THE SLEEPING BEAUTY _BOOKS ILLUSTRATED BY_ ARTHUR RACKHAM CINDERELLA. 7s. 6d. Net. THE ALLIES' FAIRY BOOK. 7s. 6d. Net. ALICE IN WONDERLAND. 7s. 6d. Net. ÆSOP'S FABLES. 7s. 6d. Net. MOTHER GOOSE. 7s. 6d. Net. A CHRISTMAS CAROL. 7s. 6d. Net. THE SPRINGTIDE OF LIFE POEMS OF CHILDHOOD, by A. C. Swinburne. 10s. 6d. Net. RIP VAN WINKLE. 10s. 6d. Net. UNDINE. 12s. 6d. Net. ARTHUR RACKHAM'S BOOK OF PICTURES. 21s. Net. THE RING OF THE NIBLUNGS. In Two Vols. Each 21s. Net. INGOLDSBY LEGENDS. 21s. Net. A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM. 21s. Net. [Illustration] [Illustration] THE·SLEEPING BEAUTY TOLD·BY·C·S·EVANS AND·ILLUSTRATED·BY ARTHUR·RACKHAM LONDON·WILLIAM·HEINEMANN PHILADELPHIA·J·B·LIPPINCOTT·Co LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN, 1920. [Illustration] [Illustration: BRIAR ROSE] [Illustration: ONCE UPON A TIME] THE SLEEPING BEAUTY CHAPTER I ONCE upon a time there were a King and a Queen who were very unhappybecause they had no children. Everything else that the heart could wishfor was theirs. They were rich; they lived in a wonderful palace full ofthe costliest treasures; their kingdom was at peace, and their peoplewere prosperous. Yet none of these things contented them, because theywanted a little child of their own to love and to care for, and thoughthey had been married several years, no child had come to them. [Illustration] Every day the King would look at the Queen and say: "Ah, if we only hada little child, " and the Queen would look at the King and sigh, and theywere both very miserable about it. Then they would put on their goldencrowns and sit side by side on their thrones, while lords and ladiesand ambassadors from other lands came to pay them homage, and they hadto smile with their lips for the sake of politeness, but there was nojoy in their hearts. And that is one of the greatest disadvantages ofbeing a King or a Queen, that one has always to hide one's feelings. [Illustration] [Illustration] Now it happened one day that the Queen went to her bath, and havingdismissed her ladies, she descended the marble steps into the waterand began idly to play with some wild rose-petals which had fallen intothe water. All of a sudden she heard a croaking voice that said: "OQueen, be cheerful, for the dearest wish of your heart will be grantedyou. " [Illustration] "Who is that?" cried the Queen, a little frightened, for she could seenobody. "Look behind you, " croaked the voice, "and do not be afraid, for I comeonly to bear you good tidings. " So the Queen looked behind her, and there was a great frog who looked ather with its big round eyes. Now the Queen was afraid of frogs, because they are cold and clammy, butshe was very polite by nature as well as breeding, so she did not showher dislike, though she could not help shrinking back a little. "And do you tell me, Master Frog, " said she, "that I shall have the wishof my heart, and do you know what that wish may be?" "It is to have a little small child of your own, " said the Frog; and theQueen nodded. "Very well, " the Frog went on, "do you see the green leaves of thatalmond tree on the branch by the window?" "I do, " replied the Queen wonderingly. "Those green leaves will fade, " said the Frog, "and the winter windswill blow them away. Then the branch will be bare, but in spring-time, before the leaves come again, it will be covered with pink blossom, andthat blossom you shall show to a baby lying at your breast. " [Illustration] The Queen gave a cry of joy. A ray of sunlight came through the trees, dazzling her eyes so that she had to close them for a moment. When sheopened them again the frog had gone, and nothing was to be seen but thedainty rose-petals floating on the surface of the water. [Illustration] [Illustration] CHAPTER II THOSE were wonderful tidings to be spoken by a frog who came no one knewwhence and went no one knew whither. But the Queen believed that theprophecy would prove true, and she was right, for when the Spring timecame again and the almond blossom was pink upon the bough, she gavebirth to a little daughter who was so beautiful that nobody had everseen her like. Now what joy there was in the hearts of everybody in the palace! TheKing was so excited that he went into council in his dressing-gowninstead of his royal robe, and he did not care a bit when his courtierssmiled. There was coming and going in all the halls and corridors. Couriers on swift horses were sent out to bear the glad news to the mostdistant parts of the kingdom. All the bells in the churches were rung;flags were put out in the houses and streamers were hung across theroadways. Then the cannons were fired, bang, bang, bang, to tell thepeople that everybody was to have a holiday, so that all, from thehighest to the lowest, might rejoice in their Queen's happiness. [Illustration] [Illustration] "Never was there such a beautiful child, " said the King, looking down athis little daughter as she lay in her mother's arms. He wanted very muchto nurse her, but this could not be allowed, because men are so clumsywith babies. "What shall her name be?" said the King. And he suggested all thegrandest names he could call to mind, for he thought that such awonderful child must certainly have a name to suit. But the Queen wouldhave none of them. "She shall be called Briar-Rose, " said the Queen; and so it wasarranged. [Illustration] A few weeks later the christening took place. That was a splendidceremony to be sure, for all the lords and ladies of the kingdom werepresent in their richest dresses, together with princes and ambassadorsfrom distant countries. The little Princess was as good as gold all thetime. She did not cry once, but opened her big blue eyes and smiled atthe glittering company as though she understood everything that wasgoing on. [Illustration] Outside the cathedral the roads were crowded with people waiting to seethe guests come and go. The carriages extended for nearly a mile, and asthey drove away, headed by the royal coach, in which the Queen sat withthe Princess Briar-Rose in her arms, the spectators took off their hatsand shouted and cheered. Some of the little boys perched themselves onthe branches of trees and the lamp-posts in order to get a better view, and I have been told that there was one poor woman who saw nothing atall, because her boy tried to climb up to an inn sign, where he dangledin such a dangerous position that his poor old mother had to stand withher back to the procession, holding on to his legs in a terrible stateof anxiety lest he should fall. At the palace, a magnificent feast had been prepared. Now it was the custom in those days, when a King's child was christened, for all the fairies in the country to be invited to the christeningfeast. Each fairy was bound to bring a gift, so of course it stood toreason that the royal child would have everything that the heart couldpossibly desire. [Illustration] There were thirteen fairies in the King's realm, but one of them livedin a lonely place on the outskirts of the kingdom. There, for the lastfifty years, she had shut herself up in a ruined tower with only a blackcat to keep her company, and as she kept herself to herself, everybodyhad forgotten her very existence. The result was that she was notinvited to the christening feast, and though she had nobody but herselfto blame for this, she was very angry about it. The truth of the matteris that she was always a miserable, sour creature, with no love orkindness in her heart, and nobody missed her because she had never givenanybody any reason to care for her. Well, the guests assembled in the banqueting hall of the palace and thefeast began. [Illustration] CHAPTER III THE King and the Queen sat on a dais at the end of the banqueting hall, and above them in a little gallery there was a band of fiddlers andflute-players. On