Long ago, in a great kingdom surrounded by forests and rolling hills, a king and queen had wished for a child for many years. At last, a little princess was born, and the whole kingdom rang with joy. The king ordered a great christening feast to celebrate his daughter. He invited the seven good fairies of the land to be her godmothers, for it was the custom that each fairy would give the baby a magical gift. The palace was hung with flowers, the tables were spread with golden dishes, and the people came from far and wide to see the tiny princess with her golden hair and her rosy cheeks. Everyone said she was the most beautiful child ever born.
The seven good fairies gathered around the princess's cradle and gave their gifts one by one. The first fairy gave the princess beauty. The second gave her a gentle heart. The third gave her grace in all she did. The fourth gave her the gift of music, so that she would sing like a bird. The fifth gave her wisdom. The sixth stepped forward and was about to speak when the great doors of the hall burst open with a thunderclap. An eighth fairy swept in, her dark robes billowing like storm clouds. She had not been invited, for she was old and bitter and had not been seen for fifty years. Everyone fell silent with fear. She fixed her cold grey eyes on the baby and smiled a terrible smile.
"I too shall give a gift," the wicked fairy said, her voice like ice. She pointed a long bony finger at the cradle. "Before the princess reaches her sixteenth birthday, she shall prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel — and she shall die." A gasp ran through the hall. The queen burst into tears. The king reached for his daughter. But before the wicked fairy could vanish in a swirl of dark smoke, the seventh good fairy stepped forward. She had saved her gift. "I cannot undo what my sister has done," she said gently, "but I can change it. The princess shall not die. She shall only fall into a deep sleep — and she will wake when a prince, brave and true, comes to find her." The wicked fairy hissed and disappeared, and the hall slowly grew quiet again.
The king was determined to protect his daughter. The very next morning he gave an order: every spinning wheel in the kingdom was to be destroyed. His soldiers searched the towns and villages, the farmhouses and the towers, until there was not a single spinning wheel left anywhere in the land. The princess grew up in a palace full of love and laughter. She had all the gifts the good fairies had given her — beauty, kindness, grace, music, and wisdom. Everyone adored her. The years passed happily, and the king began to hope that the curse had been forgotten. He did not tell the princess about it, for he did not want to frighten her. She grew taller and brighter every year, and her sixteenth birthday drew near.
On the morning of her sixteenth birthday, the princess was exploring the oldest part of the palace, a tall tower she had never visited before. A narrow staircase spiralled up and up. Curious, she climbed it. At the very top she found a small round room she had never seen. Inside sat a very old woman, bent over a curious wooden machine that whirred and clicked as she worked. "What is that?" the princess asked, full of wonder. "A spinning wheel, my dear," said the old woman, who did not know about the king's order. "Would you like to try?" The princess leaned forward, reached out her hand, and touched the sharp tip of the spindle. She felt a small prick on her finger — and her eyes closed.
The princess sank gently to the floor, deep in a dreamless sleep. In the same moment, sleep spread through the entire palace like a gentle wave. The king and queen fell asleep on their thrones. The courtiers slumped in their chairs. The cooks fell asleep over their pots and pans. The horses slept in their stalls, the dogs slept in the yard, and the birds on the roof tucked their heads under their wings. Even the fire in the great hearth burned low and still. The whole palace fell quiet. The good fairy, far away, felt the curse take hold. She flew to the palace on the wind and, so that the princess would not wake alone in a changed world, she made sure that all who slept would wake at the very same moment.
The good fairy also cast one more spell. From all around the palace, a great forest of roses began to grow. The thorny branches twined together until they formed a wall so thick and so tall that no one could see the towers within. The roses were beautiful — red and white — but their thorns were sharp as swords. Word spread through the kingdom of the sleeping palace hidden in the enchanted wood, and over the years many young men came to test their courage and try to force a way through. But the thorns held fast. Seasons came and went, kingdoms rose and fell, and the years turned into decades, and then into a century. Inside, the palace lay in perfect stillness, waiting.
A hundred years after the princess fell asleep, a prince from a neighbouring kingdom was riding through the country when he came to the great rose forest. He had heard the old stories of the palace hidden within, but he had never believed them. He could see the tips of towers above the tangle of branches. "What lies beyond these roses?" he asked an old shepherd by the road. The shepherd told him the story as his grandfather had told it: the sleeping princess, the curse, the palace frozen in time. The prince felt his heart stir strangely. He looked at the wall of thorns and roses, and something in him said: I will go in. He drew his sword and stepped forward — and at that moment, something magical happened.
The rose forest seemed to part before him as if it had been waiting for him all along. The great thorny branches drew back, and a path opened up through the green shadows, lit by soft golden light. The prince walked through, his sword at his side, wondering at the silence all around. He passed under a stone archway and into the palace courtyard. Everything was exactly as it had been a hundred years before, only still and hushed. Horses stood sleeping in their stalls. Guards leaned against the walls with their eyes closed. Pigeons sat frozen on the ledges. He went inside the great hall and saw the king and queen on their thrones, sleeping peacefully, their crowns still on their heads. He climbed the stairs and followed a feeling he could not name, deeper and deeper into the palace.
At last the prince reached a room at the top of the oldest tower. He pushed open the door and stopped. There on a velvet bed lay the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Her golden hair was spread around her, and her cheeks were pale pink, and she breathed so softly that he had to watch a moment to be sure she was alive. She looked peaceful, as if she were having a very pleasant dream. The prince stood for a long time just looking at her. He thought of all the years she had slept, all the time that had passed in the world outside while she lay still. He felt a great tenderness and a great sorrow. He knelt beside her and, very gently, kissed her on the cheek.
The princess opened her eyes. She looked up at the prince, and the very first thing she said was: "Oh, have you come at last? I have been waiting for you." It was as if she had been dreaming of him all this time. All through the palace, everyone woke at once. The king and queen on their thrones blinked and yawned. The courtiers stretched and looked around in surprise. The cooks stirred their pots. The horses whinnied. The dogs barked. The birds on the roof sang out loud. The palace filled with the sounds of life again. The fire crackled back to life in the hearth. The roses outside the walls began to bloom even more brightly, and the thorns slowly folded away.
The princess took the prince's hand and they walked together down the great staircase. The king and queen met them at the bottom, laughing with joy when they understood what had happened. There was a great celebration that filled the palace for many days. The princess marvelled at everything — the world had changed in a hundred years, but the stars were the same, and the roses were the same, and kindness was the same. The prince stayed by her side and told her all about the kingdom beyond the forest. In time, they were married, and the whole land celebrated. The wicked fairy's curse had turned, in the end, into the beginning of a long and happy story — just as the good fairy had always known it would.
