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你可能喜欢Sleeping Beauty
Sleeping Beauty
tales of Aarne-Thompson-Uther type 410
translated and/or edited by
(Giambattista Basile).
Perrault).
, version of 1812 (Jacob and
Wilhelm Grimm).
Link to the German text of the above tale:
(an electronic text from Zeno.org).
Link to the 1857 version of , translated by D. L. Ashliman.
Link to the German-language ,
version of 1857 (an electronic text from Zeno.org).
Link to another "sleeping beauty" story by the Brothers Grimm, , translated by Margaret Hunt (an electronic text from the University of Adelaide, Australia).
Link to the German text of the above tale:
(an electronic text from Zeno.org).
Return to D. L. Ashliman's , a library of folktales, folklore,
fairy tales, and mythology.
Sun, Moon, and Talia Giambattista Basile
There once lived a great lord, who was blessed with the birth of a
daughter, whom he named Talia. He sent for the wise men and astrologers in
his lands, to predict her future. They met, counseled together, and cast
her horoscope, and at length they came to the conclusion that she would
incur great danger from a splinter of flax. Her father therefore forbade
that any flax, hemp, or any other material of that sort be brought into
his house, so that she should escape the predestined danger.
One day, when Talia had grown into a young and beautiful lady, she was
looking 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, was
pleased to see the twirling spindle, and she was so curious as to what
thing it was, that she asked the old woman to come to her. Taking the
distaff from her hand, she began to stretch the flax. Unfortunately, Talia
ran 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 the
stairs, and is running still.
As soon as the wretched father heard of the disaster which had taken
place, he had them, after having paid for this tub of sour wine with casks
of tears, lay her out in one of his country mansions. There they seated
her on a velvet throne under a canopy of brocade. Wanting to forget all
and to drive from his memory his great misfortune, he closed the doors and
abandoned forever the house where he had suffered this great loss.
After a time, it happened by chance that a king was out hunting and
passed that way. One of his falcons escaped from his hand and flew into
the house by way of one of the windows. It did not come when called, so
the king had one of his party knock at the door, believing the palace to
be 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 climb
up and search the house, to discover what was inside. Thus he climbed up
and entered, and looked in all the rooms, and nooks, and corners, and was
amazed to find no living person there. At last he came to the salon, and
when the king beheld Talia, who seemed to be enchanted, he believed that
she was asleep, and he called her, but she remained unconscious. Crying
aloud, he beheld her charms and felt his blood course hotly through his
veins. He lifted her in his arms, and carried her to a bed, where he
gathered the first fruits of love. Leaving her on the bed, he returned to
his own kingdom, where, in the pressing business of his realm, he for a
time thought no more about this incident.
Now after nine months Talia delivered two beautiful children, one a boy
and the other a girl. In them could be seen two rare jewels, and they were
attended by two fairies, who came to that palace, and put them at their
mother's breasts. Once, however, they sought the nipple, and not finding
it, began to suck on Talia's fingers, and they sucked so much that the
splinter of flax came out. Talia awoke as if from a long sleep, and seeing
beside her two priceless gems, she held them to her breast, and gave them
the 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, she
did not know what but she did notice that the table
was set, and food and drink were brought in to her, although she did not
see any attendants.
In the meanwhile the king remembered Talia, and saying that he wanted
to go hunting, he returned to the palace, and found her awake, and with
two cupids of beauty. He was overjoyed, and he told Talia who he was, and
how he had seen her, and what had taken place. When she heard this, their
friendship was knitted with tighter bonds, and he remained with her for a
few days. After that time he bade her farewell, and promised to return
soon, and take her with him to his kingdom. And he went to his realm, but
he could not find any rest, and at all hours he had in his mouth the names
of Talia, and of Sun and Moon (those were the two children's names), and
when 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 the
delay of her husband while hunting, and hearing him name continually
Talia, Sun, and Moon, she became hot with another kind of heat than the
sun'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, between
the poker and the grate. If you will tell me with whom the king your
master, and my husband, is in love, I will give
if you hide the truth from me, you will never be found again, dead or
alive." The man was terribly frightened. Greed and fear blinded his eyes
to all honor and to all sense of justice, and he related to her all
things, calling bread bread, and wine wine.
