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translated and/or edited by
D. L. Ashliman
© 1998-2013
Contents
- Sun, Moon, and Talia (Giambattista Basile).
- The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood (CharlesPerrault).
- Little Brier-Rose, version of 1812 (Jacob andWilhelm Grimm).
- Link to the German text of the above tale: Dornröschen (1812) (an electronic text from Zeno.org).
- Link to the 1857 version of LittleBrier-Rose, translated by D. L. Ashliman.
- Link to the German-language Dornröschen,version of 1857 (an electronic text from Zeno.org).
- Link to another 'sleeping beauty' story by the Brothers Grimm, The Glass Coffin, translated by Margaret Hunt (an electronic text from the University of Adelaide, Australia).
- Link to the German text of the above tale: Der gläserneSarg (an electronic text from Zeno.org).
- Links to related sites.
Sun, Moon, and Talia
Giambattista Basile
There once lived a great lord, who was blessed with the birth of adaughter, whom he named Talia. He sent for the wise men and astrologers inhis lands, to predict her future. They met, counseled together, and casther horoscope, and at length they came to the conclusion that she wouldincur great danger from a splinter of flax. Her father therefore forbadethat any flax, hemp, or any other material of that sort be brought intohis house, so that she should escape the predestined danger.
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One day, when Talia had grown into a young and beautiful lady, she waslooking out of a window, when she beheld passing that way an old woman,who was spinning. Talia, never having seen a distaff or a spindle, waspleased to see the twirling spindle, and she was so curious as to whatthing it was, that she asked the old woman to come to her. Taking thedistaff from her hand, she began to stretch the flax. Unfortunately, Taliaran a splinter of flax under her nail, and she fell dead upon the ground.When the old woman saw this, she became frightened and ran down thestairs, and is running still.
As soon as the wretched father heard of the disaster which had takenplace, he had them, after having paid for this tub of sour wine with casksof tears, lay her out in one of his country mansions. There they seatedher on a velvet throne under a canopy of brocade. Wanting to forget alland to drive from his memory his great misfortune, he closed the doors andabandoned forever the house where he had suffered this great loss.
After a time, it happened by chance that a king was out hunting andpassed that way. One of his falcons escaped from his hand and flew intothe house by way of one of the windows. It did not come when called, sothe king had one of his party knock at the door, believing the palace tobe inhabited. Although he knocked for a length of time, nobody answered,so the king had them bring a vintner's ladder, for he himself would climbup and search the house, to discover what was inside. Thus he climbed upand entered, and looked in all the rooms, and nooks, and corners, and wasamazed to find no living person there. At last he came to the salon, andwhen the king beheld Talia, who seemed to be enchanted, he believed thatshe was asleep, and he called her, but she remained unconscious. Cryingaloud, he beheld her charms and felt his blood course hotly through hisveins. He lifted her in his arms, and carried her to a bed, where hegathered the first fruits of love. Leaving her on the bed, he returned tohis own kingdom, where, in the pressing business of his realm, he for atime thought no more about this incident.
Now after nine months Talia delivered two beautiful children, one a boyand the other a girl. In them could be seen two rare jewels, and they wereattended by two fairies, who came to that palace, and put them at theirmother's breasts. Once, however, they sought the nipple, and not findingit, began to suck on Talia's fingers, and they sucked so much that thesplinter of flax came out. Talia awoke as if from a long sleep, and seeingbeside her two priceless gems, she held them to her breast, and gave themthe nipple to suck, and the babies were dearer to her than her own life.Finding herself alone in that palace with two children by her side, shedid not know what had happened to her; but she did notice that the tablewas set, and food and drink were brought in to her, although she did notsee any attendants.
In the meanwhile the king remembered Talia, and saying that he wantedto go hunting, he returned to the palace, and found her awake, and withtwo cupids of beauty. He was overjoyed, and he told Talia who he was, andhow he had seen her, and what had taken place. When she heard this, theirfriendship was knitted with tighter bonds, and he remained with her for afew days. After that time he bade her farewell, and promised to returnsoon, and take her with him to his kingdom. And he went to his realm, buthe could not find any rest, and at all hours he had in his mouth the namesof Talia, and of Sun and Moon (those were the two children's names), andwhen he took his rest, he called either one or other of them.
