she was
a witch). “You will suffer and die, all because you STOLE my rapunzel from my garden.”
The husband and wife protested weakly, but finally they gave in. The witch brought them
baskets of the special herb every day, until their daughter was born.
On that day, the witch appeared and named the child ...Rapunzel. She took Rapunzel away
deep into the forest where no one knew them. Rapunzel sometimes wondered at her strange
name, or the fact that she didn’t look anything like the witch. The witch was very short,
while Rapunzel was very tall. While the witch had coarse dark hair like wires, Rapunzel
had fine, golden hair that reached all the way to her feet.
When Rapunzel was 12, the witch grew tired of all her questions, and shut her up in a
tower deep in the forest with no door and no stairs. There was just one small window
up at the very top of the tower. When the witch would visit Rapunzel, she would say
“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!” Rapunzel would undo her long, long, braids,
and let her hair down through her little window. By this time, Rapunzel’s hair had grown
so long that it reached all the way to the ground! The witch climbed up Rapunzel’s
hair, and would sit with Rapunzel and tell her stories, and brush her hair. Truly, the
witch did love Rapunzel, but it was a jealous love. She was sure that someone would steal
Rapunzel away, just as she had stolen Rapunzel from her parents.
The years passed, and Rapunzel grew into a lovely young woman. She was sometimes lonely
shut up in her tower, and to pass the time between the witch’s visits, Rapunzel would
sing to herself. She had a beautiful voice, just like a songbird.
One day, the Prince rode by the tower and heard Rapunzel’s enchanting voice. “Who
can that be?” he wondered. He rode all the way around the tower but saw there was no
door. He rode off, but returned the next day to hear more of Rapunzel’s lovely singing.
He came back every day until one day, he saw the witch approach the tower and call up “Rapunzel,
Rapunzel, let down your hair!” The Prince was astonished to see Rapunzel’s beautiful
golden hair cascading out of the window and down to the ground. Now he knew how to reach
Rapunzel.
The next day, the Prince returned to the tower, and mimicking the witch’s voice, said “Rapunzel,
Rapunzel, let down your hair!” As soon as her long golden hair was lowered, the Prince
began climbing up. Rapunzel was shocked and quite frightened when the Prince appeared
in her little window. She had never met a man before. But the Prince spoke to her so
kindly and so gently that she soon forgot her fears and they talked and laughed as if
they had known each other their whole lives. The Prince promised to return the following
day.
The next day, the witch came back to visit Rapunzel. Without thinking, Rapunzel said
“oh, you are much lighter climbing up my hair than my Prince.” The witch, furious
with jealousy, began asking many questions. Rapunzel answered her honestly and told her
of the Prince’s plan to return that day for another visit. Soon, his voice rang out.
“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!” “Not a word,” said the witch, drawing
a knife. Rapunzel sadly let her hair down the window. When the Prince reached the little
window, the witch leaped on him. The wicked witch and the Prince struggled. The Prince
got the upper hand, and threw the witch out of the window! But she grabbed hold of Rapunzel’s
hair, and cut it off with one stroke of the knife. “Now you’ll both be trapped here
forever!” she shrieked. The witch dropped to the ground like a stone and vanished.
“Oh, what will we do now?” cried Rapunzel. “There are no stairs - we’re trapped!”
“Never fear,” said the Prince. “I came prepared to rescue you!” He drew from his
bag a long rope. They climbed down the rope and rode off together towards his castle.
They were soon married and lived a long happy life together, singing songs. The End.