The queen, hearing how matters stood, sent the secretary to Talia, in
the name of the king, asking her to send the children, for he wished to
see 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 into
several tasteful dishes for her wretched husband. But the cook was tender
hearted and, seeing these two beautiful golden apples, felt pity and
compassion for them, and he carried them home to his wife, and had her
hide them. In their place he prepared two lambs into a hundred different
dishes. When the king came, the queen, with great pleasure, had the food
The king ate with delight, saying, "By the life of Lanfusa, how
tasteful 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 know
perfectly well that I am eating of my own, because you have brought
nothing into this house"; and growing angry, he got up and went to a villa
at some distance from his palace, to solace his soul and alleviate his
In the meanwhile the queen, not being satisfied of the evil already
done, sent for the secretary and told him to go to the palace and to bring
Talia back, saying that the king longed for her presence and was expecting
her. Talia departed as soon as she heard these words, believing that she
was following the commands of her lord, for she greatly longed to see her
light and joy, knowing not what was preparing for her. She was met by the
queen, whose face glowed from the fierce fire burning inside her, and
looked like the face of Nero.
She addressed her thus, "Welcome, Madam Busybody! You are a fine piece
of goods, you ill weed, who are enjoying my husband. So you are the lump
of filth, the cruel bitch, that has caused my head to spin? Change your
ways, for you are welcome in purgatory, where I will compensate you for
all the damage you have done to me."
Talia, hearing these words, began to excuse herself, saying that it was
not her fault, because the king her husband had taken possession of her
territory when she
but the queen would not listen to
her excuses, and had a large fire lit in the courtyard of the palace, and
commanded that Talia should be cast into it.
The lady, perceiving that matters had taken a bad turn, knelt before
the queen, and begged her to allow her at least to take off the garments
she wore. The queen, not for pity of the unhappy lady, but to gain also
those robes, which were embroidered with gold and pearls, told her to
undress, saying, "You can take off your clothes. I agree." Talia began to
take them off, and with every item that she removed she uttered a loud
scream. 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 last
scream louder than the rest. They dragged her towards the pile, to reduce
her to lye ashes which would be used to wash Charon's breeches.
The king suddenly appeared, and finding this spectacle, demanded to
know what was happening. He asked for his children, and his wife --
reproaching him for his treachery -- told him that she had had them
slaughtered 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 wolf
of my own sweet lambs. Alas! And why did these my veins know not the
fountains of their own blood? You renegade bitch, what evil deed is this
which you have done? Begone, you shall get your desert as the stumps, and
I will not send such a tyrant-faced one to the Colosseum to do her
So saying, he commanded that the queen should be cast into the fire
which she had prepared for Talia, and the secretary with her, because he
had 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 the
slaughterer of his children, when the man cast himself at his feet,
saying, "In truth, my lord, for such a deed, there should be nothing else
than a pile of living fire, and no other help than a spear from behind,
and no other entertainment than twisting and turning within the blazing
fire, and I should seek no other honor than to have my ashes, the ashes of
a cook, mixed up with the queen's. But this is not the reward that I
expect 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 your
own body."
Hearing these words, the king was beside himself. He thought he was
dreaming, 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 my
children, be sure that I will take you away from turning the spit, and I
will put you in the kitchen of this breast, to turn and twist as you like
all my desires, giving you such a reward as shall enable you to call
yourself a happy man in this world."
While the king spoke these words, the cook's wife, seeing her husband's
need, brought forth the two children, Sun and Moon, before their father.
And he never tired at playing the game of three with his wife and
children, making a mill wheel of kisses, now with one and then with the
other. He gave a generous reward to the cook, he made him a chamberlain.
He married T and she enjoyed a long life with her husband and
her 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 by
Richard F. Burton (Privately printed, 1893), day 5, tale 5. Translation
revised by D. L. Ashliman.
Giambattista Basile was born about 1575 in Naples and died 1632 in
Giugliano, Campania. His Lo cunto de li cunti (The Story of
Stories) was published in 1634, and named Il pentamerone because of
its similarity to Boccaccio's Decamerone. The
framework of Lo cunto de li cunti provides a context for ten women
to tell one story each every day for five days. The fifty resulting
stories, all based on oral tradition, comprise one of the monumental
folktale collections of all time.
Return to the .
