And now for a read aloud of Rapunzel!
There once lived a man and his wife who, more than anything in the world, wished to have a baby.
Finally, one day they learned that their wish would come true.
Now, at the top of their house, in the very back, there was a little window.
And from this window you could see a garden full of beautiful flowers and fresh vegetables.
But around the garden was a high wall.
And no one dared to enter the garden, because it belonged to a mean witch.
One day the wife stood at the little window and looked down into the witch’s garden.
There she saw fine-looking leaves of rapunzel, which is a kind of lettuce.
And it looked so fresh and green that she felt that she simply must have some.
Day after day she longed for it.
The more she wanted it, the more she became pale and sad when she could not have some.
Her husband saw her looking so sad and became worried.
“Dear wife, what is the matter?” he asked.
“Oh,” she answered, “I feel that I must eat some of that rapunzel from the garden
behind our house.”
Her husband loved her very much, and he thought, “I must get my wife what she desires.
I will get some of that rapunzel, no matter what.”
That night he climbed over the wall into the witch’s garden.
He quickly filled a sack with rapunzel and brought it back to his wife.
At once she ate it with delight.
But she liked it so much and it tasted so good that the next day she longed for it twice
as much as she had before.
So, that night, the husband climbed the wall again and picked more rapunzel.
He turned around to go back, when he saw before him the angry eyes of the witch.
“How dare you climb into my garden, you thief,” she hissed.
“How dare you steal my rapunzel!
You will pay dearly for this!”
“Oh please,” said the terrified man, “be merciful.
I only did this because I had to.
My wife, you see, is having a baby, and she was looking out the window and saw your rapunzel,
and she needed some more than anything else in the world.”
“Well then,” the witch said, “you may have as much rapunzel as you want—on one condition.
When your wife has the child, you must give it to me.
I will take care of the child, like it’s my very own.”
The man was so flustered that he said “yes,” and then tried not to think any more of it.
But later, at the very moment when his wife gave birth to a lovely baby girl, the witch
appeared and reminded him of his promise.
She brought the child to live with her.
The witch named the baby Rapunzel, and she grew up to be a beautiful girl.
When Rapunzel was twelve years old, the witch took her deep into the forest.
There she locked her in a tower with no steps and no door, only a small window near the top.
Whenever the witch wanted to be let into the tower, she would cry from the ground below,
“Rapunzel!
Rapunzel!
Let down your hair!”
Rapunzel had beautiful, long hair that shone like gold.
When she heard the voice of the witch, she would open the window and let her hair fall
down, down, down to the ground far below.
Then the witch would hold onto the hair and climb up to the tower window A few years passed
like this when, one day, the king’s son was riding through the forest, and he came upon the tower.
As he came near, he heard a voice singing so sweetly that he stood still and listened.
It was Rapunzel in her loneliness trying to pass away the time with sweet songs.
The prince wanted to go inside to see her, so he looked for a door in the tower, but there was none.
He rode home, but the song had entered into his heart, and every day he went into the
forest and listened to it.
Once, as he was standing nearby behind some trees, who should come up to the tower but the witch.
The prince watched, amazed, as the witch called out, “Rapunzel!
Rapunzel!
Let down your hair!”
Then he saw how Rapunzel let down her long hair, and how the witch climbed up it and
went into the tower.
He thought, “So that is the ladder.
Well, then, I too will climb it.”
The next day, as dusk fell, he came to the tower and cried, “Rapunzel!
Rapunzel!
Let down your hair!”
And she let down her hair, and the prince climbed up.
Rapunzel was greatly frightened when she saw the prince, for she had never seen a man before.
But he spoke kindly to her, and told how her singing had entered his heart, and how he
felt he could have no peace until he had seen her.
Then Rapunzel forgot her fear, and when he asked her to be his wife, she put her hand
in his hand and said, “I would gladly go with you, but I have no way to get out.
Do this for me: the next time you come, bring a bundle of silk.
Then bring some more each time you come, and I will make a ladder of it.
When it is finished, I will use it to climb down from this tower, and then you will carry
me away from here on your horse.”
They agreed that he would come to her every evening, since the witch only came in the
daytime.
So things went on this way until one day Rapunzel, without thinking, said to the witch, “Why
do you climb up so slowly, while it takes the king’s son only a moment?”
“Oh, you wicked child!” screamed the witch.
“I thought I had you hidden here from all the world.
But you have betrayed me!”
In a rage, the witch grabbed a pair of sharp scissors and cut off poor Rapunzel’s hair.
Then the witch took Rapunzel from the tower and brought her to live deep in the forest.
Later that day, when evening fell, the prince came and called out, “Rapunzel!
Rapunzel!
Let down your hair!”
The witch lowered the cut-off hair, and the prince climbed up.
But instead of seeing his dear Rapunzel at the top, he saw the gleaming eyes of the witch.
“Aha!” she cried, and laughed at him.
“You came for your darling, but the sweet bird is no longer in its nest and sings no
more.
You will see her no more!”
Filled with horror and sadness, the prince fell from the tower.
The fall did not hurt him badly, but the thorns on which he fell cut his eyes and blinded him.
So, blind and alone, he wandered in the forest for several years, eating only roots and berries,
and weeping over the loss of his dear Rapunzel.
At last he came to a place in the forest where Rapunzel herself was wandering.
He heard a sweet voice that he thought he had heard somewhere before.
When he went toward the sound, Rapunzel saw him, wrapped her arms around his neck and wept.
When Rapunzel’s tears touched the prince’s eyes, he could see again.
He was both happy and amazed because he’d thought he’d never see her again.
And so the prince took Rapunzel to his kingdom to be his bride, where she was welcomed with great joy.
They were soon married, and they lived happily ever after.