Once upon a time there was a King and Queen who lived in a beautiful palace. They had everything you could wish for except one thing, a child, and this made them very sad.

But finally, after many years, they had their wish and a little baby daughter was born. To celebrate preparations were made for a party and amongst the most important guests were seven fairies who were to be godmothers to the baby Princess.

Everyone was in the grand hall celebrating when there was a loud noise outside. Suddenly the doors burst open and an old fairy in a long black gown walked in.

The King turned pale and the Queen nearly fainted, for this was the spiteful fairy Tormentilla. The poor Queen had been so busy that she had forgotten to send her an invitation.

However, they all tried to make the best of it and another chair was brought for Tormentilla and both the King and Queen told her over and over again how very, very sorry they were not to have asked her.

But it was all in vain. Nothing could please her and she sat scowling at the other fairies until the feast was over and it was time to give the presents.

Everyone went into the great living room where the fairies each gave the little princess their presents. And then it was the turn of the wicked old fairy who walked over to the cradle and said, “My present is that the princess shall prick her hand with a spindle and die of the wound!”

At this the Queen fell on her knees and begged Tormentilla to take back her cruel words but suddenly the seventh fairy, who knew Tormentilla well and had hidden herself behind the curtains for fear that something like this might happen, came out and said:

“Do not cry dear Queen; I cannot undo my cousin’s wicked spell, but I can promise that your daughter shall not die but only fall asleep for a hundred years. And then a Prince shall come and awaken her with a kiss.”

So the King and Queen dried their tears and thanked the kind fairy for her goodness and all the fairies went back to their homes and things went on much as usual in the palace. But you can imagine how careful the Queen was of her little girl and the King made a law that every spindle in the country must be destroyed.

The years went by happily enough until Princess Miranda was almost eighteen years old. One day the King and Queen had to go away and, as the Princess did not wish to go, they left her behind.

Quickly she became bored and to pass the time began exploring all the old rooms in the palace.

After much searching she finally found herself at the top of a tower in front of a door she had never seen before. When she opened the door she saw a small room where a little old woman sat with a high white cap at a spinning wheel.

She watched the old woman curiously and could not imagine what she was doing as the Princess had never seen a spinning-wheel in her life, because the King had ordered them all to be destroyed.

Now, the poor old woman who lived in this tower had never heard the King’s order because she was deaf and could not hear anything.

“What pretty work you are doing. Tell me, why does the wheel go whirr, whirr, whirr?” said the Princess.

But the old woman didn’t answer because, of course, she could not hear. So the Princess stepped into the room and put her hand on the old woman’s shoulder who looked up and rubbed her eyes.

“Deary, deary me!” she cried. “And who may you be, my pretty darling?” “I’m the Princess Miranda,” said the maiden, but the old woman only shook her head as she could not hear anything.

Then the Princess pointed to the spindle and made the old woman understand that she wanted to try. So the old woman nodded and the Princess sat down and took the spindle in her hand. But no sooner did she touch it than she pricked her hand with the point and sank down into a deep sleep.

Immediately silence fell on everything as the whole city fell asleep. All the birds stopped singing and the King and Queen, who had just returned from their journey, fell asleep as well.

The sky became dark as a magic wood sprung up all around the palace and its grounds. It was at least half a mile thick and made of thorns and prickly plants which seemed impossible for anyone to penetrate.

And so the years went on, and on, and on, until a hundred years had passed and the palace and the story of it were all but forgotten.

Until one day a King’s son from a neighboring country came riding that way. Suddenly he found himself in a part of the country where he had never been before and quickly became lost.

He came to a woodcutter’s cottage and got off his horse to ask the way. An old man lived in the hut and after he had directed the Prince as to the best way back, the young man pointed to a thick wood ahead and asked what was beyond it. The old man told him that there was a legend that beyond the wood was an enchanted palace where a beautiful Princess had been sleeping for a hundred years and would awaken when she was kissed by a Prince.

As soon as the Prince heard this nothing would stop him and he decided he must go there and see for himself if the tale were true. So he rode until he came to the edge of the wood and then began to push his way through the thorny thicket until at last he came to the palace where he saw everyone sleeping.

The Prince walked on until he came to the narrow staircase which led to the tower in which the Princess was asleep. He opened the door and saw the princess. Falling on his knees he bent down to kiss her cheek. And as he kissed her, she opened her eyes and said, “Oh! Prince, have you come at last? I have had such pleasant dreams.”

And at the same time, the whole palace was awake. Everything went on exactly as though the spell had lasted only a hundred seconds not a hundred years!

And I probably don’t need to tell you that the Prince and Princess were married amid great celebrations and lived happily ever after.

The end