nce upon a time, there was a poor peasant couple who lived outside a small village. The village was in a small rural valley, and in the forest nearby was the witch 's castle. One day, the couple ran out of food and could not afford to buy any more, so the wife sent her husband to find something to eat. He looked long and hard for a meal but found nothing, so as not to dissapoint his family, he climbed over the wall that surrounded the witch's castle and stole a cabbage from the garden. Just as he was at the top of the wall with the food, appeared, angry that the peaceful garden should be so rudely disturbed, and knocked the man off the ledge. He landed at 's feet. "I could kill you for this," the witch hissed. "For trespassing!" The poor man begged and pleaded with the witch to have mercy on him, that it was only one cabbage and his family was starving. finally relented, under one condition: that at anytime, any possession of the couple's could be claimed as 's own. The man eagerly agreed, with that dissapeared over the wall and rushed home.
In time, a baby girl was born to the couple, and they named her . A couple years passed in which the family lived comfortably enough to buy all the food they needed. One day 's mother was outside watching toddle around when returned to collect the dues. Before the startled mother could respond, seized the child and returned home.
The witch locked in a room at the very top of a seperate castle tower in the forest, to ensure that she would not run away or be stolen by her parents. Not knowing the little girl's name, renamed her Rapunzel.
took care of the child as she were the witch's own daughter, but still kept her secluded and never allowed her to cut or trim her beautiful, cascading, hair. grew to become a beautiful and talented young woman. She loved and learned to sing like a bird. She loved her foster parent very much and was very grateful; but she longed to escape the tower for once and explore the outside world.
One afternoon, while she was alone and the sun was streaming into the room, was and singing a beautiful song to herself. Prince , who was riding through the forest on his white horse with his father and a hunting party, heard the song from a distance. Smitten, he escaped the group and rode to the tower. He didn't see anyone. Hearing a noise behind him, he quickly popped behind a tree. The witch approached the foot of the tower and called "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair." A long, twisted, braid appeared from the highest tower window and gradually lengthened until it reached near to the ground. The witch, grabbing the braid, proceed to climb up. When the witch dissapeared inside the window, the braid was drawn back up inside the window without the owner's face ever appearing.
Prince was stunned. "If her voice and hair are so beautiful, then she must be heaven sent," he muttered to himself. Tethering his horse to the tree, he sat down to wait. After awhile, the witch exited the tower in the same strange manner, and rode away.
When was positive that would not return, he crept to the tower, and called softly, "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair." Again the braid came down and climbed up. , expecting her foster parent, was, as expected, surprised. The prince could not believe his eyes, that such a girl should remain locked up in a tower in his kingdom for her entire life. She was flattered by his obvious attention, and they fell in love. Wanting to meet secretly, they planned times when the prince could visit her without the witch knowing. With that, returned to his castle before he was missed.
After many, many, undiscovered meetings, the pair agreed to escape, marry, and return to 's palace. On the planned day of elopement, the witch made an unplanned visit. When let down her hair, she called, ", you feel lighter than normal this evening..." The witch, angry, forced her to tell everything. In a fit of rage, cut off all of 's beautiful hair and threw it into the fire.
When Prince came to take his bride-to-be to her new home, she was still sobbing. Because her hair had been cut, he could not climb up, so he promised her he'd return the next day with a rope ladder. The witch, unbeknowst to the pair, had hidden nearby, and overheard the lovers' conversation. returned the next day as promised, threw the rope ladder over the window ledge, and climbed up. To his horror, only was there. Before the witch could do anything, majorly freaked and fell out of the tower. Luckily for him, a thorn bush caught his fall and he went blind instead of dying.
Prince tried to return home. The forest was virtually uninhabited, and it was days before he could find a kindly old man who gave him decent food and led him to the castle steps. Because Prince was dirty, his clothes in rags, and still bloody and limping from the fall, the guards didn't recognize him and so they turned him away from his castle, presuming him to be a mad peasant imagining himself to be a prince. was left to wander the kingdom, blind and heartbroken, and a beggar.
After several years, Prince was wandering sightlessly, slowly, through the great forest when he heard a beautiful, but sad, song that sounded very familiar. He refused to believe his ears, and crawling in that direction, reached a path and entered a small hut. , whom had banished forever, recognized him immediately. The two lovers embraced for a long time and told each other everything that had occured since their seperation. When the prince told how he came to be blind, she began to weep. held her tightly, and one of her tears fell into the prince's eyes and his sight returned completely. Now that his vision wasn't a bright blur, Prince could see that was more beautiful than he had remembered. Although clothed crudely, her radiant hair was long again and loosely moving in the slight breeze, and tears flowed down her cheeks. , laughing with joy, wiped her face gently, bent over, and kissed her. What better way to celebrate being together again, huh? They continued for awhile until it got so hot that they risked creating a forest fire. Prince and returned to the palace, and the king, who was outside and preparing for a horseback ride through the country, recognized his long lost son. After stories were told, the two lovers finally got married...
AND OF COURSE THEY LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER!!! THIS IS A FAIRY TALE!!! But...whatever is "happily ever after" to you...any of your wildest fantasies...you decide, it's your story.
all fairy tales by me, Ginger
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