either side of the royal pair sat the twelve fairygodmothers, six on the right hand and six on the left. In front of eachfairy was a golden plate and a golden casket made to hold her knife, fork and spoon. These caskets were beautifully carved and engraved, andeach one was of a different shape. One was in the form of a ship, another of a shell, a third in the form of a castle with turrets, and soon; nothing more beautiful could be imagined, for they had all beenspecially made for the occasion by the cleverest goldsmiths in thekingdom, and they were the King's presents to the fairy godmothers. Hefelt very proud when the fairies spoke admiringly of these caskets andsaid that they would be pleased to accept them. Below the dais were six long tables for the guests, and there was onlyjust room between the tables for the servants to pass, so you may judgehow crowded the room was. Such a glittering of silks, such a flashing ofjewels, such a dazzle and splendour had never been seen since the timeof the King's coronation, and all the guests were laughing and talkingmerrily. The court painter was there, of course, to make a picture ofthe gorgeous scene, and was kept so busy sketching on his tablets thathe had no time to get any food, though probably he had a good mealafterwards. [Illustration] And the nice things there were to eat! There were: Force-meat balls flavoured with rare spices from the East; Sardines from Sardinia; Tunny fish from the Mediterranean and Sturgeon from Russia; Steaming boars' heads with lemons in their mouths; Turkeys, peacocks and swans; Ortolans; Wonderful roasts and delicious stews; Roe deer and Bears' hams; [Illustration] Sweets in all sorts of curious shapes, as, for instance, cakes like castles with little men made of sweet-stuff for sentries on the battlements, each complete in gilded armour and with a halberd over his shoulder. (A rare sight!) And eagles carved of ice hovering over silver dishes filled with apricots. Then followed the smaller dishes: Tiny cakes as white and delicate as ladies' fingers; Birds' nests made of spun sugar (and in the nests were eggs of marsh-mallow, and in each egg was a tiny chicken made of caramel!); Figs and dates from the desert; Other fruits, in and out of season; Syrups and preserves fetched from the four corners of the world; Wines cooled in snow from the distant mountains. One might fill pages merely by setting down the names of all thedelicacies. [Illustration] Each dish was brought in by the servants in a kind of procession, headedby the Master-Cook, looking as grand and solemn as an archbishop, for hewas a grave and dignified person, and of course he had a greatresponsibility. The guests were served by little page-boys of noblebirth, dressed in the liveries of their masters, and these pages handedthe dishes and the wines most politely on their bended knees as they hadbeen taught to do. So the guests enjoyed themselves, and the fiddlers played, and the Kinglaughed at everything everybody said, because he was in a mighty goodhumour, and the bright afternoon sun, shining through the westernwindows, lighted up the rich hangings on the walls, and flashed upon thejewels on fair ladies' fingers, and fell upon the marble pavement in apool of gold. And then, you know, when the merriment was at its height, somethinghappened! There was a sudden cry, and a harsh voice, like the croakingof a raven, sounded through the room. "Be merry, my lords and ladies, " cried the voice. "Laugh while you may, but remember that tears may follow laughter. " A hush fell upon all the brilliant assembly. The Queen turned pale andshuddered. The King rose hurriedly from his place, and he and all theguests turned to look at the strange figure that had suddenly appearedin the doorway. They saw an old woman bent almost double with age, her grey head withmatted hair sunk deep between her shoulders. Her face was white andtwisted with anger, and her green eyes flashed spitefully. Slowly she advanced towards the dais, and stretching out her arm, pointed her finger at the gold plates and the gold caskets set beforethe fairy godmothers. "There's one, " said she, with a harsh laugh, "there's two, there's twelve! Did you not know, O King, that there werethirteen wise women in your kingdom, and the thirteenth the wisest andmost powerful of all? Where, then, is the plate and the casket set forme?" The King began to make excuses, imploring the angry old fairy to forgivehim for his neglect, and begging her to sit down and join them in theirfestivities. "For, " said he, "I am sure you are very welcome. " "Is it so, indeed?" said the thirteenth fairy. "I am not too late, then, though the feast is all but done. I shall eat off silver while mysisters eat off gold, and there is no curiously-shaped casket for me. Nomatter, I am content, because I am in time, and I shall dower thePrincess with the gift which I have brought for her!" And here thespiteful creature uttered another of her sneering laughs, which made theblood of all the guests run cold. By dint of much coaxing the King at last managed to persuade her to sitdown, and the feast proceeded. But a chill had been cast over theassembly, and nothing was quite the same as it had been before. The oldcrone muttered and mouthed over her food, now and again smiling toherself as though she were cherishing some secret and evil triumph. Theother fairies cast anxious glances at her, for they feared her malice, and the youngest fairy of all, who happened to be seated at the end ofthe table, presently rose up quietly from her place and, stealing away, hid herself behind the arras. And nobody saw her go, nor did a singleperson remark upon her absence. [Illustration] CHAPTER IV AND now came the time for the most important part of the ceremony, whenthe fairy godmothers should declare their gifts to the royal child. Allthis time the little Princess Briar-Rose had been quietly sleeping inher cradle in the nursery, watched over by an old servant who had tendedher mother as a child. Now the King gave orders for the baby to bebrought into the banqueting hall. The guests ceased their laughter andtalk, and the musicians laid by their instruments. So the sleeping child was brought and placed in her mother's arms. Howtenderly she clasped the baby to her breast, bending over it as thoughto shield it from all harm. So sweet a sight should have touched thehardest heart, and indeed there was only one person in the room whoremained unmoved, and that was the spiteful and jealous fairy, wholooked up and bared her yellow teeth in a sneering grin. "Queen, " said she, "your face is pale and your lips tremble. What is itthat you fear on this day of the giving of gifts?" But the Queen shuddered and was silent. Then a fairy rose in her place and said-- "I will begin. My gift to the Princess Briar-Rose is the gift of Beauty. She shall have eyes like stars, and hair as bright as the sunshine ofthe spring day on which she was born, and cheeks as fresh and fair asthe petals of the flower from which she takes her name. None shallsurpass her in loveliness. " Then the second fairy rose in her turn and said: "After Beauty, Wit. ThePrincess shall be cleverer than any ordinary mortal could ever hope tobe. " "I give her Virtue, " said the third. And the Queen nodded her head andsmiled, for though she esteemed beauty and cleverness, she knew thatneither was of any worth without goodness of heart. [Illustration] So all the fairies in turn named the gift which they had brought forBriar-Rose. The fourth said that whatever the Princess put her hand to, she should do with the most exquisite grace; the fifth, that she shouldsing like a nightingale; the sixth that she should dance as lightly asa fairy, and so on until she had nearly all the virtues andaccomplishments which even a King might desire for his