Once
upon a time there was a little house with a man and a woman who wanted a child.
They prayed to God everyday to have a child.
They
lived next door to a beautiful property filled with herbs and flowers, but the
property was owned by an evil witch or enchantress and was surrounded by a huge
wall. The witch was so evil that the whole world knew of her power and was
afraid of her.
There
was one special herb called rampion (or Rapunzel) that the nice woman so wanted
to eat that only grew in the evil witch’s yard. The nice woman wanted it so
much that she started to get sick from the wanting. (Wanting something she
couldn’t have)
Her
husband looked at her and started to worry that she would die if she didn’t get
some of the herb. That night he decided to creep into the garden and get her
some.
Well,
the evil enchantress happened to be standing right there, and screamed at him
“How dare you come into my yard and steal my rampion?”
The man
begged forgiveness and explained that he was doing it for his wife.
The enchantress
made a deal with the man. She suggested that he could take as much of the
rampion as he liked for his wife, but that when they have a child they must
give her over to her. She was spinning an evil web – or an evil plan, wasn’t
she?
Well,
when the nice woman did have a little girl the evil enchantress was right there
and named her Rapunzel (after the herb) and took her away.
The
little girl was very beautiful and grew long, long, long, golden tresses. It
apparently looked like spun gold and was very strong.
When
the girl was twelve (just starting her teens) the enchantress built a huge
tower with no stairs and no door. There was only a little window way up at the
top of the tower.
She put
Rapunzel in the room with the window and left her there. (Many mothers of teens
would like to do the same thing)
The
enchantress would call up to the girl and tell her to let down her long braids,
and then the enchantress could climb up and visit.
She
actually said “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Let down your hair!”
One
evening while the witch was climbing up, a young man was in the nearby woods
and saw the beautiful girl let down her hair.
The
young man was actually a prince and figured that he would like to visit the
beautiful girl too.
The
prince remembered what the witch said and tried his luck!
“Rapunzel,
Rapunzel, Let down your hair!” he copied
It
worked. Immediately the hair fell down and the son of a King climbed up.
The
young teen was very frightened as she had never seen a boy before. But the
young man was very nice and they became friends. He explained that his heart
had been moved when he saw her beauty.
The
prince then asked if she would become his wife? (I wonder what his father the
King would think of that?) But…
She
said yes.
However,
they had a problem. While she could let the prince up and down out of the
Tower, she herself could not leave. So they devised a plan. The Prince would
come back and forth and bring her silk which she would use to weave a ladder
for her escape.
So for
the next few nights whenever he came to visit he would bring the long roll of
silk and Rapunzel was kept busy weaving it into a ladder.
However,
one night the Enchantress discovered their secret. She was so angry….
(Okay,
this is where the story usually ends with the Prince fighting off the evil
witch and rescuing the beautiful princess — and they ride off into the sunset.
The original tale has a very different ending. Want to hear it?)
Then
continue.
The
witch was so angry that she grabbed Rapunzel’s hair and cut it all off.
She
then banished the girl to the desert. There it is said that she had to live in
wretchedness (i.e.: poverty)
With
the long braids the Enchantress (Witch) created a trap for the Prince. She
attached the braids to the windowsill and when he came to the Garden and called
“Rapunzel,
Rapunzel, Let down your hair”
he
climbed up and instead of finding his beautiful princess he gazed into the
Witch’s evil glare.
“Aha”
she cried “you have come for your beautiful bird – but she no longer sits in
the nest. The cat has got it, and will also scratch out your eyes.
Rapunzel
is lost to you. You will never see her again.”
The
Prince managed to escape the witch with his life, but as he leapt for his life
he landed in some thistles which blinded him.
So the
enchantress’s spell came true. He wandered in the woods blind and alone eating
roots and berries and cried over his lost wife day and night.
Apparently,
he wandered like that for a couple of years until he ended up in the very desert
that Rapunzel inhabited with her twin son and daughter.
The
Prince recognized the voice of his long lost wife and as he approached her she
recognized her husband and hugged him crying out her love.
As her
tears hit his face and moistened his eyes the Prince’s vision returned and they
were both very happy.
And
they lived happily ever after.
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