Mr. Rapunzel?

End of the beginning ❣

Once in a faraway land of Utopia, there was a beautiful king and queen who lived in a palace. They had long in vain wished for a child. They wanted to have a boy one to be crowned as a prince. And as they wished the queen is pregnant, and fortunately it was a boy. At the back of their palace from which a splendid garden could be seen, which was full of the most beautiful flowers and herbs. It was, however, surrounded by a high wall, and no one dared to go into it because it belonged to an enchantress named Veronica, who had great power and was dreaded by all the world.

One day the queen was standing by this window and looking down into the garden, when she saw a bed which was planted with the most beautiful daffodils, and it looked so fresh and beautiful that she longed for it, and had the greatest desire to touch and smell it everyday. This desire increased every day, and as she knew that she could not get any of it and she began to look pale and miserable.

Then her husband was alarmed, and asked, "What ails you, dear wife?"

The queen replied, "if I can't touch and smell some daffodils, which is in the garden behind our palace, I’m getting weaker and weaker."

The king, who loved her so much, would not let his wife die. He bring her some of the daffodils himself. At twilight, he clambered down over the wall into the garden of the enchantress, hastily clutched a handful of daffodils, and took it to his wife. It feels so good to her - so very good, that the next day she longed for a newly picked as much as possible. If he was to have any rest, her husband must once more descend into the garden. In the gloom of evening, therefore, he let himself down again. But when he had clambered down the wall he was terribly afraid, for he saw the Veronica standing before him.

"How dare you to pick up some of my daffodils without my permission," said she with angry look, "descend into my garden and steal my daffodils like a thief? You shall suffer for it."

The king answered, "let mercy take the place of justice, I only made up my mind to do it out of necessity. My wife saw your beautiful daffodils from the window, and felt such a longing for it that she would have died if she had not got some to touch and smell"

Then veronica allowed her anger to be softened, and said to him, "If the case be as you say, I will allow you to take away with you as much daffodils as you will, only I make one condition, you must give me the child which your wife will bring into the world. It shall be well treated, and I will care for it like a mother."

The king replied, “but we’re longing for a child too.”

“Then, no daffodils”, veronica replied.

A couple of months, the child was born and the palace was in felicity. They named him Stalwart, which means strong and bold. The king in his terror consented to everything, and when the queen was brought to bed, the enchantress appeared at once, gave the child the name of Rapunzel, out of her knowledge that it was a baby boy, and took it away with her. The enchantress might be powerful but she’s pretty dumb about gender, that she can’t distinguish the sex organs between a girl and a boy. So, she really thought that the baby she took away with her will be wearing a skirt someday.

Stalwart or commonly known as Rapunzel grew into the most beautiful child under the sun. When he was twelve years old, the enchantress shut him into a tower, which lay in a forest, and had neither stairs nor door, but quite at the top was a little window. When the enchantress wanted to go in, she placed himself beneath it and cried,

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel,
Let down your hair!"

Rapunzel had magnificent long hair, fine as spun gold, and when he heard the voice of the enchantress he unfastened his braided tresses, wound them round one of the hooks of the window above, and then the hair fell twenty ells down, and the enchantress climbed up by it.