daughter. But asyet, the spiteful old fairy had not said a word. [Illustration] At last she rose and cast an evil glance round. "Have you all finished?" said she. "Hear, then, my wish. On the day whenshe reaches her fifteenth birthday, the Princess shall prick her fingerwith the spindle of a spinning-wheel, and shall immediately die!" This terrible prophecy made the whole company shudder. The Queen gave acry and hugged the sleeping baby still closer to her breast. "No, no! Have pity!" she cried. "Call down your dreadful fate on my headif you will, but do not harm this innocent child. " At this mournful appeal there was hardly one of the guests who couldkeep from tears, but the old crone only mumbled to herself as though shewere uttering a spell. Then the King leapt to his feet, his hand at thejewelled hilt of the dagger that hung at his girdle. In another momenthe might have stretched the wicked creature lifeless at his feet, butbefore he could draw the weapon from its sheath, another voice arrestedhim. "Stay your hand, O King, lest even worse befall. No mortal may strike ata fairy and go unpunished. And, for the rest, take comfort, for yourdaughter shall not die!" Then the twelfth fairy stepped out from behind the arras where she hadbeen hidden. "My gift is still to come, " she continued. "As far as Ican, I will undo the mischief which my sister has done. It is true thatI have not the power to prevent altogether what she has decreed. ThePrincess shall, indeed, prick her finger with the spindle of thespinning-wheel on the day when she attains her fifteenth year; butinstead of dying she shall fall into a deep sleep; and this sleep shalllast for a hundred years, and when that time is past, a King's son shallcome to waken her. " [Illustration] CHAPTER V SO the worst was averted, but the fate of the poor little Princess wasstill terrible enough, and it was only to be expected that the Kingshould do his best to prevent the prophecy from coming to fulfilment. The first thing he did was to summon all the magicians of his own andneighbouring countries, promising a rich reward to the one who couldshow him a way to defeat the old fairy's malice. The magicians came inscores, some with long beards reaching to their feet, some without anybeards at all, some with bald heads, and some with matted hair thatlooked as though it had not been combed for centuries. For days therewere so many magicians about the palace that they were commoner thancats, and it was impossible to enter any room without surprising one orthe other of them, sitting in deep reflection and looking as wise asonly a magician can look. But nothing came of their thinking, and oneafter the other they gave up the task and departed, having first askedfor their travelling expenses. At last there came a wizard who was wiser and more venerable than allthe rest, and when he heard what was required of him he said he would gohome and consult his secret books which contained the magic lore of allthe ages, and which had been written by the greatest of all themagicians, Merlin himself. Home, then, he went, to his cell, which was in a rocky cliff on the sideof a mountain, and having uttered the word of power which unlocked themassive door, he entered and prepared to begin his researches. [Illustration] Now the books of magic lore which Merlin had written were in manyvolumes, and everything in them was set down in alphabetical order, sothat it could be found easily. The old wizard, therefore, turned firstof all to the word _Princess_. Five hundred pages were devoted to thissubject, and, truly, there was a great deal of very interestinginformation. As thus:-- PRINCESS: How to transform Goosegirl into. Spell for causing Princess to be surrounded with high walls of bronze, which may by no means be broken down except by the notes of a certain trumpet (_q. V. _). (Now _q. V. _ are the first letters of two magic words which are to befound in all dictionaries and encyclopædias to this day). PRINCESS: Enchanted ring for. A new and improved method by which she may be changed into a fawn together with any members of her family according to desire, and all of them transformed back again into their proper shape. PRINCESS: An excellent device for causing a Princess to grow tall or short by eating of a mushroom, with directions how to find the place where the mushroom grows, and precautions to be taken lest by over-much nibbling she disappear altogether. And so on. But there was never a word about how to prevent a Princessfrom falling into a charmed sleep through pricking her finger with thespindle of a spinning-wheel. So when he had read all through the five hundred pages, the venerablewizard turned to the word _Sleep_, in the hope that he would meet withbetter fortune. And there was much reliable information under this heading also. Therewere recipes for potent drugs which would cause sleep, and for stillmore potent drugs which would prevent people from going to sleep, andwhen the wizard came to this last he cried out eagerly, for he thoughtthat he had succeeded in his quest, until he read on and discovered thatthe spell described was only for use on wicked Queens who had shamefullyill-used their step-children. It is very easy to make a mistake inmagic, for it is a most complicated science. By the time he had read through the two hundred pages devoted to theword _Sleep_, the venerable wizard was very uneasy, but he was apersevering person and he did not abandon his endeavours. Merlin's wisebooks having failed him, he cast about for other means to learn what hedesired, and consulted his oracle. Now his oracle was a stuffed crocodile hanging from the ceiling, and avoice came from it which told him to repeat the magic formula. The magic formula is a sentence made up of all the sounds that are leftout of ordinary speech, and it is a fearsome thing to listen to. It isalso very exhausting to say, and after the venerable wizard had repeatedit, he was obliged to rest for several hours. Then he rose again anddrew pentagons on the rocky floor of his cave, and crossed triangles andcircles bordered with all the signs of the Zodiac. And he stood in themiddle of the pentagons and the crossed triangles and the circles andwent through all sorts of strange and secret rites, but all to nopurpose. [Illustration] But still he would not give up trying; and he went to mysterious placesin the woods and gathered strange herbs in the dark of the moon. And, returning home, he cast the herbs into a brazier and they burnt withflames of many colours, giving out clouds of dense smoke and a mosthorrible smell. Then, as these exercises did not bring him the resulthe desired, he gazed into crystals and poured ink into the palm of hishand, and did all the other things that he had learnt to do in all theyears since he was apprenticed to magic as a very small boy. And just as he was going to give up the quest in despair, a thought cameinto his head, and he cried aloud for joy, for he knew he had discoveredwhat he sought. This shows how even the most difficult things may beattained by perseverance and patience. At the top of his speed he hastened back to the palace and asked anaudience of the King. This was immediately granted, for, to tell thetruth, the King was awaiting his return with considerable anxiety. "Well, " said he, "have you succeeded in finding a way?" "I have, " answered the venerable wizard. "My arts have not failed me!"And he handed the King a piece of parchment on which were written thefollowing words. They were written in Latin to make them look moreimportant, but very likely it was not good Latin, for the venerablewizard had been apprenticed to his trade at an early age, and inconsequence his classical education had been somewhat neglected. Butthis was the meaning of them: Shall spindle prick?