Bedtime stories for littles

Sleeping Beauty

Long ago in France there lived a King and Queen. More than anything, they longed for a child. At last, to their great happiness, the Queen gave birth to a little girl. All the bells in the land were rung with joy.

The King and Queen invited all the fairies in the kingdom to the Naming Party for the baby. And what a party it was! Plates and silverware of pure gold were set with care for each guest. But one fairy, Maleficent, who had left 50 years before and had not been seen in all that time, showed up at the door. Quickly the King and Queen found a place setting for the new guest. But alas, the plate and the silverware were not of pure gold. This made the old fairy very angry.

Soon it was time for each Fairy to give her blessing to the baby. When it came to Maleficent's turn, she stood up and pointed her long finger at the sleeping baby girl in the cradle.

This made the old fairy very angry.

"I declare, before all of you," Maleficent called out, "that this child, on her 16th birthday, shall prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel, and die!"

With a whoosh of smoke, the evil fairy vanished. Everyone cried out with alarm, as you can imagine. But one fairy had not yet given her blessing. The King and Queen this fairy, whose name was Merryweather, to reverse the curse. Merryweather shook her head sadly – that was not possible. But she could soften the curse.

"On her 16th birthday," she said, "when the princess pricks her finger on the spinning wheel, instead of dying she will fall asleep for 100 years."

"One hundred years!" said the Queen. "After our daughter turns 16, we will not know her anymore!"

"One hundred years!" said the Queen.

So the King ordered every spinning wheel in the kingdom to be brought to the palace and burned. To be extra sure the princess would not be anywhere near a spinning wheel, he also ordered the fairy Merryweather, along with two other fairies, Flora and Fauna, to take the baby far away. The fairies would raise the child in a cottage, deep in the woods. There, they would keep her safe until after her 16th birthday. After that day it would be safe to bring back the princess, who had been named Aurora, to the castle.

Aurora grew up knowing no others than the three fairies, whom she knew as her aunts. The animals of the forest were her friends. The birds and the deer, the chipmunks and the rabbits, followed her around as she fed them treats and cooed to them. From the time she was little, Aurora was told she must stay inside the hills that surrounded them. She did not mind that in the least. The woods were wide and deep inside the hills, and there was plenty of room for her to play.

From the time she was little, Aurora was told she must stay inside the ills that surrounded them.

One day, Aurora came home to the cottage to find her three aunts preparing for a party. "What's going on?" she said.

"Tonight we will celebrate your 16th birthday!" said Flora.

"It is?" said Aurora. "That means tomorrow I will go back to the castle."

"Yes!" said Merryweather. "We have kept you safe from that spinning wheel for 16 years. Soon it will be time for you to take up your royal life as a princess."

"And the first thing for you will be to get married," said Fauna.

"Married, already?" said Aurora. "Do you know who I'm supposed to marry?"

"And the first thing for you will be to get married," said Fauna.

"We do," said Fauna with a wave of her hand, "but there's no need to worry about his strange ways. Even if he's a bit on the horrid side, you won't have to spend much time with him, after all."