Sleeping Beauty in the Wood Charles Perrault

There once was a King and Queen who tried everything but could not have a child. Finally the Queen became pregnant and gave birth to a girl. For the baptism, the King invited all the fairies in the land; there were seven in all. He had magnificent place settings made for them for the banquet. At the baptism, an eigth fairy arrived. No one had bothered to invite her because they hadn't seen her in over fifty years and everyone had assumed she was either dead or enchanted. This old fairy was welcomed, but they could not give her a special place setting since the King had only made enough for the seven fairies he knew of. One of the young fairies knew that the old fairy was offended, so she hid behind a tapestry so that she could give her gift last and try to undo whatever damage the old fairy had done. Each of the other fairies gave the Princess wonderful gifts of beauty and grace and abilities. Once it was her turn, the old fairy proclaimed that the Princess would prick her hand on a spindle and die. The younger fairy could not completely undo the curse, but she could lessen it so that the Princess would only fall asleep for one hundred years instead of dying. The King still wanted to prevent the curse from coming true, so he forbid anyone from spinning with a spindle, or even owning one. About fifteen or sixteen years later, the Princess was alone in the castle, so she went exploring and discovered an old woman, who had not heard of the King's order, spinning. The Princess took the spindle to try to spin, and she pierced her hand and fell into a deep sleep. The King, Queen, and good fairy came back to the castle. The fairy placed a spell on everyone and everything in the castle so that they would be there when the Princess needed them. The King and Queen left the castle, and a huge thorn hedge grew up around it. After about one hundred years, a Prince came to the land and asked what was behind that hedge. When he learned that it was an enchanted Princess who was waiting for the kiss of a Prince, he set out to wake her and marry her. When he reached the hedge, the thorns parted and let him pass, but they closed behind him. As the Prince made his way through the castle, he saw all the sleeping people. He finally reached the Princess, and she awoke as he knelt by her bed. They talked for a long time, ate a grand meal, and then they were married. The next morning the Prince left to return to his home. He made up a story about getting lost in the woods because he was afraid that if his mother learned the truth she might eat the girl and any future children because she was really an ogress. The Prince visited the Princess by going out on hunting trips and "getting lost." This went on for two years, during which time the Princess gave birth to two children, a girl named Dawn and a boy named Day. After the King died, the Prince brought his family to his castle. Then he had to leave to go to a war. He left his mother as the Regent in his absence. One day, the Queen-Mother decided to eat Dawn. She ordered a servant to kill the young girl and cook her up. The servant couldn't do this, so instead he hid the child and served the Queen an animal from the stables. He did this again when the ogress wanted to eat Day and their mother. The Queen-Mother discovered the servant's trickery and prepared a pit of snakes into which to cast the servant and the children and their mother. The new King arrived home just in time, and instead the Ogress threw herself into the pit.