WEBVTT

1
00:00:22.300 --> 00:00:27.300
This is the story of Rapunzel.

2
00:00:29.220 --> 00:00:37.020
Once there were a man and a woman who, after many years of wishing, discovered that they were going to have a child.

3
00:00:38.060 --> 00:00:44.800
This happy couple had a little window at the back of their house from which a splendid garden could be seen.

4
00:00:45.780 --> 00:00:56.780
But the garden was surrounded by a high wall, and no one dared go into it because it belonged to an enchantress who was feared by all the world.

5
00:00:58.320 --> 00:01:01.680
One day the woman was looking down into the garden.

6
00:01:02.820 --> 00:01:09.420
There she saw a flowerbed planted with the most beautiful rampion, which is often called Rapunzel.

7
00:01:10.660 --> 00:01:15.520
It looked so fresh and good that she longed to eat some of its leaves.

8
00:01:16.260 --> 00:01:20.740
And because she could have none of it, she grew pale and miserable.

9
00:01:21.740 --> 00:01:24.320
Then her husband became alarmed and asked,

10
00:01:24.740 --> 00:01:26.420
What ails you dear wife?

11
00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:33.700
Ah, replied she, if I cannot eat some Rapunzel, I shall surely die.

12
00:01:34.680 --> 00:01:40.040
The man was so distressed that he climbed over the wall into the garden of the enchantress.

13
00:01:41.160 --> 00:01:43.860
There he clutched a handful of Rapunzel.

14
00:01:44.660 --> 00:01:47.140
Suddenly he saw the fierce enchantress.

15
00:01:47.140 --> 00:01:53.160
How dare you sneak into my garden and steal my Rapunzel like a thief!

16
00:01:53.860 --> 00:01:56.140
You shall be sorry for this.

17
00:01:56.800 --> 00:01:58.780
Please be merciful, he cried.

18
00:01:59.400 --> 00:02:02.640
I stole the Rapunzel only to keep my dear wife alive.

19
00:02:03.720 --> 00:02:08.360
Then the enchantress allowed her anger to be softened and said to him,

20
00:02:08.980 --> 00:02:15.560
If what you say is true, you may take as much Rapunzel as you want.

21
00:02:15.560 --> 00:02:18.940
But you must do one thing.

22
00:02:19.320 --> 00:02:21.860
Give me your child when it is born.

23
00:02:22.260 --> 00:02:25.880
I will keep it and care for it like a mother would.

24
00:02:26.880 --> 00:02:29.740
The man was so frightened that he agreed.

25
00:02:30.780 --> 00:02:35.120
Soon his wife grew strong again and gave birth to a little girl.

26
00:02:36.240 --> 00:02:38.660
The parents tried to guard their baby from harm,

27
00:02:38.960 --> 00:02:45.040
but the enchantress overpowered them with her magic so that they fell into a deep sleep.

28
00:02:45.900 --> 00:02:51.200
Quickly then the enchantress stole the baby and carried her far into the forest,

29
00:02:51.600 --> 00:02:55.380
leaving the parents an enchanted garden behind forever.

30
00:02:57.880 --> 00:03:01.720
Because the enchantress loved her purple flowers so much,

31
00:03:02.140 --> 00:03:05.300
she named the child after them, Rapunzel.

32
00:03:05.700 --> 00:03:09.620
And Rapunzel grew to be the most beautiful child under the sun,

33
00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:12.600
with golden hair of great length.

34
00:03:13.600 --> 00:03:16.200
By the time Rapunzel was twelve years old,

35
00:03:16.700 --> 00:03:21.040
the enchantress had forgotten her promise to love the child as a mother would.

36
00:03:22.060 --> 00:03:25.720
Selfishly she decided never to share Rapunzel with anyone.

37
00:03:26.780 --> 00:03:32.900
And so she took Rapunzel to a strange tower which had no stairs nor any door,

38
00:03:33.540 --> 00:03:36.000
but only a window at the very top.

39
00:03:36.900 --> 00:03:42.040
She forced Rapunzel to climb a rope into the tower, and the rope was thrown away.

40
00:03:43.740 --> 00:03:47.060
When the enchantress wished to visit Rapunzel, she cried,

41
00:03:47.560 --> 00:03:53.820
Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair, that I may climb the golden stair.

42
00:03:54.900 --> 00:03:59.720
Rapunzel then wound her magnificent long braids round a window hook,

43
00:04:01.080 --> 00:04:07.120
and let them spill down, down so that the enchantress could climb up.

44
00:04:08.280 --> 00:04:11.260
Years passed with Rapunzel a prisoner in the tower.

45
00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:16.240
Still she had seen no other person except the enchantress.

46
00:04:17.700 --> 00:04:20.720
One day, as a prince rode through the forest,

47
00:04:21.180 --> 00:04:25.800
he heard a song which was so charming that he stopped and listened.

48
00:04:32.860 --> 00:04:40.860
Looking up, he saw Rapunzel, who in her loneliness passed the time singing as sweetly as a bird.