Now the king's wife began to suspect that something was wrong from thedelay of her husband while hunting, and hearing him name continuallyTalia, Sun, and Moon, she became hot with another kind of heat than thesun's. Sending for the secretary, she said to him, 'Listen to me, my son,you are living between two rocks, between the post and the door, betweenthe poker and the grate. If you will tell me with whom the king yourmaster, and my husband, is in love, I will give you treasures untold; andif you hide the truth from me, you will never be found again, dead oralive.' The man was terribly frightened. Greed and fear blinded his eyesto all honor and to all sense of justice, and he related to her allthings, calling bread bread, and wine wine.
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The queen, hearing how matters stood, sent the secretary to Talia, inthe name of the king, asking her to send the children, for he wished tosee them. Talia, with great joy, did as she was commanded. Then the queen,with a heart of Medea, told the cook to kill them, and to make them intoseveral tasteful dishes for her wretched husband. But the cook was tenderhearted and, seeing these two beautiful golden apples, felt pity andcompassion for them, and he carried them home to his wife, and had herhide them. In their place he prepared two lambs into a hundred differentdishes. When the king came, the queen, with great pleasure, had the foodserved.
The king ate with delight, saying, 'By the life of Lanfusa, howtasteful this is'; or, 'By the soul of my ancestors, this is good.'
Each time she replied, 'Eat, eat, you are eating of your own.'
For two or three times the king paid no attention to this repetition,but at last seeing that the music continued, he answered, 'I knowperfectly well that I am eating of my own, because you have broughtnothing into this house'; and growing angry, he got up and went to a villaat some distance from his palace, to solace his soul and alleviate hisanger.
In the meanwhile the queen, not being satisfied of the evil alreadydone, sent for the secretary and told him to go to the palace and to bringTalia back, saying that the king longed for her presence and was expectingher. Talia departed as soon as she heard these words, believing that shewas following the commands of her lord, for she greatly longed to see herlight and joy, knowing not what was preparing for her. She was met by thequeen, whose face glowed from the fierce fire burning inside her, andlooked like the face of Nero.
She addressed her thus, 'Welcome, Madam Busybody! You are a fine pieceof goods, you ill weed, who are enjoying my husband. So you are the lumpof filth, the cruel bitch, that has caused my head to spin? Change yourways, for you are welcome in purgatory, where I will compensate you forall the damage you have done to me.'
Talia, hearing these words, began to excuse herself, saying that it wasnot her fault, because the king her husband had taken possession of herterritory when she was drowned in sleep; but the queen would not listen toher excuses, and had a large fire lit in the courtyard of the palace, andcommanded that Talia should be cast into it.
The lady, perceiving that matters had taken a bad turn, knelt beforethe queen, and begged her to allow her at least to take off the garmentsshe wore. The queen, not for pity of the unhappy lady, but to gain alsothose robes, which were embroidered with gold and pearls, told her toundress, saying, 'You can take off your clothes. I agree.' Talia began totake them off, and with every item that she removed she uttered a loudscream. Having taken off her robe, her skirt, the bodice, and her shift,she was on the point of removing her last garment, when she uttered a lastscream louder than the rest. They dragged her towards the pile, to reduceher to lye ashes which would be used to wash Charon's breeches.
The king suddenly appeared, and finding this spectacle, demanded toknow what was happening. He asked for his children, and his wife --reproaching him for his treachery -- told him that she had had themslaughtered and served to him as meat. When the wretched king heard this,he gave himself up to despair, saying, 'Alas! Then I, myself, am the wolfof my own sweet lambs. Alas! And why did these my veins know not thefountains of their own blood? You renegade bitch, what evil deed is thiswhich you have done? Begone, you shall get your desert as the stumps, andI will not send such a tyrant-faced one to the Colosseum to do herpenance!'
