Once upon a time, there lived a king and queen who possessed almost everything they could desire, except a child. Their longing for an heir filled their days with sadness, and although they hoped for years, their palace remained without the sound of a little one’s laughter.
At last, their prayers were answered, and the Queen gave birth to a beautiful daughter. The King was so delighted that he arranged a magnificent christening and invited seven fairies to serve as the Princess’s godmothers. According to the custom of the time, each fairy would bestow a special gift upon the child, ensuring that she would grow up with every perfection imaginable.
After the ceremony, the royal family and their guests gathered for a grand feast. The seven fairies were each provided with magnificent golden cases containing spoons, knives, and forks decorated with precious stones.
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But just as everyone was settling down to eat, an unexpected visitor appeared.
An ancient fairy entered the hall. She had not left her tower for more than fifty years, and many believed she was dead or had fallen under an enchantment. Because nobody expected her to attend, the King had not prepared a golden case for her. He ordered that she be given a place at the table, but there were only seven golden cases, one for each invited fairy.
The old fairy considered this an insult. Feeling neglected and humiliated, she began muttering threats under her breath.
One of the younger fairies, seated nearby, overheard her and immediately became worried. Suspecting that the old woman might use her gift to bring misfortune upon the Princess, she quietly slipped behind the curtains. She intended to wait until the others had spoken so that she could soften any terrible curse the old fairy might pronounce.
The ceremony of gifts began.
The first fairy declared that the Princess would become the most beautiful woman in the world. The second granted her extraordinary intelligence, while the third promised that everything she did would be graceful. The fourth gave her the gift of perfect dancing, the fifth a voice as sweet as a nightingale, and the sixth mastery of every musical instrument.
Then came the turn of the ancient fairy.
Her head trembled, not merely from age but from resentment. With a bitter expression, she announced her gift:
“The Princess shall pierce her hand with a spindle and die from the wound.”
A terrible silence fell over the hall. The King and Queen were overwhelmed with grief, and the guests trembled at the dreadful prediction.
At that moment, the young fairy emerged from behind the curtains.
She explained that she could not completely undo the curse, but she could soften its consequences. The Princess would indeed prick her hand with a spindle, but she would not die. Instead, she would fall into a deep sleep lasting one hundred years. At the end of that time, a king’s son would come and awaken her.
Although the King’s heart remained heavy, he was grateful that his daughter would be spared death.
Determined to prevent the prophecy from coming true, he immediately issued a royal decree forbidding anyone in the kingdom from spinning with a distaff and spindle or even keeping a spindle in their home. Anyone who disobeyed would face death.
For fifteen or sixteen years, the Princess grew up in safety. She became everything the fairies had promised: beautiful, intelligent, graceful, musical, and accomplished. The King and Queen believed that their precautions had protected her from the old fairy’s curse.
But fate had not forgotten its promise.
One day, while the King and Queen were away at one of their country residences, the young Princess wandered through the palace. She explored room after room until she reached a small attic at the top of a tower.
There she discovered an elderly woman sitting alone and spinning with a spindle.
The woman had never heard of the King’s prohibition and continued her work peacefully.
“What are you doing, good woman?” the Princess asked.
“I am spinning, my pretty child,” the woman replied.
“How interesting! How do you do it? Let me try.”
The old woman handed her the spindle. But no sooner had the Princess taken it than the sharp point pierced her hand. She collapsed to the floor in a swoon.
The frightened woman cried out for help, and servants rushed in from every part of the palace. They sprinkled water on the Princess’s face, loosened her clothing, struck her palms, and rubbed her temples with scented water. Nothing could bring her around.
When the King arrived, he immediately understood what had happened. He remembered the fairies’ prophecy and knew that the dreadful moment had finally come.
Rather than allow anyone to disturb his daughter, he ordered that she be carried into the finest chamber in the palace and laid upon a magnificent bed embroidered with gold and silver.
The Princess looked more like a sleeping angel than a victim of misfortune. Her cheeks remained rosy, her lips were bright, and her beauty was undiminished. Although her eyes were closed, her gentle breathing assured everyone that she was alive.
The King commanded that she be allowed to sleep peacefully until the appointed time.
