Rapunzel
Once upon a time, there lived a man and a woman in a tiny cottage in the woods.
Behind their house was an enchanted garden with the most beautiful flowers, plants and vegetables.
The garden was surrounded by a high wall, and no one dared to go in because it belonged to an evil witch.
The husband and wife’s garden was small, and the soil was rocky.
They were very poor and could barely grow enough food to eat.
Each day they longed to go into the enchanted garden to gather some food to eat.
One day the man climbed over the wall and into the garden to gather some vegetables and fruits to bring back to his wife.
His wife loved it, and so each day she sent her husband back into the enchanted garden to gather even more food to bring back to her.
But one day, when he climbed over the wall, he became very frightened.
The evil witch was standing there right in front of him.
“How dare you come into my enchanted garden and steal my food!” she said angrily.
The man’s voice trembled, “I am sorry, but my wife and I were very hungry and saw that your garden had so much food to offer. Please, if you let me go, I promise not to take any more.”
The evil witch spoke in a nicer voice, “Ok, if you are speaking the truth, then I will allow you to take all the food your wife and you can eat, but on one condition. When you have a child, you must give her to me. I will raise her like I were her mother, and she will be very well taken care of.”
The man was still terrified of the evil witch, and since he knew his wife needed food to eat, he agreed to give his first child to the witch.
A few years passed, and the man and his wife had a baby girl.
They kept her hidden away in the cottage so that the evil witch did not see her and would not take her away.
The man and woman sang their baby daughter lullabies and read her stories. They loved their girl very much.
The man and woman did not know that the evil witch could see them from her castle. She watched them each day play with their daughter.
Finally, one day the evil witch came to their cottage and knocked on the door.
“This little child belongs to me now!” the witch said. “I shall now take her to live with me in my castle, and I will name her Rapunzel.”
Saddened, the man and his wife let the evil witch take their daughter away as the man had promised.
Years went by, and Rapunzel was well taken care of as the evil witch said she would be. She had grown up to become one of the most beautiful little girls ever seen.
Rapunzel had lovely long hair that was as golden as rays of sun and a fair complexion with beautiful blue eyes. She loved to sing and remembered how her mother and father used to sing her lullabies.
When Rapunzel turned 12 years old, the evil witch locked her up in the top of a castle tower. But this was no ordinary castle tower. It had no door and no way to the top, only a small window that allowed Rapunzel to see the world outside. The girl was not allowed to tell anyone how to get into the tower.
When the witch wanted to go inside the tower, she cried out, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your golden hair.” Then the witch would climb up her hair and go inside the castle tower.
A few more years went by. One day when Rapunzel was alone in the castle tower, a Prince rode by on a beautiful white horse and heard a wonderful voice coming from the tower.
But when he tried to find the door to go inside to see Rapunzel, he could not find it. Feeling sad that he could not speak to her, he rode home to his castle.
He thought of Rapunzel and her delightful singing voice every day and went to listen to her sing every afternoon.
One day as he was resting against a tree outside of the castle tower, he saw the evil witch ride up and yell out to Rapunzel, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your golden hair.”
Curious, the Prince kept watching and saw Rapunzel let her long flowing hair down for the witch to climb up.
So the very next day, the Prince went back to the castle tower and decided to call out to Rapunzel the same way the evil witch had. “Rapunzel, Rapunzel let down your golden hair” he shouted.
Immediately, Rapunzel let her hair fall down, and the Prince climbed up her golden locks into the castle tower.
At first, Rapunzel did not know what to say to the Prince as the only person she saw each day was the witch.
But once he began to talk to her and tell her how much he loved her beautiful singing voice, she became very comfortable and told him of her life in the castle tower.
The Prince was in love and asked Rapunzel to marry him. She liked the Prince very much as well, and she said yes.
Rapunzel and the Prince decided that the best way for Rapunzel to get down from the tower was for the Prince to bring her a bit of silk thread every day which she would weave into a ladder for her to climb down.
But one day as Rapunzel was weaving the ladder, the witch came and yelled, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel let down your golden hair.”
When the evil witch came inside Rapunzel’s room, she saw the ladder and became very angry. “You have betrayed me!” she said.