So saying, he commanded that the queen should be cast into the firewhich she had prepared for Talia, and the secretary with her, because hehad been the handle for this bitter play, and weaver of this wicked plot.He was going to do the same with the cook, whom he believed to be theslaughterer of his children, when the man cast himself at his feet,saying, 'In truth, my lord, for such a deed, there should be nothing elsethan a pile of living fire, and no other help than a spear from behind,and no other entertainment than twisting and turning within the blazingfire, and I should seek no other honor than to have my ashes, the ashes ofa cook, mixed up with the queen's. But this is not the reward that Iexpect for having saved the children, in spite of the gall of that bitch,who wanted to kill them and to return to your body that which was of yourown body.'
Hearing these words, the king was beside himself. He thought he wasdreaming, and he could not believe what his own ears had heard. Therefore,turning to the cook, he said, 'If it is true that you have saved mychildren, be sure that I will take you away from turning the spit, and Iwill put you in the kitchen of this breast, to turn and twist as you likeall my desires, giving you such a reward as shall enable you to callyourself a happy man in this world.'
While the king spoke these words, the cook's wife, seeing her husband'sneed, brought forth the two children, Sun and Moon, before their father.And he never tired at playing the game of three with his wife andchildren, making a mill wheel of kisses, now with one and then with theother. He gave a generous reward to the cook, he made him a chamberlain.He married Talia to wife; and she enjoyed a long life with her husband andher children, thus experiencing the truth of the proverb:
Those whom fortune favors
Find good luck even in their sleep.
- Source: The Pentameron of Giambattista Basile, translated byRichard F. Burton (Privately printed, 1893), day 5, tale 5. Translationrevised by D. L. Ashliman.
- Giambattista Basile was born about 1575 in Naples and died 1632 inGiugliano, Campania. His Lo cunto de li cunti (The Story ofStories) was published in 1634, and named Il pentamerone because ofits similarity to Boccaccio's Decamerone. Theframework of Lo cunto de li cunti provides a context for ten womento tell one story each every day for five days. The fifty resultingstories, all based on oral tradition, comprise one of the monumentalfolktale collections of all time.
- Return to the table of contents.
The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood
Charles Perrault
There were formerly a king and a queen, who were so sorry that they hadno children; so sorry that it cannot be expressed. They went to all thewaters in the world; vows, pilgrimages, all ways were tried, and all to nopurpose.
At last, however, the queen had a daughter. There was a very finechristening; and the princess had for her godmothers all the fairies theycould find in the whole kingdom (they found seven), that every one of themmight give her a gift, as was the custom of fairies in those days. By thismeans the princess had all the perfections imaginable.
After the ceremonies of the christening were over, all the companyreturned to the king's palace, where was prepared a great feast for thefairies. There was placed before every one of them a magnificent coverwith a case of massive gold, wherein were a spoon, knife, and fork, all ofpure gold set with diamonds and rubies. But as they were all sitting downat table they saw come into the hall a very old fairy, whom they had notinvited, because it was above fifty years since she had been out of acertain tower, and she was believed to be either dead or enchanted.
The king ordered her a cover, but could not furnish her with a case ofgold as the others, because they had only seven made for the sevenfairies. The old fairy fancied she was slighted, and muttered some threatsbetween her teeth. One of the young fairies who sat by her overheard howshe grumbled; and, judging that she might give the little princess someunlucky gift, went, as soon as they rose from table, and hid herselfbehind the hangings, that she might speak last, and repair, as much as shecould, the evil which the old fairy might intend.
In the meanwhile all the fairies began to give their gifts to theprincess. The youngest gave her for gift that she should be the mostbeautiful person in the world; the next, that she should have the wit ofan angel; the third, that she should have a wonderful grace in everythingshe did; the fourth, that she should dance perfectly well; the fifth, thatshe should sing like a nightingale; and the sixth, that she should playall kinds of music to the utmost perfection.
