Beauty and Her Beast

There once was an old merchant who had three daughters. He was very smart and wealthy, and he spared no expense on tutors for his children to make them smart and clothes to make them beautiful. Two of his daughters were very snobbish and hated the impoverished folk. They couldn't even stand to walk on the same side of the street as them. The only people they wanted to be around were the wealthy and people with rank. They spent their time at balls, the theaters, going on walks with wealthy men, but their favorite pastime of all was making fun of their very humble younger sister who loved nothing more than a good book.

Since the older sisters were known to be very wealthy, many rich merchants wanted to marry them, but the older of the two insisted that they must marry a duke or at least a count. Beauty, the youngest daughter, politely declined all of her marriage proposals, insisting that she was too young for marriage and that she must take care of her father, who is in declining health.

The merchant grew more ill, and one day, he was robbed, and he lost all of his fortune, so he and his three daughters had to sell their home and move into their countryside shack. He told them that they must live and work like peasants to make ends meet. The two older daughters were very sad and refused to move to the shack for they had many admirers who would still marry them without their wealth, while Beauty was indifferent because she preferred the countryside with all the peace to read her books.

For months after they moved to their shack, the tired Beauty woke up before dawn to tend to the sheep, cook breakfast for her sisters and father, and did not end work until after the moon was high in the sky. She scarcely had time to read. Her sisters did not help out around the house or the farm at all. They remained bored and sat on their rears all day. They left all the chores to Beauty, for they disliked the fact that she was more beautiful and loved than they were. They hated that the wealthy merchants still wanted her hand, so they bullied her and used her.

The older sisters tried to convince Beauty to marry a very handsome and wealthy hunter, who had been after her since she became a young woman, but she refused. The sisters were hoping to inherit some of his wealth so they would no longer have to live like impoverished slaves but alas, Beauty saw through their antics and decided that she would run away. She sat down with her father and told him how she felt and that she could no longer live with her sister's bullying and being the only one who works. She told her father that she would travel to the next town and stay with the librarian and that she would visit. He thought it was a good idea and it was a great opportunity for her.

While Beauty packed a bag for her departure, she could hear her sisters in the next room yelling and squealing about how unfair it was that Beauty got to leave while they stayed behind to do the chores. Beauty put in her bag one other dress she owned and a single book to read. She hugged her dear father goodbye, and she rode off while her sisters snobbishly remarked, “Good riddance.”

She rode for a day and half of the night before she ultimately realized that she was indeed lost. She found herself at the edge of the woods standing on a cliff over the sea and could hear behind her in the trees a ravenous howl. It was some distance away, but it still frightened her enough to get onto her horse and ride into the woods away from the howling sound. She was so frantic that she left her book on the ground.

She rode until the early hours of the morning. She halted at a crossroad and contemplated which road to take. There was no sign indicating which way was which, but she could see the faintest of lights at the end of the left road. She ultimately decided to take that road, hoping to find shelter. She rode upon a large run-down castle with torches lit. There were roses everywhere, and great climbing vines lined the castle walls. Ginormous weeping willows slumped in the courtyard and hovered gently over the marble fountain with the statue of a very handsome young man.