Meanwhile, the young fairy who had softened the curse was far away in the kingdom of Matakin, twelve thousand leagues from the palace. A little dwarf wearing seven-leagued boots, capable of covering seven leagues in a single stride, hurried to inform her of what had happened.
The fairy immediately set out in a fiery chariot drawn by dragons and arrived at the palace about an hour later.
The King welcomed her and explained everything. She approved of his actions but recognised another problem. When the Princess eventually awakened, she might find herself alone in a deserted palace, with nobody to help her.
The fairy therefore decided to put the entire household to sleep alongside their mistress.
With a touch of her wand, she enchanted the governesses, ladies-in-waiting, servants, gentlemen, officers, stewards, cooks, guards, pages, and footmen. She also put the horses in the stables to sleep, along with the dogs in the courtyard and the Princess’s little spaniel, Mopsey, who lay beside her on the bed.
Even the cooks and the food roasting over the fire were caught in the enchantment. The fire itself stopped burning.
Everyone would remain asleep until the Princess awakened, ready to resume their duties as though no time had passed.
Having completed her work, the fairy allowed the King and Queen to kiss their sleeping daughter goodbye. They then left the palace and ordered that nobody approach it.
But the fairy had already taken another precaution. Within minutes, an enormous thicket sprang up around the palace. Trees, bushes, and thorny brambles twisted together until no person or animal could force a way through. Only the highest towers remained visible from a distance.
The enchanted forest would protect the Princess throughout her long sleep.
The Prince and the Enchanted Palace
A hundred years passed.
By then, the royal family that had once ruled the kingdom was gone, and another dynasty occupied the throne. One day, the son of the reigning King went hunting in the countryside and noticed the towers of a mysterious palace rising above a thick forest.
Curious, he asked his companions what the building was.
Nobody could give him a certain answer. Some claimed it was a haunted castle, others believed witches gathered there at midnight, while many insisted that an ogre lived inside and carried away children to devour them.
An elderly countryman eventually approached the Prince and offered a different explanation.
He had heard the story from his own father more than fifty years earlier. According to the tale, the castle contained the most beautiful Princess in the world. She had been condemned to sleep for one hundred years and could only be awakened by a king’s son.
The Prince was immediately fascinated. He became convinced that he was destined to discover the truth and decided to enter the mysterious forest.
As he approached, something extraordinary happened. The trees and brambles moved aside of their own accord, opening a passage for him. Once he had passed, they closed again, shutting out the companions who had followed him.
Undeterred, the Prince continued towards the castle.
He entered the outer courtyard and was met by an eerie silence. Everywhere he looked, he saw what appeared to be the bodies of dead men and animals. The sight was frightening, but he noticed that the porters still had colour in their faces and that their wine goblets contained a few remaining drops. He realised that they had simply fallen asleep while drinking.
He crossed the courtyard, climbed the stairs, and entered the guardroom. There, armed guards stood in formation, their muskets resting on their shoulders as they snored peacefully.
He continued through several rooms filled with sleeping gentlemen and ladies, some standing and others sitting.
At last, he entered a magnificent chamber decorated with gold. Its curtains were drawn open, revealing a beautiful young woman lying upon a splendid bed.
She appeared to be about fifteen or sixteen years old. Her beauty was so extraordinary that the Prince could hardly believe what he was seeing.
Overcome with admiration, he approached quietly and fell to his knees beside her.
At that very moment, the hundred-year enchantment came to an end.
The Princess opened her eyes and looked at him tenderly.
“Is it you, my Prince? You have kept me waiting a long time.”
The Prince was overwhelmed with happiness. He declared his love and assured her that he cherished her more than himself.
Their first conversation was somewhat confused, as neither seemed able to express everything they felt. Yet they were perfectly content. They spoke for four hours, and even then, they had not exhausted everything they wished to say.
The Princess, it seemed, had not been entirely without company during her sleep. Although history said nothing about it, the narrator suggests that the good fairy had filled her dreams with pleasant thoughts to prepare her for this very moment.
While the Prince and Princess were talking, the rest of the palace gradually awakened. Everyone returned to their duties, but soon discovered that they were terribly hungry.
The lady-in-waiting eventually announced that the meal was ready.