The old fairy's turn coming next, with a head shaking more with spitethan age, she said that the princess should have her hand pierced with aspindle and die of the wound. This terrible gift made the whole companytremble, and everybody fell a crying.
At this very instant the young fairy came out from behind the hangings,and spake these words aloud: 'Assure yourselves, O King and Queen, thatyour daughter shall not die of this disaster. It is true, I have no powerto undo entirely what my elder has done. The princess shall indeed pierceher hand with a spindle; but, instead of dying, she shall only fall into aprofound sleep, which shall last a hundred years, at the expiration ofwhich a king's son shall come and awake her.'
The king, to avoid the misfortune foretold by the old fairy, causedimmediately proclamation to be made, whereby everybody was forbidden, onpain of death, to spin with a distaff and spindle, or to have so much asany spindle in their houses. About fifteen or sixteen years after, theking and queen being gone to one of their houses of pleasure, the youngprincess happened one day to divert herself in running up and down thepalace; when going up from one apartment to another, she came into alittle room on the top of the tower, where a good old woman, alone, wasspinning with her spindle. This good woman had never heard of the king'sproclamation against spindles.
'What are you doing there, goody?' said the princess.
'I am spinning, my pretty child,' said the old woman, who did not knowwho she was.
'Ha!' said the princess, 'this is very pretty; how do you do it? Giveit to me, that I may see if I can do so.'
She had no sooner taken it into her hand than, whether being very hastyat it, somewhat unhandy, or that the decree of the fairy had so ordainedit, it ran into her hand, and she fell down in a swoon.
The good old woman, not knowing very well what to do in this affair,cried out for help. People came in from every quarter in great numbers;they threw water upon the princess's face, unlaced her, struck her on thepalms of her hands, and rubbed her temples with Hungary-water; but nothingwould bring her to herself.
And now the king, who came up at the noise, bethought himself of theprediction of the fairies, and, judging very well that this mustnecessarily come to pass, since the fairies had said it, caused theprincess to be carried into the finest apartment in his palace, and to belaid upon a bed all embroidered with gold and silver.
One would have taken her for a little angel, she was so very beautiful;for her swooning away had not diminished one bit of her complexion; hercheeks were carnation, and her lips were coral; indeed, her eyes wereshut, but she was heard to breathe softly, which satisfied those about herthat she was not dead. The king commanded that they should not disturbher, but let her sleep quietly till her hour of awaking was come.
The good fairy who had saved her life by condemning her to sleep ahundred years was in the kingdom of Matakin, twelve thousand leagues off,when this accident befell the princess; but she was instantly informed ofit by a little dwarf, who had boots of seven leagues, that is, boots withwhich he could tread over seven leagues of ground in one stride. The fairycame away immediately, and she arrived, about an hour after, in a fierychariot drawn by dragons.
The king handed her out of the chariot, and she approved everything hehad done, but as she had very great foresight, she thought when theprincess should awake she might not know what to do with herself, beingall alone in this old palace; and this was what she did: she touched withher wand everything in the palace (except the king and queen) --governesses, maids of honor, ladies of the bedchamber, gentlemen,officers, stewards, cooks, undercooks, scullions, guards, with theirbeefeaters, pages, footmen; she likewise touched all the horses which werein the stables, pads as well as others, the great dogs in the outwardcourt and pretty little Mopsey too, the princess's little spaniel, whichlay by her on the bed.
Immediately upon her touching them they all fell asleep, that theymight not awake before their mistress and that they might be ready to waitupon her when she wanted them. The very spits at the fire, as full as theycould hold of partridges and pheasants, did fall asleep also. All this wasdone in a moment. Fairies are not long in doing their business.
And now the king and the queen, having kissed their dear child withoutwaking her, went out of the palace and put forth a proclamation thatnobody should dare to come near it.