--then spindle burn, No thread weave and no wheel turn; If there's no spindle and there's no wheel, Then no finger the spindle can feel. The King slapped his thigh for joy. "Why, of course!" said he. "How isit that I did not myself think of such a simple solution? It seems tome, Wizard, that you have easily earned your thousand crowns!" "Ah, Majesty, " the wizard made answer, "all things are simple when onceyou know them. " And in this he was quite right. [Illustration] [Illustration] CHAPTER VI THE King lost no time in putting the wizard's counsel into effect. Thevery next day he caused a proclamation to be written, and ordered copiesof it to be fixed on all the church doors, and in all the public placesof every town in his kingdom. This is the way the proclamation read: [Illustration: WHEREAS a certain malicious fairy, forgetful of the duties she owes to the most high and puissant King and Queen, rightful sovereigns of these realms, and to the Princess Briar-Rose, their dearly loved daughter, has, of malice aforethought, and with intent to work grievous bodily harm to the person of the said Princess, in the presence of the said most puissant Sovereigns and of divers of their loyal subjects made and uttered a prophecy, to wit: that the said Princess shall in her fifteenth year prick her finger with the spindle of a spinning-wheel, and that a certain dire misfortune shall fall upon her because of that injury, to the sorrow of her loving parents: NOW BE IT DECREED That all spinning-wheels or instruments of spinning whatsoever, in the possession of any subjects of the King's most excellent Majesty, whether they be worked by hand or by treadle or by any other device, together with all spindles, shuttles, bobbins, and all other accessories or appurtenances thereunto belonging, shall forthwith be rendered up to the officers of the King's most excellent Majesty appointed to receive them. AND BE IT FURTHER DECREED That if any person or persons fail to observe or obey this edict or ordinance by unlawfully retaining any instrument of spinning or accessory thereunto, such persons shall be dealt with according to the full rigour of the law, and shall suffer the penalty of death. Given under our royal hand and seal. ] The issue of this proclamation caused a great deal of interest andexcitement throughout the kingdom. All the people came out of theirhouses to gaze at it, for they had never seen its like before, andthough very few of them knew how to read they realised that it must meansomething very important. So they sent for clerks and scholars to readit to them, paying a penny apiece for the service, which pennies, theclerks and scholars, being usually extraordinarily needy persons, werevery glad to earn. It usually took about three hours to read theproclamation and to explain it; and one must admit that it might havebeen expressed in fewer words. To do so, however, would not have beendignified, for this proclamation was what is called a legal instrument. The very next day into each town and village of the kingdom the King'sofficers came riding. Before them went a trumpeter who stopped at thehead of each street and blew a loud call. Having thus commandedattention he marched past the houses calling in a loud voice: "Bring out your spinning-wheels. Bring out your spinning-wheels!" So the people brought them out, not without grumbling, for aspinning-wheel is a very useful thing to have in a house, and in thosedays people spun and wove their own cloth to make their clothes. Butthey were afraid to disobey the King's order. And the spinning-wheels were of all shapes and sizes, some of them newand some of them hundreds of years old, and there was hardly a housethat did not possess one of some kind or another. They were allcollected together and loaded into waggons and taken to the capital, where they were piled up into an immense heap in the public square. Then the King and Queen and all the court came out and watched while thebig heap was set on fire. The people came out to watch too in theirthousands, and a very fine sight it was to see the enormous flamesshooting up into the air and to hear the crackle and hiss of the burningwood that sounded like the discharge of a hundred muskets. The King laughed aloud in his relief, and even the Queen smiled, whilethe little Princess Briar-Rose, who was held up to a window of thepalace to see the bonfire, stretched out her arms to the pretty flamesand crowed. But the people were not very much amused by the sightbecause they were their spinning-wheels which were being burnt. [Illustration] [Illustration] "I've had my wheel for twenty years, " said one woman, "and now I've noneat all, and how on earth I can get along without it I don't know, withsix growing lads to find breeches for!" [Illustration] [Illustration] "Five silver crowns my wheel cost my good man last Candlemass, " saidanother, "and there it goes up in flames and smoke. " "What is a wheel if the burning of it saves our little Princess?" quotha third. "Come, cheer up, Mother, the King has reason for what he doesand he will not see us want. " And this man was right. The King had no wish to oppress his subjects, for no sooner was the pile reduced to ashes than he caused anotherproclamation to be issued, saying that the owner of every spinning-wheelshould be paid for its loss. And not only so, but the King told hismerchants to buy spun yarn from neighbouring countries so that thepeople might be able to weave, even though they could not spin. CHAPTER VII THE little Princess Briar-Rose, of course, knew nothing of the strangeevents that had happened at the feast of her christening, and the Kinggave orders that nobody should even mention the subject to her. It isnot a pleasant thing to know that the fairies have decreed that oneshall fall asleep for a hundred years on one's fifteenth birthday, eventhough one is to be awakened by a handsome Prince at the end of thattime. So all the lords-in-waiting and the ladies-in-waiting had to bevery careful and discreet. If they told the Princess a story, they hadto keep the word "spinning" out of it; and if they showed her a bookthey had to take pains to see it did not contain a picture of aspinning-wheel, or any reference to a distaff or spindle, lest sheshould ask what they were. The King's Customs officers, on theboundaries of the kingdom, had to examine every waggon-load ofmerchandise that came into the country for fear it should contain aspinning-wheel; and if anybody was found trying to smuggle one in he wasbrought before the judges and punished. By these devices the King felt certain that he had averted the fate laidupon his daughter. But the promises of the other wise women were fulfilled to the letter, for the young Princess grew up to be the most beautiful, gifted andgracious maiden in all the world. That, at any rate, was what everybodyin the palace said, from the lords and ladies down to the scullions inthe kitchen, and although people are inclined sometimes to flatterRoyalty, in this case there was reason for their admiration. To begin with, the Princess was as lovely as a spring morning, with eyesof the purest, softest blue, and hair in which the rays of the sunseemed to be entangled. When she came into a room people stoppedwhatever they were doing to look at her, and everyone felt happierbecause she was there. [Illustration] [Illustration] And her cleverness! She never had any trouble with her letters or hermultiplication table. She could cipher as easily as she could spell; sheknew the history of her own country and of every country round it; andnobody could puzzle her with the hardest question in geography. Shecould sew and embroider, and knit and paint and draw; she could repeatpoetry in five different languages; she studied mathematics and botanyand astronomy and even law. In short, there was no end to