The Prince helped the Princess rise. She was already dressed in magnificent clothing, although her fashion was a century out of date. He wisely kept that observation to himself, knowing that her beauty was no less remarkable for wearing an old-fashioned collar.
They entered the great hall, where the household had prepared supper. Violins and hautboys played music that had not been heard for a hundred years, yet the old melodies sounded as delightful as ever.
After the meal, the castle’s lord almoner married the Prince and Princess in the chapel.
They spent very little time sleeping that night, for the Princess hardly felt the need for rest. The following morning, however, the Prince departed for his father’s kingdom, where his disappearance had caused considerable anxiety.
To explain his absence, he told his father that he had lost his way while hunting and had spent the night in a charcoal-burner’s cottage, where he had been given cheese and brown bread.
His father, a good-natured man, believed the explanation. His mother was not so easily convinced.
The Queen Mother’s Terrible Secret
The Prince continued visiting the Princess almost every day, often staying away for several nights. He always had an explanation ready, but his mother gradually became suspicious.
Eventually, she began to suspect that her son had secretly married.
The Prince loved his mother, but he was afraid to reveal the truth. She belonged to a race of ogres, and although the King had married her because of her immense wealth, rumours circulated at court about her unnatural appetite. People whispered that she struggled to control herself whenever she saw little children.
For this reason, the Prince kept his marriage secret.
Meanwhile, he and the Princess lived together for more than two years and had two children. Their firstborn was a daughter named Dawn, while their younger child was a son called Day, who was considered even more handsome than his sister.
The Queen Mother repeatedly questioned her son about his private affairs, insisting that he owed her an explanation. But he continued to conceal his family from her.
About two years later, the old King died, and the Prince inherited the throne. No longer needing to hide his marriage, he openly acknowledged the Princess as his wife and brought her and their children to the capital in a magnificent royal procession.
The family was finally reunited in public.
Not long afterwards, the new King went to war against his neighbouring ruler, Emperor Cantalabutte. Before departing, he entrusted the government of the kingdom to his mother and begged her to look after his wife and children.
But the Queen Mother had no intention of protecting them.
As soon as her son left, she sent the young Queen and the children to a country house surrounded by woods. There, she believed, she could satisfy her dreadful appetite without interference.
A few days later, she visited the house and summoned the chief cook.
“I intend to have little Dawn for dinner tomorrow,” she announced.
The cook was horrified.
“Oh, Your Majesty!” he cried.
But the Queen Mother was determined. She demanded that the child be prepared with a sharp sauce.
The cook understood that refusing an ogress could cost him his life. Nevertheless, when he entered Dawn’s room with his large kitchen knife, the little girl came running towards him with a smile. She was nearly four years old and happily stretched out her arms, asking him for some sugar candy.
The sight was too much for him.
He began to weep, and his knife slipped from his hand. Unable to harm the innocent child, he went into the yard, slaughtered a little lamb, and prepared it with a delicious sauce.
The Queen Mother ate it greedily, convinced that she had been served Dawn.
Meanwhile, the cook secretly carried the little girl to his wife, who concealed her in their quarters at the far end of the courtyard.
Eight days later, the Queen Mother summoned the cook again.
This time, she demanded that little Day be served for supper.
The cook did not argue. He had already decided to save the children by deceiving her.
He found the young boy playing with a foil, practising his fencing against a large monkey. Day was only three years old, but he was already full of energy.
The cook lifted him into his arms and secretly carried him to his wife, who hid him beside his sister.
In the child’s place, the cook prepared a young kid, tender and delicious. The Queen Mother ate it with great satisfaction, believing she had consumed her grandson.
For a while, the cook’s deception worked perfectly.
But the Queen Mother’s hunger had not been satisfied.
One evening, she summoned him once more.
“I will eat the young Queen tonight,” she declared, demanding that she be prepared with the same sauce she had enjoyed with the children.
This time, the cook was desperate. The Queen was a grown woman, and he could not imagine what animal might convincingly take her place.
Fearing that the Queen Mother would kill him if he disobeyed, he eventually decided that he had no choice but to carry out her command.
Taking a dagger, he went to the young Queen’s chamber.
But when he stood before her, he could not bring himself to deceive her about what was happening. With great respect and sorrow, he explained the order he had received.
