THE SLEEPING BEAUTY IN THE WOOD


Once upon a time there lived a king and queen who were grieved, more
grieved than words can tell, because they had no children. They tried
the waters of every country, made vows and pilgrimages, and did
everything that could be done, but without result. At last, however, the
queen found that her wishes were fulfilled, and in due course she gave
birth to a daughter. A grand christening was held, and all the fairies that could be found in
the realm (they numbered seven in all) were invited to be godmothers to
the little princess. This was done so that by means of the gifts which
each in turn would bestow upon her (in accordance with the fairy custom
of those days) the princess might be endowed with every imaginable
perfection. When the christening ceremony was over, all the company returned to the
king's palace, where a great banquet was held in honour of the fairies. Places were laid for them in magnificent style, and before each was
placed a solid gold casket containing a spoon, fork, and knife of fine
gold, set with diamonds and rubies. But just as all were sitting down to
table an aged fairy was seen to enter, whom no one had thought to
invite--the reason being that for more than fifty years she had never
quitted the tower in which she lived, and people had supposed her to be
dead or bewitched. By the king's orders a place was laid for her, but it was impossible to
give her a golden casket like the others, for only seven had been made
for the seven fairies. The old creature believed that she was
intentionally slighted, and muttered threats between her teeth. She was overheard by one of the young fairies, who was seated near by. The latter, guessing that some mischievous gift might be bestowed upon
the little princess, hid behind the tapestry as soon as the company left
the table. Her intention was to be the last to speak, and so to have the
power of counteracting, as far as possible, any evil which the old fairy
might do. Presently the fairies began to bestow their gifts upon the princess. The
youngest ordained that she should be the most beautiful person in the
world; the next, that she should have the temper of an angel; the third,
that she should do everything with wonderful grace; the fourth, that she
should dance to perfection; the fifth, that she should sing like a
nightingale; and the sixth, that she should play every kind of music
with the utmost skill. It was now the turn of the aged fairy. Shaking her head, in token of
spite rather than of infirmity, she declared that the princess should
prick her hand with a spindle, and die of it. A shudder ran through the
company at this terrible gift. All eyes were filled with tears. But at this moment the young fairy stepped forth from behind the
tapestry. 'Take comfort, your Majesties,' she cried in a loud voice; 'your
daughter shall not die. My power, it is true, is not enough to undo all
that my aged kinswoman has decreed: the princess will indeed prick her
hand with a spindle. But instead of dying she shall merely fall into
a profound slumber that will last a hundred years. At the end of that
time a king's son shall come to awaken her.' [Illustration: '_The king ... at once published an edict_']

The king, in an attempt to avert the unhappy doom pronounced by the old
fairy, at once published an edict forbidding all persons, under pain of
death, to use a spinning-wheel or keep a spindle in the house. At the end of fifteen or sixteen years the king and queen happened one
day to be away, on pleasure bent. The princess was running about the
castle, and going upstairs from room to room she came at length to a
garret at the top of a tower, where an old serving-woman sat alone with
her distaff, spinning. This good woman had never heard speak of the
king's proclamation forbidding the use of spinning-wheels. 'What are you doing, my good woman?' asked the princess. 'I am spinning, my pretty child,' replied the dame, not knowing who she
was. 'Oh, what fun!' rejoined the princess; 'how do you do it? Let me try and
see if I can do it equally well.' Partly because she was too hasty, partly because she was a little
heedless, but also because the fairy decree had ordained it, no sooner
had she seized the spindle than she pricked her hand and fell down in a
swoon. In great alarm the good dame cried out for help. People came running
from every quarter to the princess. They threw water on her face, chafed
her with their hands, and rubbed her temples with the royal essence of
Hungary. But nothing would restore her. Then the king, who had been brought upstairs by the commotion,
remembered the fairy prophecy. Feeling certain that what had happened
was inevitable, since the fairies had decreed it, he gave orders that
the princess should be placed in the finest apartment in the palace,
upon a bed embroidered in gold and silver. You would have thought her an angel, so fair was she to behold. The
trance had not taken away the lovely colour of her complexion. Her
cheeks were delicately flushed, her lips like coral. Her eyes, indeed,
were closed, but her gentle breathing could be heard, and it was
therefore plain that she was not dead. The king commanded that she
should be left to sleep in peace until the hour of her awakening should
come. When the accident happened to the princess, the good fairy who had saved
her life by condemning her to sleep a hundred years was in the kingdom
of Mataquin, twelve thousand leagues away. She was instantly warned of
it, however, by a little dwarf who had a pair of seven-league boots,
which are boots that enable one to cover seven leagues at a single step. The fairy set off at once, and within an hour her chariot of fire, drawn
by dragons, was seen approaching. The king handed her down from her chariot, and she approved of all that
he had done. But being gifted with great powers of foresight, she
bethought herself that when the princess came to be awakened, she would
be much distressed to find herself all alone in the old castle. And this
is what she did. [Illustration: '_A little dwarf who had a pair of seven-league boots_']

She touched with her wand everybody (except the king and queen) who was
in the castle--governesses, maids of honour, ladies-in-waiting,
gentlemen, officers, stewards, cooks, scullions, errand boys, guards,
porters, pages, footmen. She touched likewise all the horses in the
stables, with their grooms, the big mastiffs in the courtyard, and
little Puff, the pet dog of the princess, who was lying on the bed
beside his mistress. The moment she had touched them they all fell
asleep, to awaken only at the same moment as their mistress. Thus they
would always be ready with their service whenever she should require it. The very spits before the fire, loaded with partridges and pheasants,
subsided into slumber, and the fire as well. All was done in a moment,
for the fairies do not take long over their work.