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Grimms' Fairy Tales
Little
Briar Rose
A long time ago there were a King and Queen
who said every day, "Ah, if only we had a child!"
but they never had one. But it happened that once when the
Queen was bathing, a frog crept out of the water on to the
land, and said to her, "Your wish shall be fulfilled;
before a year has gone by, you shall have a daughter."
What the frog had said came true, and the Queen had a little
girl who was so pretty that the King could not contain himself
for joy, and ordered a great feast. He invited not only
his kindred, friends and acquaintance, but also the Wise
Women, in order that they might be kind and well-disposed
towards the child. There were thirteen of them in his kingdom,
but, as he had only twelve golden plates for them to eat
out of, one of them had to be left at home.
The feast was held with all manner of splendour and when
it came to an end the Wise Women bestowed their magic gifts
upon the baby: one gave virtue, another beauty, a third
riches, and so on with everything in the world that one
can wish for.
When eleven of them had made their promises, suddenly the
thirteenth came in. She wished to avenge herself for not
having been invited, and without greeting, or even looking
at any one, she cried with a loud voice, "The King's
daughter shall in her fifteenth year prick herself with
a spindle, and fall down dead." And, without saying
a word more, she turned round and left the room.
They were all shocked; but the twelfth, whose good wish
still remained unspoken, came forward, and as she could
not undo the evil sentence, but only soften it, she said,
"It shall not be death, but a deep sleep of a hundred
years, into which the princess shall fall."
The King, who would fain keep his dear child from the misfortune,
gave orders that every spindle in the whole kingdom should
be burnt. Meanwhile the gifts of the Wise Women were plenteously
fulfilled on the young girl, for she was so beautiful, modest,
good-natured, and wise, that everyone who saw her was bound
to love her.
It happened that on the very day when she was fifteen years
old, the King and Queen were not at home, and the maiden
was left in the palace quite alone. So she went round into
all sorts of places, looked into rooms and bed-chambers
just as she liked, and at last came to an old tower. She
climbed up the narrow winding-staircase, and reached a little
door. A rusty key was in the lock, and when she turned it
the door sprang open, and there in a little room sat an
old woman with a spindle, busily spinning her flax.
"Good day, old dame," said the King's daughter;
"what are you doing there?" "I am spinning,"
said the old woman, and nodded her head. "What sort
of thing is that, that rattles round so merrily?" said
the girl, and she took the spindle and wanted to spin too.
But scarcely had she touched the spindle when the magic
decree was fulfilled, and she pricked her finger with it.
And, in the very moment when she felt the prick, she fell
down upon the bed that stood there, and lay in a deep sleep.
And this sleep extended over the whole palace; the King
and Queen who had just come home, and had entered the great
hall, began to go to sleep, and the whole of the court with
them. The horses, too, went to sleep in the stable, the
dogs in the yard, the pigeons upon the roof, the flies on
the wall; even the fire that was flaming on the hearth became
quiet and slept, the roast meat left off frizzling, and
the cook, who was just going to pull the hair of the scullery
boy, because he had forgotten something, let him go, and
went to sleep. And the wind fell, and on the trees before
the castle not a leaf moved again.
But round about the castle there began to grow a hedge
of thorns, which every year became higher, and at last grew
close up round the castle and all over it, so that there
was nothing of it to be seen, not even the flag upon the
roof. But the story of the beautiful sleeping "Briar-rose,"
for so the princess was named, went about the country, so
that from time to time kings' sons came and tried to get
through the thorny hedge into the castle.
But they found it impossible, for the thorns held fast
together, as if they had hands, and the youths were caught
in them, could not get loose again, and died a miserable
death.
After long, long years a King's son came again to that
country, and heard an old man talking about the thorn-hedge,
and that a castle was said to stand behind it in which a
wonderfully beautiful princess, named Briar-rose, had been
asleep for a hundred years; and that the King and Queen
and the whole court were asleep likewise. He had heard,
too, from his grandfather, that many kings' sons had already
come, and had tried to get through the thorny hedge, but
they had remained sticking fast in it, and had died a pitiful
death. Then the youth said, "I am not afraid, I will
go and see the beautiful Briar-rose." The good old
man might dissuade him as he would, he did not listen to
his words.
But by this time the hundred years had just passed, and
the day had come when Briar-rose was to awake again. When
the King's son came near to the thorn-hedge, it was nothing
but large and beautiful flowers, which parted from each
other of their own accord, and let him pass unhurt, then
they closed again behind him like a hedge. In the castle-yard
he saw the horses and the spotted hounds lying asleep; on
the roof sat the pigeons with their heads under their wings.
And when he entered the house, the flies were asleep upon
the wall, the cook in the kitchen was still holding out
his hand to seize the boy, and the maid was sitting by the
black hen which she was going to pluck.
He went on farther, and in the great hall he saw the whole
of the court lying asleep, and up by the throne lay the
King and Queen.
Then he went on still farther, and all was so quiet that
a breath could be heard, and at last he came to the tower,
and opened the door into the little room where Briar-rose
was sleeping. There she lay, so beautiful that he could
not turn his eyes away; and he stooped down and gave her
a kiss. But as soon as he kissed her, Briar-rose opened
her eyes and awoke, and looked at him quite sweetly.
Then they went down together, and the King awoke, and the
Queen, and the whole court, and looked at each other in
great astonishment. And the horses in the court-yard stood
up and shook themselves; the hounds jumped up and wagged
their tails; the pigeons upon the roof pulled out their
heads from under their wings, looked round, and flew into
the open country; the flies on the wall crept again; the
fire in the kitchen burned up and flickered and cooked the
meat; the joint began to turn and frizzle again, and the
cook gave the boy such a box on the ear that he screamed,
and the maid plucked the fowl ready for the spit.
And then the marriage of the King's son with Briar-rose
was celebrated with all splendour, and they lived contented
to the end of their days.
From Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household Tales, trans. Margaret
Hunt (London: George Bell, 1884), 1:197-200. |