her knowledge, and all because she had those fairies for her godmothers. [Illustration] [Illustration] Besides this, there were all her other accomplishments; she could playon all sorts of musical instruments, as, for instance, fiddle andzither, large harp and jew's-harp, church organ and mouth organ, fluteand penny-whistle, and even on the nursery comb; she could sing like anightingale and dance like a fairy. [Illustration] And yet she was never conceited or puffed-up, as some good-looking andaccomplished people are apt to be. On the contrary, she was alwayssweet-tempered and modest, and for this reason she was loved. People mayadmire good looks and a graceful deportment, and they may respectability, but it is only sweetness of nature and goodness of heart thatcan win love. And these things were the gift of the third fairy. [Illustration] [Illustration] So the years passed, and at last came the day when the PrincessBriar-Rose was fifteen years of age. [Illustration] What a day that was! Everybody came to wish her many happy returns, andshe had so many presents that at least a dozen servants were kept busyunwrapping the parcels. The King gave her a white pony with a saddle ofred velvet, and bridle and stirrups of gold, while the Queen's presentwas a beautiful and costly necklace of pearls. Even the boy who turnedthe spit in the kitchen brought her something, and though it was only alittle wooden shoe which he had carved with his own hands, the Princessprized it just as much as though it had been made of gold. The only person who was not happy on the Princess's birthday was theQueen, and she went about with a pale face and a look of great anxiety. "Come, come, my love, " said the King, "what is the matter with you?Surely you are not thinking of that foolish old prophecy!" "How can I help thinking about it?" the Queen answered. "I have not beenable to get it out of my mind for fifteen years, and now that the dayhas come I am afraid. " "Make your mind easy, " said the King. "Nothing is going to happen. Why, there's not a spinning-wheel within a hundred miles. I have taken goodcare of that!" And he went away chuckling, to attend a meeting of hisCabinet. But the Queen shook her head. [Illustration] Now while the King and Queen were talking, the Princess Briar-Rose waswandering about in the castle, visiting room after room, as she had donemany times before. The castle was so big that a stranger might easilyhave been lost in its maze of stairways and corridors, but Briar-Roseknew every part of it quite well, from the great kitchens below ground, where on feast days a score of cooks prepared the dinner for hundreds ofguests, to the topmost turret above the battlements, where the sentrieskept watch with their pikes on their shoulders. There was only one partof the castle which Briar-Rose had never explored, and that was anancient tower which rose from the eastern end. The door of that towerwas always locked, and although the Princess had often tried to findthe key she had never succeeded. The servants told her that the towerhad not been inhabited for nearly a hundred years, and it had never beenentered within the memory of anybody in the castle. [Illustration] [Illustration] To-day Briar-Rose flitted restlessly from place to place. She peepedinto the kitchen and saw the kitchen boys turning the spits on whichwhole oxen were being roasted. Then she went into the empty throne roomand saw the golden thrones side by side upon the dais, and the richtapestry, glowing with all the colours of the rainbow, on the walls. After that she mounted to the battlements from which she could see overmiles and miles of her father's kingdom, and not content with that, sheran up the staircases into the turrets and looked through their narrowslits of windows upon the courtyard below, so far down that the peoplewalking therein seemed no bigger than mice. And then she came down againand continued her wanderings, searching in all sorts of out-of-the-waycorners, until at last she found herself before the door of the ancienttower into which she had never been. And as she looked at the door, shegave a start of surprise and then a cry of joy. There was a key in the lock. [Illustration] CHAPTER VIII IT was a rusty key, and Briar-Rose was afraid that she might not be ableto turn it, but to her surprise it turned quite easily. The heavy doorswung inward on its ancient hinges with many a creak and groan, and shefound herself in a little dark room thickly carpeted with the dust ofyears. From this room a winding staircase led upward, and Briar-Rose wasjust about to climb the stair when a sudden noise made her start back inalarm. [Illustration] _Whirr!_ There was a beating of wings, a flurry and a scuffle, and pasther face flew a dark shape, with gleaming, yellow eyes. It was only anowl who was hiding in the tower out of the sunlight, but he gave poorBriar-Rose a great fright, and she was in two minds whether to turn backor not, but the winding staircase looked very inviting and she wanted tosee whither it led, so gathering up her skirts to avoid any creepythings that might be crawling about, she ran up the stairway as fast asshe could, round and round until she reached the top. There she cameupon another door. In this door also was a rusty key, and Briar-Rose turned it as easily asshe had turned the first. Then she pushed open the door and entered. She found herself in a small room lighted by narrow windows. Beneath oneof these windows was a couch, and in front of it sat an old woman with aspinning-wheel. "Good-morrow, Motherkin, " said the Princess. "What are you doing?" "I am spinning, my pretty child, " answered the old woman without ceasingher work. "Spinning?" asked the Princess. "Oh, do let me see! What is that thingwhich goes round so merrily?" "That is the spinning-wheel, " said the old woman. "Why, child, you speakas though you had never seen such a thing before. " "Indeed, I have not, " said the Princess. "How interesting it is! Iwonder whether I could do it as well as you. Will you let me try?" "Why, of course, " said the old woman, "every young girl should know howto spin. Here you are, my dear, " and she gave Briar-Rose the spindle. Now whether the Princess in her eagerness to seize the spindle graspedit too roughly, or whether it was just because the fairy had ordainedthat it should be so, I do not know, but anyhow the sharp iron pointpricked her hand, and immediately she fell backward on to the couch in adeep sleep. And in that very moment sleep fell upon every man, woman and child inthe castle, and upon every living thing within its gates. The King, whowas sitting at the Council-board with his ministers, stopped speaking inthe middle of a sentence, and remained with his mouth open, in the actof uttering a word, and nobody remarked the strangeness of his conduct, for all his ministers were asleep too, just as they sat. Outside thedoor the sentry leaned upon his pike. In the Queen's chamber theladies-in-waiting fell into a profound slumber in the very midst of whatthey were doing--one as she was hemming a handkerchief, another over herembroidery, still another while she was talking to her parrot. The Queenslept in her chair, and a little page-boy who was singing fell asleep inthe middle of a note. All through the castle the charmed slumber spread. Courtiers, officers, stewards, cooks, errand-boys, soldiers, beadles, --nay the very horses inthe stables and the dogs in their kennels were stricken motionless asthough they were dead. The flies ceased to buzz at the windows and thepigeons to coo upon the roof. In the great kitchen the scullions fellasleep as they were washing up the dishes, and a cook in the very act ofboxing the ears of a kitchen-knave. [Illustration] But not for a hundred years would he feel that blow, or be able to utterthe cry that was