Long ago there lived a King and Queen who said every day, "If only we had a child!"  But for a long time they had none.

One day, as the Queen was bathing in spring and dreaming of a child, a frog crept out of the water and said to her, "Your wish shall be fulfilled.  Before a year has passed you shall bring a daughter into the world."

And since frogs are such magical creatures, it was no surprise that before a year had passed the Queen had a baby girl.  The child was so beautiful and sweet that the King could not contain himself for joy.  He prepared a great feast and invited all his friends, family and neighbours.  He invited the fairies, too, in order that they might be kind and good to the child.  There were thirteen of them in his kingdom, but as the King only had twelve golden plates for them to eat from, one of the fairies had to be left out.  None of the guests was saddened by this as the thirteenth fairy was known to be cruel and spiteful.

An amazing feast was held and when it came to an end, each of the fairies presented the child with a magic gift.  One fairy gave her virtue, another beauty, a third riches and so on -- with everything in the world that anyone could wish for.

After eleven of the fairies had presented their gifts, the thirteenth suddenly appeared.  She was angry and wanted to show her spite for not having been invited to the feast.  Without hesitation she called out in a loud voice,

    "When she is fifteen years old, the Princess shall prick herself with a spindle and shall fall down dead!"

Then without another word, she turned and left the hall.

The guests were horrified and the Queen fell to the floor sobbing, but the twelfth fairy, whose wish was still not spoken, quietly stepped forward.  Her magic could not remove the curse, but she could soften it so she said,

    "Nay, your daughter shall not die, but instead shall fall into a deep sleep that will last one hundred years."

Over the years, the promises of the fairies came true -- one by one.  The Princess grew to be beautiful, modest, kind and clever.  Everyone who saw her could not help but love her.

The King and Queen were determined to prevent the curse placed on the Princess by the spiteful fairy and sent out a command that all the spindles in the whole kingdom should be destroyed.  No one in the kingdom was allowed to tell the Princess of the curse that had been placed upon her for they did not want her to worry or be sad.

On the morning of her fifteenth birthday, the Princess awoke early -- excited to be another year older.  She was up so early in the morning, that she realized everyone else still slept.  The Princess roamed through the halls trying to keep herself occupied until the rest of the castle awoke.  She wandered about the whole place, looking at rooms and halls as she pleased and at last she came to an old tower.  She climbed the narrow, winding staircase and reached a little door.  A rusty key was sticking in the lock and when she turned it, the door flew open.

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In a little room sat an old woman with a spindle, busily spinning her flax.  The old woman was so deaf that she had never heard the King's command that all spindles should be destroyed.

"Good morning, Granny," said the Princess, "what are you doing?"

"I am spinning," said the old woman.

"What is the thing that whirls round so merrily?" asked the Princess and she took the spindle and tried to spin too.

But she had scarcely touched the spindle when it pricked her finger.  At that moment she fell upon the bed which was standing near and lay still in a deep sleep.

The King, Queen and servants had all started their morning routines and right in the midst of them fell asleep too.  The horses fell asleep in the stable, the dogs in the yard, the doves on the roof and the flies on the wall.  Even the fire in the hearth grew still and went to sleep.  The kitchen maid, who sat with a chicken before her, ready to pluck its feathers, fell asleep.  The cook was in the midst of scolding the kitchen boy for a mess he'd made but they both fell fast asleep.  The wind died down and on the trees in front of the castle not a leaf stirred.

Round the castle a hedge of brier roses began to grow up.  Every year it grew higher until at last nothing could be seen of the sleeping castle.

There was a legend in the land about the lovely Sleeping Beauty, as the King's daughter was called every prince wanted to save her because she had a beautiful beauty. However, no one did it, the thorns that surrounded the castle were so sharp that death was seen from the very sight.

After long weeks in the morning, when the sun's rays fell into the room where the princess was  sleeping, a golden bird feather flew in. The golden bird was extremely rare, whoever saw it was very lucky. The feather floated in the air for a very long time, until it finally fell on the princess's nose. At first, nothing happened. Then it  swirled on the girl’s nose in a strange and amazing way. Then suddenly there was a soft sneeze, it was so soft that you could barely hear it, then the princess was lying as before. The feather twirled again, a soft sneeze was heard again, but nothing happened to the princess.

After some time, when a flutter of wings appeared behind the window, a huge golden bird flew into the room. He sat down on the bed where the princess was laying, and with an eerie chirp and at the same time terribly loud, the feather on the princess' nose swirled ten times faster than before. Suddenly there was a terribly loud sneeze, and this time the princess woke up and started sneezing. The golden bird magically blurred in the air and disappeared.

When everything had died down and she realized where she was, she immediately ran down the stairs. When she got downstairs she wanted to run to her father and ask what happened, but she saw that the whole kingdom was working normally and no wonder was happening.

She decided to look for her father anyway, looking for him, she bumped into the old lady, she apologized to her and she replied, "did you sleep well, honey?" She also told the father about the old lady and she wanted to have her arrested so that no one else would get hurt. The king listened to his daughter, although he did not know if it was true.When the King ordered her arrest, they searched the entire kingdom, but found the old lady nowhere...

After that, everyone was surprised by this amazing story, especially because 100 years have passed and no one has changed there. Then she was called "Sleeping Beauty".

END