With that, the evil witch took a pair of scissors and cut off Rapunzel’s lovely golden locks of hair.
The next day when the Prince came with more silk thread, the evil witch tricked him by throwing the hair out the window for him to climb up.
When he got inside the castle tower, he did not see his darling Rapunzel but instead the evil witch.
“You will never see your Rapunzel again” the witch cackled. “I am taking her to a desert where you will never find her.”
The Prince was so upset that he jumped out of the castle tower and fell onto some thorns which made him blind.
He feared the witch was telling the truth and that he had lost his darling Rapunzel forever. Now blind, he stayed in the forest eating just roots and berries.
For years he stayed away from everyone. But one day he walked and walked and stumbled upon a beautiful lake. There he heard a beautiful voice he recognized as the sweet singing sounds of Rapunzel!
He walked towards the voice, and it was indeed Rapunzel. When she saw the Prince, she recognized him instantly and fell over him weeping. Two of her tears landed on the Prince’s eyes and he could again see.
The Prince and Rapunzel hugged each other and went to the Prince’s castle.
At that moment, Rapunzel and the Prince knew they would live happily ever after… and they did.
Little Red Riding Hood
Once upon a time, there lived in a certain village a little country girl, the prettiest creature who was ever seen. Her mother was fond of her, and her grandmother doted on her still more. This good woman had a little red riding hood made for her. It suited the girl so extremely well that everybody called her Little Red Riding Hood.
One day her mother made some cakes and said to her, “Go, my dear, and see how your grandmother is doing because she has been very ill. Take her a cake and this little pot of butter.”
Little Red Riding Hood set out immediately to go to her grandmother, who lived in another village.
As she was going through the wood , she met with a wolf, who had a very great mind to eat her up , but he dared not because of some woodcutters working nearby in the forest . He asked her where she was going. The poor child, who did not know that it was dangerous to stay and talk to a wolf, said to him, “I am going to see my grandmother and carry her a cake and a little pot of butter from my mother.”
“Does she live far off?” said the wolf.
“Oh, I say,” answered Little Red Riding Hood, “it is beyond that mill you see there, at the first house in the village.”
“Well,” said the wolf, “and I’ll go and see her too. I’ll go this way and you go that, and we shall see who will be there first.”
The wolf ran as fast as he could , taking the shortest path, and the little girl took a roundabout way, entertaining herself by gathering nuts, running after butterflies, and gathering bouquets of little flowers . It was not long before the wolf arrived at the old woman’s house. He knocked at the door: tap, tap.
“Who’s there?”
“Your grandchild, Little Red Riding Hood,” replied the wolf, counterfeiting her voice; “who has brought you a cake and a little pot of butter sent you by mother.”
The good grandmother, who was in bed because she was ill, cried out, “Pull the bobbin, and the latch will go up. ”
The wolf pulled the bobbin, and the door opened, and then he immediately fell upon the good woman and ate her up in a moment, for it had been more than three days since he had eaten. He then shut the door and got into the grandmother’s bed, expecting Little Red Riding Hood, who came some time afterwards and knocked at the door: tap, tap.
“Who’s there?”
Little Red Riding Hood, hearing the big voice of the wolf, was at first afraid, but believing her grandmother had a cold and was hoarse, answered, “It is your grandchild Little Red Riding Hood, who has brought you a cake and a little pot of butter mother sends you.”
The wolf cried out to her, softening his voice as much as he could, “Pull the bobbin, and the latch will go up.”
Little Red Riding Hood pulled the bobbin, and the door opened.
The wolf said to her, hiding himself under the bedclothes, “Put the cake and the little pot of butter upon the stool and come get into bed with me.”
Little Red Riding Hood took off her clothes and got into bed. She was greatly amazed to see how her grandmother looked in her nightclothes and said to her, “Grandmother, what big arms you have!”
“All the better to hug you with, my dear.”
“Grandmother, what big legs you have!”
“All the better to run with, my child.”
“Grandmother, what big ears you have!”
“All the better to hear with, my child.”
“Grandmother, what big eyes you have!”
“All the better to see with, my child.”
“Grandmother, what big teeth you have got!”
“All the better to eat you up with.”
And, saying these words, this wicked wolf fell upon Little Red Riding Hood and ate her all up.