This, however, was not necessary, for in a quarter of an hour's timethere grew up all round about the park such a vast number of trees, greatand small, bushes and brambles, twining one within another, that neitherman nor beast could pass through; so that nothing could be seen but thevery top of the towers of the palace; and that, too, not unless it was agood way off. Nobody; doubted but the fairy gave herein a veryextraordinary sample of her art, that the princess, while she continuedsleeping, might have nothing to fear from any curious people.
When a hundred years were gone and passed the son of the king thenreigning, and who was of another family from that of the sleepingprincess, being gone a hunting on that side of the country, asked:
What those towers were which he saw in the middle of a great thickwood?
Everyone answered according as they had heard. Some said that it was aruinous old castle, haunted by spirits.
Others, that all the sorcerers and witches of the country kept theretheir sabbath or night's meeting.
The common opinion was that an ogre lived there, and that he carriedthither all the little children he could catch, that he might eat them upat his leisure, without anybody being able to follow him, as havinghimself only the power to pass through the wood.
The prince was at a stand, not knowing what to believe, when a verygood countryman spake to him thus: 'May it please your royal highness, itis now about fifty years since I heard from my father, who heard mygrandfather say, that there was then in this castle a princess, the mostbeautiful was ever seen; that she must sleep there a hundred years, andshould be waked by a king's son, for whom she was reserved.'
The young prince was all on fire at these words, believing, withoutweighing the matter, that he could put an end to this rare adventure; and,pushed on by love and honor, resolved that moment to look into it.
Scarce had he advanced toward the wood when all the great trees, thebushes, and brambles gave way of themselves to let him pass through; hewalked up to the castle which he saw at the end of a large avenue which hewent into; and what a little surprised him was that he saw none of hispeople could follow him, because the trees closed again as soon as he hadpassed through them. However, he did not cease from continuing his way; ayoung and amorous prince is always valiant.
He came into a spacious outward court, where everything he saw mighthave frozen the most fearless person with horror. There reigned all over amost frightful silence; the image of death everywhere showed itself, andthere was nothing to be seen but stretched-out bodies of men and animals,all seeming to be dead. He, however, very well knew, by the ruby faces andpimpled noses of the beefeaters, that they were only asleep; and theirgoblets, wherein still remained some drops of wine, showed plainly thatthey fell asleep in their cups.
He then crossed a court paved with marble, went up the stairs and cameinto the guard chamber, where guards were standing in their ranks, withtheir muskets upon their shoulders, and snoring as loud as they could.After that he went through several rooms full of gentlemen and ladies, allasleep, some standing, others sitting. At last he came into a chamber allgilded with gold, where he saw upon a bed, the curtains of which were allopen, the finest sight was ever beheld -- a princess, who appeared to beabout fifteen or sixteen years of age, and whose bright and, in a manner,resplendent beauty, had somewhat in it divine. He approached withtrembling and admiration, and fell down before her upon his knees.
And now, as the enchantment was at an end, the princess awaked, andlooking on him with eyes more tender than the first view might seem toadmit of. 'Is it you, my prince?' said she to him. 'You have waited a longwhile.'
The prince, charmed with these words, and much more with the manner inwhich they were spoken, knew not how to show his joy and gratitude; heassured her that he loved her better than he did himself; their discoursewas not well connected, they did weep more than talk -- little eloquence,a great deal of love. He was more at a loss than she, and we need notwonder at it; she had time to think on what to say to him; for it is veryprobable (though history mentions nothing of it) that the good fairy,during so long a sleep, had given her very agreeable dreams. In short,they talked four hours together, and yet they said not half what they hadto say.
In the meanwhile all the palace awaked; everyone thought upon theirparticular business, and as all of them were not in love they were readyto die for hunger. The chief lady of honor, being as sharp set as otherfolks, grew very impatient, and told the princess aloud that supper wasserved up. The prince helped the princess to rise; she was entirelydressed, and very magnificently, but his royal highness took care not totell her that she was dressed like his great-grandmother, and had a pointband peeping over a high collar; she looked not a bit less charming andbeautiful for all that.