Charles Perrault
There were formerly a king and a queen, who were so sorry that they had
so sorry that it cannot be expressed. They went to all the
vows, pilgrimages, all ways were tried, and all to no
At last, however, the queen had a daughter. There was a very fine
and the princess had for her godmothers all the fairies they
could find in the whole kingdom (they found seven), that every one of them
might give her a gift, as was the custom of fairies in those days. By this
means the princess had all the perfections imaginable.
After the ceremonies of the christening were over, all the company
returned to the king's palace, where was prepared a great feast for the
fairies. There was placed before every one of them a magnificent cover
with a case of massive gold, wherein were a spoon, knife, and fork, all of
pure gold set with diamonds and rubies. But as they were all sitting down
at table they saw come into the hall a very old fairy, whom they had not
invited, because it was above fifty years since she had been out of a
certain 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 of
gold as the others, because they had only seven made for the seven
fairies. The old fairy fancied she was slighted, and muttered some threats
between her teeth. One of the young fairies who sat by her overheard how
and, judging that she might give the little princess some
unlucky gift, went, as soon as they rose from table, and hid herself
behind the hangings, that she might speak last, and repair, as much as she
could, the evil which the old fairy might intend.
In the meanwhile all the fairies began to give their gifts to the
princess. The youngest gave her for gift that she should be the most
beautiful the next, that she should have the wit of
the third, that she should have a wonderful grace in everything
the fourth, that she should
the fifth, that
she should sin and the sixth, that she should play
all kinds of music to the utmost perfection.
The old fairy's turn coming next, with a head shaking more with spite
than age, she said that the princess should have her hand pierced with a
spindle and die of the wound. This terrible gift made the whole company
tremble, 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, that
your daughter shall not die of this disaster. It is true, I have no power
to undo entirely what my elder has done. The princess shall indeed pierce
her but, instead of dying, she shall only fall into a
profound sleep, which shall last a hundred years, at the expiration of
which a king's son shall come and awake her."
The king, to avoid the misfortune foretold by the old fairy, caused
immediately proclamation to be made, whereby everybody was forbidden, on
pain of death, to spin with a distaff and spindle, or to have so much as
any spindle in their houses. About fifteen or sixteen years after, the
king and queen being gone to one of their houses of pleasure, the young
princess happened one day to divert herself in running up and down the
when going up from one apartment to another, she came into a
little room on the top of the tower, where a good old woman, alone, was
spinning with her spindle. This good woman had never heard of the king's
proclamation against spindles.
"What are you doing there, goody?" said the princess.
"I am spinning, my pretty child," said the old woman, who did not know
who she was.
"Ha!" said the princess, " how do you do it? Give
it to me, that I may see if I can do so."
She had no sooner taken it into her hand than, whether being very hasty
at it, somewhat unhandy, or that the decree of the fairy had so ordained
it, 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 quar
they threw water upon the princess's face, unlaced her, struck her on the
palms of her hands, and rubbed her temples with Hungary- but nothing
would bring her to herself.
And now the king, who came up at the noise, bethought himself of the
prediction of the fairies, and, judging very well that this must
necessarily come to pass, since the fairies had said it, caused the
princess to be carried into the finest apartment in his palace, and to be
laid upon a bed all embroidered with gold and silver.
One would have taken her for a little angel, she w
for her swooning away had not diminished one b her
cheeks were carnation, and indeed, her eyes were
shut, but she was heard to breathe softly, which satisfied those about her
that she was not dead. The king commanded that they should not disturb
her, 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 a
hundred years was in the kingdom of Matakin, twelve thousand leagues off,
when this accident but she was instantly informed of
it by a little dwarf, who had boots of seven leagues, that is, boots with
which he could tread over seven leagues of ground in one stride. The fairy
came away immediately, and she arrived, about an hour after, in a fiery
chariot drawn by dragons.
The king handed her out of the chariot, and she approved everything he
had done, but as she had very great foresight, she thought when the
princess should awake she might not know what to do with herself, being
all alon and this was what she did: she touched with
her 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 their
beefeaters, pages, she likewise touched all the horses which were
in the stables, pads as well as others, the great dogs in the outward
court and pretty little Mopsey too, the princess's little spaniel, which
lay by her on the bed.
