7

“You shall be there tomorrow morning,” said the Beast, “but remember your promise. You need only lay your ring on a table before you go to bed when you have a mind to come back. Farewell, Beauty.” The Beast sighed bidding her good night, and Beauty went to bed very sad at seeing him so afflicted. When she woke the next morning, she found herself at her father’s, and when she rang a little bell that was by her bedside, she saw the maid come, who, the moment she saw her, gave a loud shriek, at which her father ran up the stairs and thought he should have died with joy to see his dear daughter again.

Beauty dressed herself and came down the stairs. Soon she learnt that both her sisters were very unhappy. The eldest had married a gentleman, extremely handsome indeed but so fond of his own person that he completely neglected his wife. The second had married a man of wit, but he only made use of it to mock at everybody—and his wife most of all. Beauty’s sisters sickened with envy when they saw her dressed like a princess, very happy, and more beautiful than ever. They went down into the garden and said one to the other, “In what way is this little creature better than us that she should be so much happier?” “Sister,” said the oldest, “an idea occurred to me; let us endeavor to detain her for over a week, and perhaps the silly monster will be so enraged at her for breaking her word that he will devour her.”

“Right, sister,” answered the other, “therefore we must show her as much kindness as possible.” After they had taken this resolution, they went up and behaved so affectionately to their sister that poor Beauty cried for joy. When the week was expired, they cried and seemed so sorry to part with her that she promised to stay a week longer.

In the meantime, Beauty was thinking about the uneasiness she was likely to cause the poor Beast, whom she sincerely loved and really longed to see again. The tenth night she spent at her father’s, she dreamed she was in the palace garden and saw the Beast lying on the grass, who, in a dying voice, reproached her with her ingratitude. Beauty woke up and burst into tears. “Am I not very wicked,” said she, “to act so unkindly to the Beast that has studied so much to please me in everything? Is it his fault if he is so ugly? He is kind and good, and that is sufficient. Why did I refuse to marry him? I should be happier with the monster than my sisters are with their husbands; it is neither wit nor a fine person in a husband that makes a woman happy but virtue, sweetness of temper, and complaisance, and Beast has all these valuable qualifications. It is true I do not feel the tenderness of affection for him, but I find I have the highest gratitude, esteem, and friendship; I will not make him miserable; were I to be so ungrateful, I should never forgive myself.” Saying this, Beauty rose, put her ring on the table, and then laid down again. When she woke the next morning, she was overjoyed to find herself in the Beast’s palace.

She put on one of her best dresses to please him and waited for the evening with utmost impatience. When the clock struck nine, the Beast didn’t appear. Beauty then feared she had been the cause of his death; she ran all about the palace, crying in despair. She looked for him everywhere but couldn’t find him. Then she recollected her dream and ran to the garden where she dreamed she saw him. There she found poor Beast stretched out, quite senseless, and, as she imagined, dead. She threw herself upon him without any dread and, finding his heart beat still, fetched some water from the canal and poured it on his head. The Beast opened his eyes and said to Beauty, “You forgot your promise, and I was so afflicted for having lost you that I resolved to starve myself, but since I have the happiness of seeing you once more, I die satisfied.”

“No, my dear Beast,” said Beauty, “you must not die. Live to be my husband; from this moment I give you my hand and swear to be none but yours. I thought I had only a friendship for you, but the grief I now feel convinces me that I cannot live without you.” When Beauty said these words, she saw the palace sparkle with light, and fireworks, instruments of music, everything seemed to give notice of some great event. She turned to her dear Beast, for whom she trembled with fear, but how great was her surprise! The Beast disappeared, and she saw at her feet the loveliest prince, who returned her thanks for having put an end to the charm under which he had so long resembled a beast. Though this prince was worthy of all her attention, she could not forbear asking where the Beast was.

“You see him at your feet,” said the prince. “A wicked fairy had condemned me to remain under that shape until a beautiful girl should consent to marry me.”

Beauty, agreeably surprised, gave the charming prince her hand to rise; they went together into the castle, and Beauty was overjoyed to find in the great hall her father and his whole family, whom the beautiful lady that appeared to her in her dream had conveyed there.

“Beauty,” said this lady, “come and receive the reward of your judicious choice; you have preferred virtue before either wit or beauty and deserve to find a person in whom all these qualifications are united. You are going to be a great queen. I hope the throne will not lessen your virtue or make you forget yourself. As to you, ladies,” said the fairy to Beauty’s two sisters, “I know your hearts and all the malice they contain. Become two statues, but still retain your reason under this transformation. You shall stand before your sister’s palace gate, and be it your punishment, and it will not be in your power to return to your former state until you own your faults, but I am very much afraid that you will always remain statues. Though pride, anger, and idleness are sometimes conquered.”