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They went into the great hall of looking-glasses, where they supped,and were served by the princess's officers, the violins and hautboysplayed old tunes, but very excellent, though it was now above a hundredyears since they had played; and after supper, without losing any time,the lord almoner married them in the chapel of the castle, and the chieflady of honor drew the curtains. They had but very little sleep -- theprincess had no occasion; and the prince left her next morning to returnto the city, where his father must needs have been in pain for him. Theprince told him that he lost his way in the forest as he was hunting, andthat he had lain in the cottage of a charcoal burner, who gave him cheeseand brown bread.
The king, his father, who was a good man, believed him; but his mothercould not be persuaded it was true; and seeing that he went almost everyday a hunting, and that he always had some excuse ready for so doing,though he had lain out three or four nights together, she began to suspectthat he was married, for he lived with the princess above two whole years,and had by her two children, the eldest of which, who was a daughter, wasnamed Morning, and the youngest, who was a son, they calledDay, because he was a great deal handsomer and more beautiful thanhis sister.
The queen spoke several times to her son, to inform herself after whatmanner he did pass his time, and that in this he ought in duty to satisfyher. But he never dared to trust her with his secret; he feared her,though he loved her, for she was of the race of the ogres, and the kingwould never have married her had it not been for her vast riches; it waseven whispered about the court that she had ogreish inclinations, andthat, whenever she saw little children passing by, she had all thedifficulty in the world to avoid falling upon them. And so the princewould never tell her one word.
But when the king was dead, which happened about two years afterward,and he saw himself lord and master, he openly declared his marriage; andhe went in great ceremony to conduct his queen to the palace. They made amagnificent entry into the capital city, she riding between her twochildren.
Soon after, the king went to make war with the Emperor Contalabutte,his neighbor. He left the government of the kingdom to the queen hismother, and earnestly recommended to her care his wife and children. Hewas obliged to continue his expedition all the summer, and as soon as hedeparted the queen mother sent her daughter-in-law to a country houseamong the woods, that she might with the more ease gratify her horriblelonging.
Some few days afterward she went thither herself, and said to her clerkof the kitchen:
'I have a mind to eat little Morning for my dinner tomorrow.'
'Ah! madam,' cried the clerk of the kitchen.
'I will have it so,' replied the queen (and this she spoke in the toneof an ogress who had a strong desire to eat fresh meat), 'and will eat herwith a sauce Robert.'
The poor man, knowing very well that he must not play tricks withogresses, took his great knife and went up into little Morning's chamber.She was then four years old, and came up to him jumping and laughing, totake him about the neck, and ask him for some sugar candy. Upon which hebegan to weep, the great knife fell out of his hand, and he went into theback yard, and killed a little lamb, and dressed it with such good saucethat his mistress assured him that she had never eaten anything so good inher life. He had at the same time taken up little Morning, and carried herto his wife, to conceal her in the lodging he had at the bottom of thecourtyard.
About eight days afterward the wicked queen said to the clerk of thekitchen, 'I will sup on little Day.'
He answered not a word, being resolved to cheat her as he had donebefore. He went to find out little Day, and saw him with a little foil inhis hand, with which he was fencing with a great monkey, the child beingthen only three years of age. He took him up in his arms and carried himto his wife, that she might conceal him in her chamber along with hissister, and in the room of little Day cooked up a young kid, very tender,which the ogress found to be wonderfully good.
This was hitherto all mighty well; but one evening this wicked queensaid to her clerk of the kitchen, 'I will eat the queen with the samesauce I had with her children.'
It was now that the poor clerk of the kitchen despaired of being ableto deceive her. The young queen was turned of twenty, not reckoning thehundred years she had been asleep; and how to find in the yard a beast sofirm was what puzzled him. He took then a resolution, that he might savehis own life, to cut the queen's throat; and going up into her chamber,with intent to do it at once, he put himself into as great fury as hecould possibly, and came into the young queen's room with his dagger inhis hand. He would not, however, surprise her, but told her, with a greatdeal of respect, the orders he had received from the queen mother.
