Sleeping Beauty

Long ago, a King and Queen had a beautiful baby girl. They were so happy that they threw a grand celebration and invited everyone in the kingdom—including the fairies.

One by one, the fairies gave the princess magical gifts. "She shall have beauty," said one. "She shall have grace," said another. "She shall have a voice like a nightingale."

But before the last fairy could give her gift, the door burst open. In swept an evil fairy who had not been invited.

"How dare you forget me!" she shrieked. "Here is MY gift: Before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday, the princess shall prick her finger on a spindle and DIE!"

Everyone gasped in horror. But the last good fairy stepped forward.

"I cannot undo this curse," she said, "but I can soften it. The princess shall not die. Instead, she shall fall into a deep sleep for one hundred years, until awakened by true love's kiss."

The King ordered every spindle in the kingdom to be burned. For sixteen years, the princess grew up happy and safe.

On her sixteenth birthday, the princess explored a tower she had never seen before. At the top, she found an old woman spinning thread.

"What are you doing?" asked the princess, who had never seen a spindle.

"Come, try it yourself," said the old woman—who was really the evil fairy in disguise.

The moment the princess touched the spindle, she pricked her finger and fell into a deep, deep sleep.

The good fairy cast a spell so everyone in the castle fell asleep too—the King and Queen, the servants, even the dogs and cats. A thick forest of thorns grew around the castle.

One hundred years passed.

A brave prince heard the legend of the sleeping princess. He cut through the thorns and found his way to the tower. There lay the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

Gently, he kissed her.

The princess opened her eyes and smiled. "I've been waiting for you," she said.

All around the castle, everyone began to wake up. The King yawned, the Queen stretched, and the dogs wagged their tails.

The prince and princess were married, and they lived happily ever after.

The End