Sleeping Beauty
Seven fairies bless a baby princess, but an old fairy who was not invited says a spindle will kill her, and a young fairy softens it into a hundred-year sleep. When the spindle pricks her, the whole castle falls asleep inside a wood of thorns, until a prince comes, the brambles part for him, and she wakes and marries him.
Scene 1: Seven Fairy Godmothers
Sleeping Beauty. A King and a Queen wished and wished for a child. At last, a little daughter was born. Seven fairies came to be her godmothers, and each was given a case of pure gold. Then a very old fairy came in. Nobody had invited her, and she grumbled. A young fairy heard her, and hid behind the curtains.
Scene 2: The Fairies’ Gifts
The fairies gave their gifts: beauty, cleverness, and grace. She would dance, sing like a nightingale, and play music. Then the old fairy shook her head and said: “The Princess shall pierce her hand with a spindle, and die of it!” Everyone began to cry.
Scene 3: Not Die, but Sleep
At that very moment, the young fairy stepped out and said: “She shall not die, but only sleep for a hundred years. Then a king’s son shall come and wake her.” So the King forbade every spindle in the land.
Scene 4: The Little Room in the Tower
Fifteen or sixteen years later, the Princess ran up to a little room at the top of a tower. A good old woman sat there spinning. She had never heard of the King’s order. The Princess asked: “What are you doing there, goody?” The old woman said: “I am spinning, my pretty child.” The Princess said: “Give it to me, that I may see if I can do so.” But the spindle ran into her hand, and she fell down fast asleep.
Scene 5: The Whole Castle Sleeps
Nothing could wake her. She lay on a bed of gold and silver, breathing softly. Then the young fairy came, in a fiery chariot drawn by dragons. With her wand, she touched everyone in the palace, except the King and Queen. Ladies, cooks, guards, horses, and little Mopsey, the Princess’s dog, all fell asleep. Even the fire slept.
Scene 6: The Wood of Thorns
The King and Queen kissed their dear child, and went away. In a quarter of an hour, trees and brambles grew up all around, so thick that nobody could pass. And the Princess slept, for a hundred years.
Scene 7: The Prince
A hundred years later, a king’s son out hunting saw towers above a great wood. A very old countryman told him: “A princess sleeps in that castle, the most beautiful ever seen. A king’s son shall wake her.” As the Prince came near, the trees and brambles moved aside to let him pass, all covered in flowers.
Scene 8: Is It You, My Prince?
Inside, everyone was asleep. The guards were even snoring! In a room all of gold, he found the Princess, and knelt down beside her. The hundred years were over. She woke, looked at him tenderly, and said: “Is it you, my Prince? You have waited a long while.” Then the whole palace woke up, and the Prince and Princess were married in the castle chapel. Good things are worth waiting for.
Moral: Good things are worth waiting for.
Questions about Sleeping Beauty
How many fairies came to be the baby's godmothers?
Seven.
What did the young fairy do when she heard the old fairy grumble?
She hid behind the curtains.
What was the old woman in the tower doing?
Spinning.
How did the young fairy come to the castle?
In a fiery chariot drawn by dragons.
What did the Princess say when she woke up?
Is it you, my Prince? You have waited a long while..
More stories to read aloud
- Cinderella — Kind Cinderella works among the cinders for her proud stepmother and stepsisters, until her fairy godmother turns a pumpkin into a golden coach and sends her to the King’s son’s ball in glass slippers.
- Diamonds and Toads — A kind girl gives water to a poor old woman at the fountain, and the woman, who is really a fairy, makes roses, pearls and diamonds fall from her lips at every word.
- Goldilocks and the Three Bears — While the Three Bears take a walk until their porridge cools, a little girl called Goldilocks walks into their house and tries their porridge, chairs and beds.