on the tip of his tongue. The dog fell asleep underthe table as he was gnawing a bone; the cat in front of a mouse-hole, the mouse itself on the other side of the skirting-board, with itslittle sharp nose outstretched to sniff the air suspiciously. Even thespits which were turning at the fire, laden with partridges andpheasants cooking for the Princess's birthday feast--even they ceased toturn, and the very fire stopped flickering and the flames sank down. [Illustration] A deep silence fell over the castle. In the fields the lambs ceased tobleat, the horses to neigh and the cows to low. The birds in the treeswere silent. One moment the air was full of the music of theirtwittering; the next, all was as still as in a desert. The very winddropped to sleep in the woods; not a leaf stirred, and the white cloudswere motionless in the sky. * * * * * So sleep fell upon the enchanted castle and upon all within it, becauseof the Princess Briar-Rose, who lay there on her couch in the ancienttower waiting till the hundred years should be past and the Princeshould come to waken her. And all round the castle there grew up a hedge of thorn, tangled withivy, woodbine and creeping plants, so dense that from a distance itseemed like a little wood. Higher and higher it grew, closing round thecastle like a wall until all that could be seen was the top of thehighest tower, and the flagstaff from which the royal standard hung limpand motionless. And the years went by, each with its changing seasons. Spring came andbrought to the fields and woods outside the new life of leaf and flower. The trees awoke from their winter sleep and clothed themselvesgloriously in green; the birds began to sing again and the swallows andmartins built their nests under the eaves; children laughed and clappedtheir hands because they were happy in the bright sunshine, and oldpeople felt their hearts filled with joy when they saw the mist ofbluebells in the woods and the daffodils dancing in the breeze. [Illustration] But within the thorn hedge no life stirred, and neither flower nor treeanswered the call of spring. [Illustration] As time went on, the people who were young when the palace was enchantedgrew old and died, but they never forgot the prophecy that one of thesedays the sleeping Princess should awaken; and they told the story totheir children, who told it in their turn, changing it a little becauseit was only a tale to them. And so, after many years, the legend spreadabroad to neighbouring countries, and many a young prince dreamed thatit was he who was destined to break the spell and waken the sleepingPrincess. Now and again one would take the quest upon him and try to force his waythrough the thick hedge. But no one succeeded. The sharp thorns grippedthe unhappy young men like clutching hands, and held them fast, so thatthey could neither go forward nor back, and they perished miserably. Their bones, whitened by the sun and wind, remained there as a warningfor all to see, and the creeping plants grew over them. CHAPTER IX A HUNDRED years passed away. At the end of that time it happened one daythat a young Prince who was hunting in the neighbourhood caught sight ofthe towers of the enchanted castle rising above the dense forest. He hadnever been in that part of the country before, and had heard nothing ofthe story of the Sleeping Princess, so he asked the first people he metwhat those towers were, and to whom the castle belonged. Everybody told him a different tale. One said that it was an old castlehaunted by spirits; another, that it was a meeting-place for all thewitches and sorcerers in the land, who gathered there to practise theirsecret rites. "No, no, " said a third. "That castle is the home of a giant, and all thepeople in these parts are very much afraid of him, so I have been told, because he steals their cattle and their crops, and even carries offtheir children to be his servants. And they cannot go to the rescue ofthose he has imprisoned in this way, because of the forest all round thecastle, which is so dense that nobody can force his way through. " And so they went on, one saying one thing, and one another, for eachrepeated what he had heard. At last an old peasant stepped forward. "Fifty years ago, my Prince, " said he, "my father told me the story ofthat castle, and since he was born in these parts, I think it was thetrue story, and I will tell it you if you would like to hear it. " The Prince nodded eagerly, and the old man went on: "My father said that years before he himself was born a King and Queenlived in the castle with their daughter, the most beautiful Princessthat ever was seen. In some way or other they angered the fairies, whoput a spell upon the place and upon every one within it, so that theyfell into a deep sleep. My father said that this sleep would last ahundred years, but at the end of that time a King's son should come andwaken the beautiful Princess and make her his bride. " When the young Prince heard these words he felt his heart beat quickly. Something seemed to tell him that he and no other was the King's son whowas destined to remove the spell, and he cried: "Show me the way to thecastle, for I will take this adventure upon me. " [Illustration] But the old man shook his head. "I have not yet told you all, my Prince. Many are the young men who have tried to force their way through thethick wood that guards the enchanted castle. Each of them thought thathe, and he alone, was destined to awaken the Sleeping Beauty, and eachof them set out with high hopes; but none of them all came back, andtheir bones, whitened by the wind and rain, lie among the thorns of thethick hedge, a fearful warning to the venturesome. I pray you, therefore, my Prince, do nothing rash, but think well before you takeupon yourself this perilous quest. " [Illustration] "What, " cried the Prince with flashing eyes, "shall I hold back whenothers have dared? This very hour I will attempt to enter the castle, and if I do not return, carry home the news of how I have died. " Then without paying any heed to the words of those who would prevent himfrom rushing into such danger, the eager young man set out, his heart onfire with thoughts of love and glory. Nobody showed him the way, but hecould see the towers of the castle rising above the distant wood, andwhen he entered the wood itself, and the towers were hidden, each pathhe took led him nearer to the place where he would be. At last he came to an open glade, and there before him was a tangledhedge of thorn, stretching in either direction as far as the eye couldsee. [Illustration] [Illustration] CHAPTER X AND now, as the Prince drew nearer, he could see that the story he hadheard about that terrible place was true, for held in the tangle ofbriar were the bones of many unhappy young men who had tried to forcetheir way through to the castle. Rags and tatters of their finery hungupon the great thorns that pointed menacingly like sharp claws. Here andthere upon the ground beneath lay pieces of rusty armour, a helmetsurrounded by a coronet of gold that once had belonged to a King's son, a shield with a Prince's device, a sword with jewel-encrusted hilt wortha King's ransom. There they lay, all disregarded among the blanchedbones upon the grass, and the ground-ivy spread out its leaves to coverthem. Not a sound broke the deep and awful silence. No bird sang, no insectdroned; there was no scurry of woodland creatures among the leaves, nosigh of wind in the trees. In all that place only the thorn hedge seemedthreateningly alive, waiting to destroy the intruder who should attemptto force the secret it guarded. Who would blame the Prince if for a moment his heart had almost failedhim? There was no gap in that hedge, and the great thorns were sharp asdagger blades to stab his flesh. But if the Prince hesitated