睡美人

The Sleeping Beauty

Long,long ago,there lived a king and a queen,who owned wide forests,great gardens,and beautiful palaces. Still they were not altogether happy,for they had no children.

But at last on a bright spring morning, a daughter was born to them. Then great was the joy in the whole kingdom, flags were waving , bells were ringing, and the king decided to hold a party and to invited all the good people to come. To the party they also invited six good fairies, for you must know there lived seven in all, but the one who was dark and evil was not invited.

The day for the party came with blue skies and merry songs. Rich and wonderful gifts were brought, gift of silver and gold ,diamonds,silk and necklaces. But the gifts of the fairies were the best.

The fairies dacned in. all the guests around the king‟s daughter held their breath to see their beauty and loveliness. One fairy stepped forward and whispered, “My gift to you is this, you shall become the most beautiful woman in all the kingdom.” ”And ,”added the second fairy,”you shall become as kind and good as you will be beautiful.” The third fairy said,”I give you the gift of wisdom.” “And I,”said the fourth,”the gift of love ,You shall love and be loved .‟The fifth fairy whispered”. Mine is the gift of song and laughter.”

Then before any one knew what had happened,the dark and evil fairy pushed others aside and stood deside the king‟s daughter. “Why was I not invited to the party?Ah ,I shall show no mercy to yoi .My tift is this ,all mysisters‟wishes sha ll come true; but when you are sixteen ,you shall hurt your finger on a spindle and die .”The king and queen cried and the quests all wept.

Then the sixth good fairy stepped forward. She smiled lovingly on all.”Don‟t fear ,”she said .”I can change it .Our king‟s daughter shall not die ,but sleep---sleep until in due time a king …s son shall come .And with his kiss she shall de awake .”This comforted the people of all ranks .”She shall not die ,”they repeated. The king then raised his hand ,and all were sile nt .”I command ,”he cried ,”that all spindles in my kingdom be burned !”Gladly the people obeyed and now they all thought the little girl would be safe from harm .Then began the happy life of the king …s daughter.

Onher sixteenth birthday,the king …s daugh ter felt tired of her palace .She wandered alone into the dark woods ,And in a very lonely spot she saw a castle among the bushes. She climbed the winding stairs into the tower, and pushed the door open, then sshe saw an old blind woman turning a stick around between her hands and long white cotton thread,soft and smooth, running thrugh her fingers.

The king …s daughter begged the old woman to allow her to have a try.As soon as she got hold of the spindle, she hurt her finger, All at once she fell asleep, and at that very moment all else slept. The lovely birds stopped singing, the green leaves dropped off the trees, and the fresh flowers dried. The king ,queen and all the chief officials slept where they sat or stood .ln the kitchen the cook was just going to box the ear of the kitchen boy when all fell asleep .Everything slept-----slept for a hundred years .

At last a king‟s son came riding thruogh the land.When he was told the tale,he lifted his golden sword andtushed bravely into the tower room.There he found her, the sleeping