A long time ago there was a king and queen who said every day, "Ah, if only we had a child," but they never had one.

　　And finally the queen had a little girl who was so pretty that the king could not contain his joy, and ordered a great feast.

When it came to an end, thirteen wise women came to bestow magical gifts upon the baby.

　　When eleven of them had made their promises, suddenly the thirteenth came in.

She wished to avenge herself for not having been invited, and she cried with a loud voice, "The king's daughter shall, in her fifteenth year, prick herself with a spindle, and fall down dead.

"　　They were all shocked, but the twelfth, whose good wish still remained unspoken, came forward, and as she could not undo the evil sentence, but only soften it, she said, "It shall not be death, but a deep sleep of a hundred years, into which the princess shall fall.

"　　The king, who wanted to keep his dear child from the misfortune, gave orders that every spindle in the whole kingdom should be burnt.

　　It happened that on the very day when the princess was fifteen years old, she climbed up a narrow, winding staircase in the castle and reached a little door.

In the room sat an old woman with a spindle, busily spinning her flax.

　　"Good day, old mother," said the king's daughter, "What sort of thing is that, that rattles round so merrily," said the girl, and she took the spindle and wanted to spin too.

But scarcely had she touched the spindle, she pricked her finger with it.

And, she fell down and lay in a deep sleep.

And this sleep extended over the whole palace.

　　Around about the castle there began to grow a hedge of thorns, which every year became higher, and at last grew all over the castle.

　　The story went about, and from time to time kings' sons came and tried to get through the thorny hedge into the castle.

But the youths were caught in the hedges and died a miserable death.

　　Then a hundred years had just passed, and the day had come when the princess was to awake again.

When a king's son came near to the thorn hedge, it was nothing but large and beautiful flowers.

He went on farther, and in the great hall he saw the whole of the court lying asleep.

Then he went on still farther, and at last he opened the door into the little room where the king's daughter was sleeping.

　　There she lay, so beautiful that he could not turn his eyes away, and he stooped down and gave her a kiss.

But as soon as he kissed her, she opened her eyes and awoke and looked at him quite sweetly.

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