“Then do it,” the Queen replied, stretching out her neck. “Carry out the command. Afterwards, I shall go and see my children, my poor children, whom I loved so dearly.”
She believed they were already dead, having been taken away without her knowledge.
The cook was overcome with emotion.
“No, Your Majesty! You shall not die. Your children are alive, and you shall see them again. I have hidden them in my own quarters. Come with me, and I will save you too. I shall serve the Queen Mother a young hind in your place.”
The Queen could scarcely believe what she was hearing.
The cook immediately escorted her to his lodgings, where she was reunited with Dawn and Day. Mother and children embraced one another, crying with relief and happiness.
While they remained hidden, the cook prepared a young hind and served it to the Queen Mother.
She ate it with the same satisfaction as before, believing that her cruel wishes had finally been fulfilled.
To explain the supposed disappearance of her daughter-in-law and grandchildren, she invented a story that they had been devoured by wild wolves.
For a time, she believed she had succeeded.
The Queen Mother’s Downfall
The cook’s deception might have continued indefinitely if not for one unfortunate evening.
The Queen Mother was wandering through the palace courtyards and surrounding rooms, as she often did, searching for the smell of fresh meat.
As she passed a room on the ground floor, she heard a familiar voice.
Little Day was crying because his mother was about to punish him for misbehaving. At the same time, Dawn was pleading with their mother to spare her brother.
The Queen Mother recognised the voices immediately.
Her daughter-in-law and grandchildren were alive!
Realising that the cook had repeatedly deceived her, she flew into a terrible rage. Her anger was so frightening that everyone around her trembled.
She ordered that a large tub be placed in the middle of the palace courtyard the following morning. It was to be filled with toads, vipers, snakes, and every kind of poisonous creature.
The Queen, her children, the chief cook, his wife, and their maid were all to be thrown into it with their hands tied behind their backs.
The following morning, the prisoners were brought into the courtyard.
The executioners were preparing to carry out the dreadful order when an unexpected arrival interrupted them.
The King had returned from the war earlier than anyone had anticipated.
Riding into the courtyard, he was astonished by the terrible scene before him. He demanded to know why his wife, children, and servants were being prepared for such a horrifying execution.
Nobody dared to answer.
The Queen Mother, enraged that her plans had been discovered and seeing that her son had returned, could no longer control herself.
In a final act of fury, she threw herself headfirst into the very tub of poisonous creatures she had ordered for the destruction of the others.
The creatures immediately devoured her.
The King was naturally distressed by the death of his mother, but his sorrow did not last long. He was soon comforted by the return of his beloved wife and the joy of having his children safely beside him.
Thus ended the adventures of the Sleeping Beauty and her family.
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Moral
Cruelty, jealousy, and uncontrolled desires eventually bring destruction upon those who embrace them. The chief cook’s compassion and courage, meanwhile, demonstrate the importance of protecting the innocent, even when doing so involves considerable personal risk.
The story also reminds readers that appearances and status do not determine a person’s character. A royal mother can become a monster, while a humble servant can display extraordinary goodness.
Knowledge Check
1. Why did the old fairy curse the Princess?
She believed the King and Queen had insulted her by failing to provide her with a golden case at the christening feast.
2. What happened when the Princess touched the spindle?
It pierced her hand, causing her to fall into a deep sleep that was destined to last one hundred years.
3. Why did the young fairy enchant the entire palace?
She wanted the Princess to awaken with her household and servants still present, ready to care for her.
4. What awakened the Princess?
The arrival of a Prince after the hundred-year enchantment had run its course.
5. What were the names of the Princess’s children?
Her daughter was named Dawn, and her son was named Day.
6. How did the chief cook save the children and their mother?
He substituted a lamb for Dawn, a young kid for Day, and a young hind for the Queen, secretly hiding the real family in his lodgings.
7. How did the Queen Mother discover the deception?
She overheard the voices of Dawn and Day while wandering around the palace.
8. What happened to the Queen Mother at the end?
She threw herself into the tub filled with poisonous creatures that she had ordered for the execution of the Queen, her children, and the servants. The creatures devoured her.
Source
This article is an original creative retelling of Charles Perrault’s The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods, based on the English-language text supplied, pages 13–28.
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