Fairy Tales (boyxboy)

Ben and the Beast (Beauty and the Beast)

Once upon a time, in a faraway land, a young prince lived in a shining castle. Although he had everything a person could want, he had no love in his heart. One winter's night, an old woman came to the castle begging the prince for shelter from the cold. In return for this kindness, he offered him a single, perfect rose. Disgusted by her rags, the prince sneered at the rose and turned the poor woman away.

'Do not be fooled by appearances,' she warned him. 'There is beauty to be found within all things.'

Then, in a flash, the woman's ugliness melted away to reveal a lovely enchantress! 

As punishment for his selfishness, the enchantress turned the prince into a hideous beast, the castle into a dark fortress, and the servants into household objects.

Before she left, she gave the prince two gifts: a magic mirror that allowed him to see the outside world, and the rose, which would only live until his twenty-first birthday.

'If you learn to love another and earn their love in return before the last petal of the rose has fallen,' said the enchantress, 'the spell will be broken. If now, you will remain a beast forever!'

A few years passed. One day, in a village not far from the castle, a young man named Ben was crossing the town square. Ben loved to read, and as usual, had his nose in a book. The handsome but conceited Gaston watched him. Gaston admired Ben almost as much as he admired himself.

'He is the man I am going to marry!' he declared.

When Ben got home, his father Maurice greeted him excitedly.

'I've just finished my latest invention!' he exclaimed. 'I hope the works.'

'Of course it will,' Ben reassured him. 'I'm sure it will win first prize at the fair!'

 That afternoon Maurice hitched his invention to his house, Philippe, and set off for the fair. But maurice and Philippe became lost as they rode through the forest. Suddenly they heard the howling of wolves! The fightened hourse reared up in alarm, sending poor Mauice flying through the air.

Maurice got up quickly and ran down a hillside with the wolves snapping at his heels. He saw an iron gate, slipped through it, and slammed it shut just in time. He followed a path until he came to a dark, forbidding castle. When no one answered his knock, Maurice opened the creaking door and let himself in. No sooner was he inside than a strange thing happened.

A canle stick bowed and began talking to him.

'Welcome my good man!' said the candle stick. Then a clock stepped out of the shaddows and scolded the candlestick.

'Lumiere, you know our master said not to let anyone in!'

'Oh but now that's he here Cogsworth,' said Mrs. Potts, a talking teapot 'we must be kind to the old gentleman!' Her teacup son, Chip, agreed. So they gave Maurice some tea, a bite to eat and a chair to rest in.

Suddenly a dreadful beast burst into the room!

'A stranger!' he roared. 'What are you doing here?'

'I just needed a place to stay,' whispered Maurice, timidly.

'I'll give you a place to stay!' shouted the Beast,

Then he scooped Maurice up in his hairy paws and carried him off to the dungeon!

Back in the village, Ben was waiting for his father to return when Gaston came to ask for his hand in marrige.

Ben tried to say no politely. 'I really don't deserve you...' he started to say, but Gaston would not listen. He had backed her up against the door when Belle reached for the doorknob. She opened the door and sent him sprawling down the steps into a giant puddle.