Sleeping Beauty

Once upon a time there lived a good king and his queen. They had no children for many

 years and were very sad.

Then one day, the queen gave birth to a lovely baby girl and the whole kingdom was

 happy. There was a grand celebration and all the fairies in the kingdom were invited. But

 the king forgot to invite an old fairy. She came to the celebrations but was very angry.

 Soon it was time to gift the baby with special wishes. The good fairies wished her wel

l and said, “May she grow to be the most beautiful girl in the world! She will sing sweetly

 and dance so well! She will live happily!” All the fairies blessed the baby and gave he

r beautiful gifts.

When it was the old fairy’s turn, she said, “When the baby is sixteen she will touch a

 spindle, and die!” The king and queen were shocked and begged the fairy to forgive

 them and take her words back but the fairy refused to do so. When the other fairies saw

the king and queen crying, they said, “We cannot undo what the old fairy has spoken. But

 we certainly can make it different. Your child shall not die when she touches the spindle

. But she will fall into a deep sleep for a hundred years. Then, a prince will come along

 and wake her up.” Hearing this, the king and the queen were relieved. The king forbade 

everyone from spinning so that the princess would never touch a spindle.

The princess grew up to be a kind girl and helped people in need. Everybody loved her

. Years passed. When the princess was sixteen years old, she was walking in the woods

 when she saw an old lady spinning. “What is this? May I try?” she asked The old lady said

, “Of course, my pretty little child!” And the princess sat down to spin. But the moment she

 touched the spindle, she fell to the floor in a deep slumber. The old lady took her back to

 the palace and the king and queen laid her on her bed and tucked her in. They were very

 sad and called the good fairies. The fairies felt sorry for them and cast a spell over the

 whole kingdom so that when the princess woke up after a hundred years, she would no

t be alone in the palace. Everyone, including the guards and the servants and the animal

s were now fast asleep. For a hundred years, they all slept soundly.

A hundred years passed. There came a prince from a far off land. He, along with his

 servants, went deep into the forest and crossed many rivers. Once the prince lost his wa

y and was separated from the rest of the travellers. He came to the sleeping kingdom and

 was amazed. The guards, the servants, the cats and the cows were all fast asleep and

 snoring.

The prince reached the palace and entered it. No one moved. The prince then found the

 sleeping princess. She was such a beautiful girl that the prince kissed her. By that time, 

a hundred years had passed by and everyone was waking up, one by one. The princess

 yawned and opened her eyes. She saw the prince and smiled. She asked him “Are you my

 prince?” He was happy to hear her speak. The prince and the princess fell in love with

 each other. The prince wanted to marry the princess so they went to ask for permission from their parents.

The king and the queen arranged for a royal wedding. All the clothes the bride wore were

 a hundred years old, but she looked beautiful. Soon, they were married and then they

 rode away to the prince’s kingdom far, far away.