Immediately upon her touching them they all fell asleep, that they
might not awake before their mistress and that they might be ready to wait
upon her when she wanted them. The very spits at the fire, as full as they
could hold of partridges and pheasants, did fall asleep also. All this was
done in a moment. Fairies are not long in doing their business.
And now the king and the queen, having kissed their dear child without
waking her, went out of the palace and put forth a proclamation that
nobody should dare to come near it.
This, however, was not necessary, for in a quarter of an hour's time
there grew up all round about the park such a vast number of trees, great
and small, bushes and brambles, twining one within another, that neither
man nor beas so that nothing could be seen but the
very top of the
and that, too, not unless it was a
good way off. N doubted but the fairy gave herein a very
extraordinary sample of her art, that the princess, while she continued
sleeping, might have nothing to fear from any curious people.
When a hundred years were gone and passed the son of the king then
reigning, and who was of another family from that of the sleeping
princess, being gone a hunting on that side of the country, asked:
What those towers were which he saw in the middle of a great thick
Everyone answered according as they had heard. Some said that it was a
ruinous old castle, haunted by spirits.
Others, that all the sorcerers and witches of the country kept there
their sabbath or night's meeting.
The common opinion was that an ogre lived there, and that he carried
thither all the little children he could catch, that he might eat them up
at his leisure, without anybody being able to follow him, as having
himself only the power to pass through the wood.
The prince was at a stand, not knowing what to believe, when a very
good countryman spake to him thus: "May it please your royal highness, it
is now about fifty years since I heard from my father, who heard my
grandfather say, that there was then in this castle a princess, the most
bea that she must sleep there a hundred years, and
should be waked by a king's son, for whom she was reserved."
The young prince was all on fire at these words, believing, without
weighing the matter, that he could put an end to 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, the
bushes, and brambles gave way of themselves to
walked up to the castle which he saw at the end of a large avenue which he
and what a little surprised him was that he saw none of his
people could follow him, because the trees closed again as soon as he had
passed through them. However, he did not cease fro a
young and amorous prince is always valiant.
He came into a spacious outward court, where everything he saw might
have frozen the most fearless person with horror. There reigned all over a
mo the image of death everywhere showed itself, and
there 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 and
pimpled noses of the beefeaters, that t and their
goblets, wherein still remained some drops of wine, showed plainly that
they fell asleep in their cups.
He then crossed a court paved with marble, went up the stairs and came
into the guard chamber, where guards were standing in their ranks, with
their muskets upon their shoulders, and snoring as loud as they could.
After that he went through several rooms full of gentlemen and ladies, all
asleep, some standing, others sitting. At last he came into a chamber all
gilded with gold, where he saw upon a bed, the curtains of which were all
open, the finest sight was ever beheld -- a princess, who appeared to be
about fifteen or sixteen years of age, and whose bright and, in a manner,
resplendent beauty, had somewhat in it divine. He approached with
trembling and admiration, and fell down before her upon his knees.
And now, as the enchantment was at an end, the princess awaked, and
looking on him with eyes more tender than the first view might seem to
admit of. "Is it you, my prince?" said she to him. "You have waited a long
The prince, charmed with these words, and much more with the manner in
which they were spoken, knew not how to show h he
assured her that he loved her better their discourse
was 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 not
she had time to think o for it is very
probable (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 had
In the meanwhile a everyone thought upon their
particular business, and as all of them were not in love they were ready
to die for hunger. The chief lady of honor, being as sharp set as other
folks, grew very impatient, and told the princess aloud that supper was
served up. The prince helped
she was entirely
dressed, and very magnificently, but his royal highness took care not to
tell her that she was dressed like his great-grandmother, and had a point
band peepin she looked not a bit less charming and
beautiful for all that.
They went into the great hall of looking-glasses, where they supped,
and were served by the princess's officers, the violins and hautboys
played old tunes, but very excellent, though it was now above a hundred
years s and after supper, without losing any time,
the lord almoner married them in the chapel of the castle, and the chief
lady of honor drew the curtains. They had but very little sleep -- the
prin and the prince left her next morning to return
to the city, where his father must needs have been in pain for him. The
prince told him that he lost his way in the forest as he was hunting, and
that he had lain in the cottage of a charcoal burner, who gave him cheese
and brown bread.
The king, his father, who was a good man, but his mother
could not be p and seeing that he went almost every
day 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 suspect
that 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, was
named Morning, and the youngest, who was a son, they called
Day, because he was a great deal handsomer and more beautiful than
his sister.