'Do it; do it' (said she, stretching out her neck). 'Execute yourorders, and then I shall go and see my children, my poor children, whom Iso much and so tenderly loved,' for she thought them dead ever since theyhad been taken away without her knowledge.
'No, no, madam' (cried the poor clerk of the kitchen, all in tears);'you shall not die, and yet you shall see your children again; but thenyou must go home with me to my lodgings, where I have concealed them, andI shall deceive the queen once more, by giving her in your stead a younghind.'
Upon this he forthwith conducted her to his chamber, where, leaving herto embrace her children, and cry along with them, he went and dressed ayoung hind, which the queen had for her supper, and devoured it with thesame appetite as if it had been the young queen. Exceedingly was shedelighted with her cruelty, and she had invented a story to tell the king,at his return, how the mad wolves had eaten up the queen his wife and hertwo children.
One evening, as she was, according to her custom, rambling round aboutthe courts and yards of the palace to see if she could smell any freshmeat, she heard, in a ground room, little Day crying, for his mamma wasgoing to whip him, because he had been naughty; and she heard, at the sametime, little Morning begging pardon for her brother.
The ogress presently knew the voice of the queen and her children, andbeing quite mad that she had been thus deceived, she commanded nextmorning, by break of day (with a most horrible voice, which made everybodytremble), that they should bring into the middle of the great court alarge tub, which she caused to be filled with toads, vipers, snakes, andall sorts of serpents, in order to have thrown into it the queen and herchildren, the clerk of the kitchen, his wife and maid; all whom she hadgiven orders should be brought thither with their hands tied behind them.
They were brought out accordingly, and the executioners were just goingto throw them into the tub, when the king (who was not so soon expected)entered the court on horseback (for he came post) and asked, with theutmost astonishment, what was the meaning of that horrible spectacle.
No one dared to tell him, when the ogress, all enraged to see what hadhappened, threw herself head foremost into the tub, and was instantlydevoured by the ugly creatures she had ordered to be thrown into it forothers. The king could not but be very sorry, for she was his mother; buthe soon comforted himself with his beautiful wife and his pretty children.
MoralMany a girl has waited long
For a husband brave or strong;
But I'm sure I never met
Any sort of woman yet
Who could wait a hundred years,
Free from fretting, free from fears.
Now, our story seems to show
That a century or so,
Late or early, matters not;
True love comes by fairy-lot.
Some old folk will even say
It grows better by delay.
Yet this good advice, I fear,
Helps us neither there nor here.
Though philosophers may prate
How much wiser 'tis to wait,
Maids will be a sighing still --
Young blood must when young blood will!
- Source: Andrew Lang, The Blue Fairy Book, 5th ed. (London: Longmans,Green, and Company, 1891), pp. 54-63. I have carefully modernized thespelling and punctuation. The translation of the verse moral (omitted byLang) comes from Perrault's Fairy Tales, translated by S. R.Littlewood (London: Herbert and Daniel, 1912).
- Lang's source: Charles Perrault, Histoires ou contes du tempspassé, avec des moralitéz (Paris, 1697).
- The title of this tale in French is 'La belle au bois dormant.'
- Lang edited a critical edition (in the original French, but with an English title): Perrault's Popular Tales, edited from the original editions, with introduction, etc. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1888). The tale 'La belle au bois dormant' is found on pp. 7-19.
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Little Brier-Rose
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
A king and queen had no children, although they wanted one very much.Then one day while the queen was sitting in her bath, a crab crept out ofthe water onto the ground and said, 'Your wish will soon be fulfilled, andyou will bring a daughter into the world.' And that is what happened.
The king was so happy about the birth of the princess that he held agreat celebration. He also invited the fairies who lived in his kingdom,but because he had only twelve golden plates, one had to be left out, forthere were thirteen of them.
The fairies came to the celebration, and as it was ending theypresented the child with gifts. The one promised her virtue, the secondone gave beauty, and so on, each one offering something desirable andmagnificent. The eleventh fairy had just presented her gift when thethirteenth fairy walked in. She was very angry that she had not beeninvited and cried out, 'Because you did not invite me, I tell you that inher fifteenth year, your daughter will prick herself with a spindle andfall over dead.'