Immediately, the fairy gave a stroke with her wand, and in a moment all that were in the hall were transported into the prince’s dominions. He married Beauty and lived with her many years, and their happiness was complete.

Sleeping Beauty

Once upon a time, there was a Queen who had a beautiful baby daughter. She invited all the fairies in the kingdom to the christening but unfortunately forgot to invite one of them, who was a bit of a witch as well. She came anyway, but as she passed the baby’s cradle, she said:

“When you are sixteen, you will injure yourself with a spindle and die!”

“Oh, no!” screamed the Queen in horror. A good fairy quickly chanted a magic spell to change the curse. When she hurt herself, the girl would fall into a very deep sleep instead of dying.

The years went by, the little Princess grew and became the most beautiful girl in the whole kingdom. Her mother was always very careful to keep her away from spindles, but the Princess, on her sixteenth birthday, as she wandered through the castle, came into a room where an old servant was spinning.

“What are you doing?” she asked the servant.

“I’m spinning. Haven’t you seen a spindle before?”

“No. Let me see it!” The servant handed the girl the spindle… and she pricked herself with it and, with a sigh, dropped to the floor.

The terrified old woman hurried to tell the Queen. Beside herself with anguish, the Queen did her best to awaken her daughter but in vain. The court doctors and wizards were called, but there was nothing they could do. The girl could not be wakened from her deep sleep. The good fairy who managed to avoid the worst of the curse came too, and the Queen said to her,

“When will my daughter waken?”

“I don’t know,” the fairy admitted sadly.

“In a year’s time, ten years or twenty?” the Queen went on.

“Maybe in a hundred years’ time. Who knows?” said the fairy.

“Oh! What would make her waken?” asked the Queen weeping.

“Love,” replied the fairy. “If a man of pure heart were to fall in love with her, that would bring her back to life!”

“How can a man fall in love with a sleeping girl?” sobbed the Queen, and so heart-broken was she that, a few days later, she died. The sleeping Princess was taken to her room and laid on the bed surrounded by garlands of flowers. She looked very beautiful with her sweet face.

The good fairy said to herself, “When she wakens, who is she going to see around her? Strange faces and people she doesn’t know? I can never let that happen. It would be too painful for this unfortunate girl.”

So the fairy cast a spell, and everyone that lived in the castle—soldiers, ministers, guards, servants, ladies, pages, cooks, maids and knights—all fell into a deep sleep.

“Now,” thought the fairy, “when the Princess wakes up, they too will awaken, and life will go on from there.” And she left the castle. Not a sound was heard in the castle, nothing moved except for the clocks, but when they too ran down, they stopped, and time stopped with them. Not even the faintest rustle was to be heard, only the wind whistling around, not a single voice, only the cry of birds.

The years sped past. The trees around the castle grew tall. The bushes became thick; the grass invaded the courtyards, and the creepers spread up the walls. In a hundred years, a dense forest grew up.

Now, it so happened that a Prince arrived in these parts. He was the son of a king in a country close by. Young, handsome and melancholy, he sought in solitudeeverything he could not find in the company of other men: serenity, sincerity and purity. Wandering on his trusty horse, he arrived one day at the dark forest. He was adventurous, so he decided to explore it. It was difficult to get through, for the trees and bushes grew in a thick tangle. A few hours later, he was about to turn his horse and go back when he thought he could see something through the trees… He pushed back the branches… Wonder of wonders! There in front of him stood a castle with high towers. The young man stood in amazement, “I wonder who this castle belongs to?” he thought.

The young Prince rode on towards the castle. The drawbridge was down, and holding his horse by the reins, he crossed over it. Immediately, he saw the inhabitants draped all over the steps, the halls and courtyards, and said to himself,

“Good heavens! They’re dead!” But in a moment, he realised that they were sound asleep. “Wake up! Wake up!” he shouted, but nobody moved. Still thoroughly astonished, he went into the castle and again discovered more people lying asleep on the floor. A little later, the Prince reached the room where the beautiful Princess lay fast asleep. For a long time he stood gazing at her face, so full of serenity, so peaceful, lovely and pure, and he felt spring to his heart that love he had always been searching for and never found. Overcome by emotion, he went close, lifted the girl’s little white hand and gently kissed it…

At that kiss, the princess quickly opened her eyes, and wakening from her long long sleep, seeing the Prince beside her, murmured:

“Oh, you have come at last! I was waiting for you in my dream. I’ve waited so long!”

At that moment the spell was broken. The Princess rose to her feet, and the whole castle woke up too. Everybody rose to their feet, and they all stared round in amazement, wondering what had happened. When they finally realised, they rushed to the Princess, and saw that she was more beautiful and happier than ever.

A few days later, the Prince and Princess got married. They lived happily ever after, as they always do in fairy tales, but not quite so often, however, in real life.