The queen spoke several times to her son, to inform herself after what
manner he did pass his time, and that in this he ought in duty to satisfy
her. But he never dared to trust he feared her,
though he loved her, for she was of the race of the ogres, and the king
would never have married her had it not been it was
even whispered about the court that she had ogreish inclinations, and
that, whenever she saw little children passing by, she had all the
difficulty in the world to avoid falling upon them. And so the prince
would 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 d and
he went in great ceremony to conduct his queen to the palace. They made a
magnificent entry into the capital city, she riding between her two
Soon after, the king went to make war with the Emperor Contalabutte,
his neighbor. He left the government of the kingdom to the queen his
mother, and earnestly recommended to her care his wife and children. He
was obliged to continue his expedition all the summer, and as soon as he
departed the queen mother sent her daughter-in-law to a country house
among the woods, that she might with the more ease gratify her horrible
Some few days afterward she went thither herself, and said to her clerk
of 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 tone
of an ogress who had a strong desire to eat fresh meat), "and will eat her
with a sauce Robert."
The poor man, knowing very well that he must not play tricks with
ogresses, 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, to
take him about the neck, and ask him for some sugar candy. Upon which he
began to weep, the great knife fell out of his hand, and he went into the
back yard, and killed a little lamb, and dressed it with such good sauce
that his mistress assured him that she had never eaten anything so good in
her life. He had at the same time taken up little Morning, and carried her
to his wife, to conceal her in the lodging he had at the bottom of the
courtyard.
About eight days afterward the wicked queen said to the clerk of the
kitchen, "I will sup on little Day."
He answered not a word, being resolved to cheat her as he had done
before. He went to find out little Day, and saw him with a little foil in
his hand, with which he was fencing with a great monkey, the child being
then only three years of age. He took him up in his arms and carried him
to his wife, that she might conceal him in her chamber along with his
sister, and in the room of little Day cooked up a young kid, very tender,
which the ogress found to be wonderfully good.
This was hith but one evening this wicked queen
said to her clerk of the kitchen, "I will eat the queen with the same
sauce I had with her children."
It was now that the poor clerk of the kitchen despaired of being able
to deceive her. The young queen was turned of twenty, not reckoning the
hundred years and how to find in the yard a beast so
firm was what puzzled him. He took then a resolution, that he might save
his own life, to cut the queen' and going up into her chamber,
with intent to do it at once, he put himself into as great fury as he
could possibly, and came into the young queen's room with his dagger in
his hand. He would not, however, surprise her, but told her, with a great
deal of respect, the orders he had received from the queen mother.
"D do it" (said she, stretching out her neck). "Execute your
orders, and then I shall go and see my children, my poor children, whom I
so much and so tenderly loved," for she thought them dead ever since they
had 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 but then
you must go home with me to my lodgings, where I have concealed them, and
I shall deceive the queen once more, by giving her in your stead a young
Upon this he forthwith conducted her to his chamber, where, leaving her
to embrace her children, and cry along with them, he went and dressed a
young hind, which the queen had for her supper, and devoured it with the
same appetite as if it had been the young queen. Exceedingly was she
delighted 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 her
two children.
One evening, as she was, according to her custom, rambling round about
the courts and yards of the palace to see if she could smell any fresh
meat, she heard, in a ground room, little Day crying, for his mamma was
going to whip him, because and she heard, at the same
time, little Morning begging pardon for her brother.
The ogress presently knew the voice of the queen and her children, and
being quite mad that she had been thus deceived, she commanded next
morning, by break of day (with a most horrible voice, which made everybody
tremble), that they should bring into the middle of the great court a
large tub, which she caused to be filled with toads, vipers, snakes, and
all sorts of serpents, in order to have thrown into it the queen and her
children, the clerk of the kitchen, all whom she had
given orders should be brought thither with their hands tied behind them.
They were brought out accordingly, and the executioners were just going
to 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 the
utmost astonishment, what was the meaning of that horrible spectacle.
No one dared to tell him, when the ogress, all enraged to see what had
happened, threw herself head foremost into the tub, and was instantly
devoured by the ugly creatures she had ordered to be thrown into it for
others. The king could not but be very sorry, fo but
he soon comforted himself with his beautiful wife and his pretty children.