it was notfor long. "Have I come so far to turn back now?" he thought. "Theseothers who have died were brave men, and though they failed, with acourage as great as theirs I may succeed. " And without wasting anothermoment the Prince began to force his way through the hedge. And now he noticed with surprise that those thorns which looked so sharpand cruel became soft as thistledown as soon as he touched them, and thetrailing bramble branches did not entangle him but bent aside at histouch as though they had been stems of grass. The hedge opened beforehim, and as he went through it pink blossoms of wild roses bloomed onthe branches, until the tangled wall became a mass of flowers. At last the Prince found himself on the other side of the hedge in thegardens of the castle. Before him he could see the high towers andturrets bathed in the fresh light of the morning sun, and as he hastenedtowards them he noticed that the gardens were as trim and tidy as thoughthey had just been tended by the gardeners. There was no moss or weedupon the smooth paths, the turf on the lawns was as short and firm asthough it had just been mown, and in the flower-beds everything was inthe most careful order. Spring flowers were blooming there, but theybowed their heads upon their stalks, and even the trees seemed to hangtheir arms as though asleep. [Illustration] Everywhere there was the same deep silence. The air, which should havebeen full of the twittering of birds, was heavy and languorous. Therewas no flutter of butterfly-wings or darting of flies; the fountains onthe lawns were not playing, and as the Prince glanced over the edge ofthe marble basin of one of them he could see the goldfish beneath thewater-lily leaves lying still, with never a wave of the tail or flickerof fin. [Illustration] So he went on over the lawns and terraces and never a waking thing didhe see, but when he came to the courtyard he saw a soldier standingthere, leaning on his pike with his head bent upon his chest. At firstthe Prince thought that he was dead, but his cheek was fresh and ruddyand it was quite plain to see that he was merely asleep. In thecourtyard itself were other human forms, all still and silent. A row ofpikemen leaned against the wall and in front of them, stretched out uponthe ground, snored the sergeant who had been drilling them when thespell came upon the castle. A young squire, with a sleeping hawk uponhis wrist, slept leaning against a sleeping horse which he had beenabout to mount. Near by lay a page with a hound in leash, both sleepingas soundly as though they never would awake, and through a window in thestables the Prince saw a groom lying with a straw in his mouth. [Illustration] In the stables themselves a like condition of things prevailed. Thehorses slept at their stalls with their noses to the mangers, standingon their four legs just as they were when they were enchanted a hundredyears before, and on the back of one of them sat the stable-cat. Hereand there upon the ground lay grooms and ostlers, fast asleep among thestraw. From the stables the Prince made his way to the great kitchen where hesaw equally strange sights, and he could not help smiling when he cameupon the cook with her hand still outstretched to clout the head of theunhappy scullion whom she had by the ear. Before the fires hung thespitted partridges and fowls that were cooking for the Princess'sbirthday feast, and at the table a maid had fallen asleep with her handsin a large trough full of dough. She had been making the pastry for apie when the sleep fell upon her, and by her side was another maid whohad been plucking a black hen. At the sink a kitchen-knave was leaningover the pot he had been scouring. Then the Prince went out into the great hall and saw the courtiersasleep in the window alcoves, or stretched out upon the polished floor. Everywhere was a silence so profound that the Prince was almost alarmedto hear his own breathing, and the beating of his heart sounded like amuffled drum. On and on he went, through rooms and corridors, upstaircases and down staircases, into the Queen's chamber where he sawthe Queen and her ladies as still and silent as the rest; one of thoseladies had been reading to the Queen at the moment when the charmedsleep fell upon the castle, and the book, a History of Troy, still layopen on her lap. Then the Prince went into the King's room where hisMajesty sat with his ministers of state round the Council board. Healmost lingered there, for it was very curious to see those nobles asquiet and motionless as though they had been waxworks in a show. Some ofthem were frowning as though in deep thought, and some smiling as thoughthey had suddenly remembered something clever to say. The King himself, at the head of the Council table, had evidently fallen asleep in thevery midst of a speech, for his arm lay outstretched on the table withpointing finger, and, by his side, his secretary's fingers still heldthe pen with which he was inscribing on a roll of parchment the royalwords. So the Prince hurried through the castle from top to bottom until he hadglanced into every room and opened every door. And still he knew thatthere was something more to see, for nowhere had he come across thesleeping Princess. Many maidens he had seen of surpassing beauty, buthis heart told him that none of them all was the maiden whom he had cometo awaken. Down he went into the courtyard again and found another stairway whichled to the battlements. There stood the watchmen whose duty it was tolook out over the country and report the arrival of travellers, butthey, too, were all asleep, though one of them had his horn in his handas though he had been about to blow it when he was suddenly overcome bythe charmed slumber. From the battlements the Prince climbed, in turn, into each of theturrets, but there was nobody in them at all, and no living thing exceptthe owls asleep in the crevices of the walls, and the bats that hunghead downward from the rafters. Now only one small turret remained to beexplored. It was the oldest of the turrets, almost a ruin, and plainlylong unused, for the iron door was rusty and the ivy trailed about thewalls. The Prince approached it with a beating heart, for there he knew heshould find what he sought. He threw open the creaking door; withimpatient feet he mounted the crazy, winding stair, opened the door atthe top and entered a little dark room. And then--and then he started forward with a cry of joy and wonder, forlying on the couch below the narrow window he saw the Princess. She was lying upon a couch with her lovely hair spread out like a streamof gold; and, oh! no words can tell how beautiful she was. Softly thePrince came near and bent over her. He touched her hand; it was warm asin life, but she did not stir. No sound of breathing came from herparted lips, fresh and sweet as the petals of a rose; her eyes wereclosed. For a long time the Prince stood and gazed upon her, for never in allhis life had he seen a maiden so lovely. Then suddenly he bent down andkissed her lips. [Illustration] That was the end of the enchantment. The Princess's eyelids quivered;languidly she moved her head and stretched out her arms. Her eyes openedand she smiled. "Is it you, my Prince?" she said. "How long you have kept me waiting!" [Illustration] CHAPTER XI IN that very moment the charm was broken and the castle awoke. [Illustration] Instead of the profound silence there came a hustle and confusion ofnoise. Clocks began to strike, doors began to slam, dogs began to bark, cocks began to crow and hens to cluck; a breeze sprang up outside andset the branches of the trees swaying and creaking; the doves began tocoo upon the roofs, the swallows to twitter under the eaves, flies cameout and buzzed about the window, mice squeaked in the wainscot and ranscampering