The parents were horrified, but the twelfth fairy, who had not yetoffered her wish, said, 'It shall not be her death. She will only fallinto a hundred-year sleep.' The king, hoping to rescue his dear child,issued an order that all spindles in the entire kingdom should bedestroyed.
The princess grew and became a miracle of beauty. One day, when she hadjust reached her fifteenth year, the king and queen went away, leaving herall alone in the castle. She walked from room to room, following herheart's desire. Finally she came to an old tower. A narrow stairway led upto it. Being curious, she climbed up until she came to a small door. Therewas a small yellow key in the door. She turned it, and the door sprangopen. She found herself in a small room where an old woman sat spinningflax. She was attracted to the old woman, and joked with her, and saidthat she too would like to try her hand at spinning. She picked up thespindle, but no sooner did she touch it, than she pricked herself with itand then fell down into a deep sleep.
At that same moment the king and his attendants returned, and everyonebegan to fall asleep: the horses in the stalls, the pigeons on the roof,the dogs in the courtyard, the flies on the walls. Even the fire on thehearth flickered, stopped moving, and fell asleep. The roast stoppedsizzling. The cook let go of the kitchen boy, whose hair he was about topull. The maid dropped the chicken that she was plucking. They all slept.And a thorn hedge grew up around the entire castle, growing higher andhigher, until nothing at all could be seen of it.
Princes, who had heard about the beautiful Brier-Rose, came and triedto free her, but they could not penetrate the hedge. It was as if thethorns were firmly attached to hands. The princes became stuck in them,and they died miserably. And thus it continued for many long years.
Then one day a prince was traveling through the land. An old man toldhim about the belief that there was a castle behind the thorn hedge, witha wonderfully beautiful princess asleep inside with all of her attendants.His grandfather had told him that many princes had tried to penetrate thehedge, but that they had gotten stuck in the thorns and had been prickedto death.
'I'm not afraid of that,' said the prince. 'I shall penetrate the hedgeand free the beautiful Brier-Rose.'
He went forth, but when he came to the thorn hedge, it turned intoflowers. They separated, and he walked through, but after he passed, theyturned back into thorns. He went into the castle. Horses and colorfulhunting dogs were asleep in the courtyard. Pigeons, with their littleheads stuck under they wings, were sitting on the roof. As he walkedinside, the flies on the wall, the fire in the kitchen, the cook and themaid were all asleep. He walked further. All the attendants were asleep;and still further, the king and the queen. It was so quiet that he couldhear his own breath.
Finally he came to the old tower where Brier-Rose was lying asleep. Theprince was so amazed at her beauty that he bent over and kissed her. Atthat moment she awoke, and with her the king and the queen, and all theattendants, and the horses and the dogs, and the pigeons on the roof, andthe flies on the walls. The fire stood up and flickered, and then finishedcooking the food. The roast sizzled away. The cook boxed the kitchen boy'sears. And the maid finished plucking the chicken. Then the prince andBrier-Rose got married, and they lived long and happily until they died.
- Source: Kinder- und Hausmärchen, 1st ed., vol. 1 (Berlin: Realschulbuchhandlung, 1812),no. 50, pp. 225-29.
- In some versions (including later Grimm editions) the harbinger ofpregnancy is a frog.
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Rose City Pool
Links to related sites
- Sole, luna e Talia di Gianbattista Basile.
- Charles Perrault's Mother Goose Tales.
- La belle au bois dormant par Charles Perrault.
- Grimm Brothers Home Page.
- Little Snow-White and other Aarne-Thompson-Uther type 709 tales. These stories also feature 'sleeping beauties.'
- Ethna the Bride is an Irish fairy legend featuring a 'sleeping beauty.'
- Return to D. L. Ashliman's folktexts, a library of folktales, folklore, fairy tales, and mythology.
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