Many a girl has waited long
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,
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, , 5th ed. (London: Longmans,
Green, and Company, 1891), . I have carefully modernized the
spelling and punctuation. The translation of the verse moral (omitted by
Lang) 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 temps
pass&, avec des moralit&z (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): , edited from the original editions, with introduction, etc. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1888).
The tale "La belle au bois dormant" is found on .
Return to the .
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 of
the water onto the ground and said, "Your wish will soon be fulfilled, and
you 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 a
great 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, for
there were thirteen of them.
The fairies came to the celebration, and as it was ending they
presented the child with gifts. The one promised her virtue, the second
one gave beauty, and so on, each one offering something desirable and
magnificent. The eleventh fairy had just presented her gift when the
thirteenth fairy walked in. She was very angry that she had not been
invited and cried out, "Because you did not invite me, I tell you that in
her fifteenth year, your daughter will prick herself with a spindle and
fall over dead."
The parents were horrified, but the twelfth fairy, who had not yet
offered her wish, said, "It shall not be her death. She will only fall
into a hundred-year sleep." The king, hoping to rescue his dear child,
issued an order that all spindles in the entire kingdom should be
destroyed.
The princess grew and became a miracle of beauty. One day, when she had
just reached her fifteenth year, the king and queen went away, leaving her
all alone in the castle. She walked from room to room, following her
heart's desire. Finally she came to an old tower. A narrow stairway led up
to it. Being curious, she climbed up until she came to a small door. There
was a small yellow key in the door. She turned it, and the door sprang
open. She found herself in a small room where an old woman sat spinning
flax. She was attracted to the old woman, and joked with her, and said
that she too would like to try her hand at spinning. She picked up the
spindle, but no sooner did she touch it, than she pricked herself with it
and then fell down into a deep sleep.
At that same moment the king and his attendants returned, and everyone
began 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 the
hearth flickered, stopped moving, and fell asleep. The roast stopped
sizzling. The cook let go of the kitchen boy, whose hair he was about to
pull. The maid dropped the chicken that she was plucking. They all slept.
And a thorn hedge grew up around the entire castle, growing higher and
higher, until nothing at all could be seen of it.
Princes, who had heard about the beautiful Brier-Rose, came and tried
to free her, but they could not penetrate the hedge. It was as if the
thorns 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 told
him about the belief that there was a castle behind the thorn hedge, with
a wonderfully beautiful princess asleep inside with all of her attendants.
His grandfather had told him that many princes had tried to penetrate the
hedge, but that they had gotten stuck in the thorns and had been pricked
"I'm not afraid of that," said the prince. "I shall penetrate the hedge
and free the beautiful Brier-Rose."
He went forth, but when he came to the thorn hedge, it turned into
flowers. They separated, and he walked through, but after he passed, they
turned back into thorns. He went into the castle. Horses and colorful
hunting dogs were asleep in the courtyard. Pigeons, with their little
heads stuck under they wings, were sitting on the roof. As he walked
inside, the flies on the wall, the fire in the kitchen, the cook and the
maid were all asleep. He walked further. All the at
and still further, the king and the queen. It was so quiet that he could
hear his own breath.
Finally he came to the old tower where Brier-Rose was lying asleep. The
prince was so amazed at her beauty that he bent over and kissed her. At
that moment she awoke, and with her the king and the queen, and all the
attendants, and the horses and the dogs, and the pigeons on the roof, and
the flies on the walls. The fire stood up and flickered, and then finished
cooking the food. The roast sizzled away. The cook boxed the kitchen boy's
ears. And the maid finished plucking the chicken. Then the prince and
Brier-Rose got married, and they lived long and happily until they died.
Source: Kinder- und Hausm&rchen, 1st ed., vol. 1 (Berlin: Realschulbuchhandlung, 1812),
no. 50, pp. 225-29.
In some versions (including later Grimm editions) the harbinger of
pregnancy is a frog.
Return to the .
Gianbattista Basile.
par Charles Perrault.
and other Aarne-Thompson-Uther
type 709 tales. These stories also feature "sleeping beauties."
is an Irish fairy legend featuring a "sleeping beauty."
Return to D. L. Ashliman's , a library of folktales, folklore,
fairy tales, and mythology.
Return to the .
Revised June 7, 2013.}