Rapunzel (Story)

Once upon a time, in a far off land
Lived a King and Queen who had three sons
They were proud of their fine, handsome princes
But when the Queen gave birth to a baby daughter
Their happiness was complete

They named her Rapunzel
And she grew into a beautiful child with long golden hair
And sparkling blue eyes
The King and Queen loved her dearly
So you can imagine their grief when one summer morning
Rapunzel disappeared
One moment she was lying in her cradle
And the next she had gone

An old woman with a basket over her arm was seen leaving the palace
But although the King and Queen ordered the search of the whole Kingdom
There was no sign of the baby girl
In actual fact, the old woman was a witch
She had hidden Rapunzel in the basket, and she had carried her far away
To a cottage in the middle of a dense forest

There she kept Rapunzel
And looked after her until the girl was sixteen years old
Then she built a tall, stone tower
And imprisoned Rapunzel in a small room at the very top
The tower had no door, and no staircase
Just one small window high up at the top

When the witch wanted to enter the tower, she would stand at the bottom
And cry, "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!"
Then Rapunzel would untie her ribbon
And let her long golden hair hang out of the window
It was so long that it reached all the way to the ground
The witch would then climb up Rapunzel's hair and in through the window

Although the witch gave Rapunzel food and drink
She never let her out of the tower
Rapunzel spent her days painting, and sewing
But she was very lonely
She made friends with the birds of the forest
They would fly to the window and Rapunzel would feed them
They would sing to her, and Rapunzel would sing back to them
In her beautiful voice

Now one day, a handsome prince happened to be riding in the forest
He heard the sound of Rapunzel's voice and rode nearer
But at that moment he saw the witch approaching
So he hid among the trees and kept watch
"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!" cried the witch
And the prince gasped in amazement as Rapunzel's hair
Came tumbling down like a shower of golden rain
And the witch climbed up to the window

He stayed hidden until she left
And then walked over to the foot of the tower
"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!" he cried
Down fell Rapunzel's hair, and up climbed the prince
He had thought Rapunzel's voice was beautiful
But the princess herself was even more lovely than he had imagined

Rapunzel fell in love with the prince at first sight
And when he heard her sad story he was determined to rescue her
"I will go and fetch a long rope," he told her
"And when I return, I shall help you down, and take you back
To your father's palace where we can be married"

But the old witch had seen the prince
She waited until he had ridden off into the trees
Then she climbed up into the tower
"So... you thought you could decieve me!" she cried to Rapunzel
"You stupid girl, now you will never see your prince again"
She took a pair of scissors from her pocket and cut off Rapunzel's hair
She cast a spell, and transported the princess to the
Darkest, deepest part of the forest
Then she sat down to wait for the prince

When he returned and called "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!"
The witch kept tight hold of one end of Rapunzel's hair
And threw the other end out of the window
The prince began to climb up
And when he had almost reached the window, the witch let go of the hair
"That's the end of you, my fine prince, ha ha ha!" she cackled
"You'll never see your princess again!"

Down, down, down fell the prince
But he did not fall crashing to the ground, as the witch had hoped
Rapunzel's friends, the little birds, saved him
Out from the forest they flew, hundreds and hundreds of them
They took hold of the prince's clothes, in their tiny beaks
And gently lowered him to the ground

Then they led him through the dense forest
To where Rapunzel was wandering alone
Tears of joy ran down her face
As she ran into her prince's arms
He lifted her gently onto his horse
And led her back to her parent's castle

How delighted they were, to see their long lost daughter again
And how grateful they were to the prince
For rescuing her from the wicked witch
So the beautiful Rapunzel married her handsome prince
And they lived happily ever after