along the rafters. The fountain in the garden leapt up sixtyfeet into the air, and the goldfish swam among the water-lily leaves;ants left their nests and foraged about the paths, the butterfliesdanced and fluttered over the flowers, which lifted their heads asthough to drink in the rays of the sun. In every tree in the garden athrush woke up and began to sing; sparrows chirped, jays screamed, blue-tits chattered, and the chiff-chaff uttered his strange note. Inthe woods a cuckoo called and blackbird fluted to blackbird in thehedge. In the stables the horses awoke and champed at their stalls; thecat jumped down and ran after a mouse which crept out from under thestraw. The sentry at the courtyard gate woke up and rubbed his eyes andcame smartly to attention, looking round uneasily, for he thought he hadonly been asleep for a few minutes and was afraid that somebody mighthave seen him who would report him to the sergeant. The pikemen alsowoke with a start, and the sergeant woke too, and bellowed an order in aloud and angry voice, for he was ashamed of himself for sleeping infront of his men. The young squire who was going hawking fitted hisfalcon's hood and mounted his steed; the page-boy with the hound wentoff to his master. On the topmost tower of the castle the royalstandard, which had been drooping against the flagstaff, filled out andwaved freely in the breeze. [Illustration] The hedge which had grown up to surround the enchanted castle broke inand disappeared; peacocks squalled and strutted on the lawns, martinsflitted to and from their nests under the eaves, pigs began to grunt, oxen to low, sheep to bleat, rooks to caw and children to laugh andsing. In short, all the sounds which we hear every day and all the timeand never notice, began again and seemed so loud in contrast to thedeadly silence that they almost cracked the ears. And in every room in the castle the people who had been lying asleep fora hundred years woke up and went on with what they had been doing justas though nothing had happened. In the kitchen the flames of the fireleapt up with a hiss and a roar. The kettle began to boil, the stew-potto bubble, and the meat before the fire to steam and hiss as the littleboy turned the spit. "Take that, " cried the cook, giving the scullion the clout she hadpromised a hundred years before. "Take that for a lazy knave. " "Goodness, " yawned the maid who had been plucking the black hen; "Iwonder what made me drop off to sleep like that? Well, well, it's to behoped the cook didn't see me!" And my word, how she made the feathersfly! [Illustration] _Miaou!_ cried the cat in disgust as he made a pounce at the mouse-holehe had been watching, for the little mouse who had poked his noseout a hundred years before drew it back like a flash and scampered away. [Illustration] [Illustration] "Dear me!" said the servant who was washing the dishes; "I do believe Ihave been to sleep with this crock in my hand. It's a mercy I didn't letit fall!" And he went on with his scouring. It was the same thing in thedairy where the maids had fallen asleep while they were skimming thecream and churning the butter. And the cream was not sour for all that ahundred years had passed, nor was the butter rank. But a fly which hadbeen sleeping on the edge of one of the milk-pans woke up and flew downto taste the milk, and fell in and was drowned, so he was none thebetter because the spell had been taken off the castle. [Illustration] In the Queen's ante-chamber the maids-of-honour and theladies-in-waiting sat up and yawned and stretched themselves. Each oneof them thought that she was the only one who had fallen asleep, andthey all began to explain at the same time that they had only closedtheir eyes for forty seconds. "It was the heat, " they all said to eachother. "The sun is very hot for this time of year. " In the King's council chamber the King and all his ministers woke upwith a start. The ministers rubbed their eyes and looked very sheepish, for each of them thought that he was alone in being caught napping. "Your Majesty was saying . . . ?" said the Prime Minister respectfully, leaning forward. "I was saying . . . " said the King. "What was I saying?" And he stretchedout his arms and yawned. "I crave your pardon, my lords. I do believeI've been asleep. Heigho! but my joints are stiff. " "It was but an after-dinner nap, " said the Prime Minister. "Your Majestyis overspent with the hard hunting yesterday. Is it your Majesty's willthat we should proceed with our business, or shall the Council riseuntil to-morrow?" "Go on, my lords, go on, " cried the King heartily. "My little nap haswonderfully refreshed me. What say you, shall we pass that bill we werediscussing a few minutes ago?" But at this moment a page came into the room with a message from theQueen, and as soon as he received it the King left his seat in thecouncil chamber and went to her. Alone, among all the people in the castle, the Queen had realisedimmediately she awoke from her charmed sleep, exactly what had happened. She remembered the words of the fairy godmother, and she knew that whatshe had foretold had come to pass, and that the sleep from which she andeverybody else in the castle had just awakened had lasted a hundredyears. Her first thought was of her daughter, the Princess Briar-Rose. Wherewas she, and what had happened to her? If she, too, had merely fallenasleep, all was well, but suppose the doom first spoken by thethirteenth fairy had taken effect? In a few words she told the King all that was in her mind, and withoutdelay messengers were sent all over the castle to look for the Princess. In the meantime Briar-Rose and the young Prince were talking together inthe ruined tower. For the first time she heard the story of theenchantment, and her eyes grew round with wonder as she listened to herlover's account of the strange things that had happened in the castle. When he told of the great hedge and its cruel thorns, and of the manyyoung men who died in trying to force their way through it, her eyesfilled with tears. "How great their courage was, " she sighed. "Oh, if only I could bringthem back to life. " But the Prince kissed her tears away, and hastened past that part of histale, and presently she was smiling again and happy, because sheunderstood that everything had happened as it was bound to happen. Then the Prince took her hand and raised her from the couch on which shehad slept so long, and they went down the winding stair together andcame to the battlements, where they found a score of breathless peoplewho had been running up and down in search of her. And how surprised these people were to find her in that place, accompanied by a young man they had never seen before! She seemed tohave grown more beautiful than ever during her long sleep, and they wereamazed by her loveliness. [Illustration] And how may we describe the joy of the King and Queen when they sawtheir daughter again and knew that the good fairy had kept her word? TheKing was so delighted that all he could say was "Bless my soul! bless mysoul!" And the Queen could say nothing at all, for she was weeping forjoy. What a feast there was that night! In spite of the hundred years thathad gone by it was still the Princess's birthday, and she was in realityno more than fifteen years old, for time had stood still for her. So shehad her birthday feast just the same, and it was her betrothal feasttoo, for the King joined the hands of the young Prince and his daughterand gave them his blessing. THE END PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY RICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED, BRUNSWICK ST. , STAMFORD ST. , S. E. 1, AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK. * * * * * Transcriber's Note: Page 78, a closing quote was added after (can force his way through. )