49
00:04:42.420 --> 00:04:45.980
The prince looked for a door to the tower, but there was none.

50
00:04:46.880 --> 00:04:51.720
He rode home, but the singing had touched his heart so deeply

51
00:04:51.720 --> 00:04:55.040
that each day he went into the forest and listened.

52
00:04:56.540 --> 00:05:00.420
Once, as he was watching, he heard the enchantress cry,

53
00:05:01.420 --> 00:05:07.780
Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair, that I may climb the golden stair.

54
00:05:08.460 --> 00:05:12.860
Rapunzel let down her braids, and the enchantress climbed up to her.

55
00:05:13.580 --> 00:05:16.580
Aha, I see, whispered the prince.

56
00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:21.500
The next evening he quietly approached the tower.

57
00:05:23.420 --> 00:05:29.240
Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair, that I may climb the golden stair.

58
00:05:30.780 --> 00:05:35.140
And so the hair fell down and the prince climbed up.

59
00:05:35.660 --> 00:05:40.800
Rapunzel was terribly frightened, for this was the first man she had ever seen.

60
00:05:41.620 --> 00:05:47.340
But when the prince began to talk to her quite like a friend, Rapunzel lost her fear.

61
00:05:47.340 --> 00:05:53.060
And so, for many evenings, the prince visited Rapunzel in secret

62
00:05:53.060 --> 00:05:56.920
and spoke to her of the wonders beyond the forest.

63
00:05:58.140 --> 00:06:02.980
After a time, the prince told Rapunzel that he wanted to take her for his wife.

64
00:06:03.500 --> 00:06:10.880
And she said, yes, I would willingly go away with you, but I cannot get down from this tower.

65
00:06:11.640 --> 00:06:17.500
Bring with you a bit of silk thread each time you visit, and I will weave a ladder for my escape.

66
00:06:18.960 --> 00:06:26.700
The selfish enchantress knew nothing of this until one day when Rapunzel asked the old woman a foolish question.

67
00:06:27.700 --> 00:06:32.740
Why is it, enchantress, that when you climb up my braids you are so much heavier than the prince?

68
00:06:33.540 --> 00:06:35.060
He is with me in a moment.

69
00:06:36.020 --> 00:06:40.100
Ah, you wicked child! What did I hear you say?

70
00:06:40.100 --> 00:06:46.160
I thought I had separated you from all the world, and yet you have deceived me.

71
00:06:46.700 --> 00:06:52.900
In her anger, she clutched Rapunzel's beautiful braids, seized a pair of scissors from a sewing basket,

72
00:06:53.300 --> 00:06:56.300
and snip, snap, the braids were cut off.

73
00:06:57.020 --> 00:07:02.300
Then, having no pity, the enchantress fastened the braids to the hook of the window

74
00:07:02.300 --> 00:07:08.660
and forced Rapunzel down from the tower, through the forest, and into a faraway desert.

75
00:07:09.500 --> 00:07:15.980
There she left Rapunzel to live in misery, more alone than she had ever been.

76
00:07:17.820 --> 00:07:23.500
The very same day, the old woman returned to the forest and climbed up the braids into the tower

77
00:07:23.500 --> 00:07:26.840
in order to take her cruel revenge on the prince.

78
00:07:28.600 --> 00:07:31.740
In the evening, the prince arrived and called out,

79
00:07:31.740 --> 00:07:38.840
Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair, that I may climb the golden stair.

80
00:07:39.640 --> 00:07:45.700
And as he watched, the braids reached down from the window to welcome him as they always had.

81
00:07:46.420 --> 00:07:53.080
So up the golden hair he climbed, but at the window he found not the gentle face he expected,

82
00:07:53.440 --> 00:07:56.000
but the awful face of the enchantress.

83
00:07:56.000 --> 00:08:00.160
Aha, you came to find your dearest.

84
00:08:00.800 --> 00:08:07.800
But as a cat catches a bird, I have caught Rapunzel, and she no longer sits singing in this nest.

85
00:08:08.560 --> 00:08:13.920
Rapunzel is lost to you. You will never see her again.

86
00:08:14.540 --> 00:08:18.680
The cat has got her, and will scratch out your eyes as well.

87
00:08:19.300 --> 00:08:21.780
No, it cannot be, the prince yelled.

88
00:08:21.780 --> 00:08:27.260
And broken hearted, he pulled the golden braids free and jumped from the tower.

89
00:08:28.200 --> 00:08:32.780
But alas, his eyes were pierced in the thorns below.

90
00:08:33.560 --> 00:08:39.380
Blind, he left the tower where the wicked enchantress was now trapped forever.

91
00:08:41.020 --> 00:08:49.020
Then, day after day, and night after night, he wandered about the forest eating nothing but roots and berries.

92
00:08:49.020 --> 00:08:53.200
And he wept bitterly for his lost love.

93
00:08:54.460 --> 00:08:59.520
When days had turned to months, and months to years of lonely wandering,

94
00:09:00.240 --> 00:09:07.020
the prince chanced to hear the faint singing of a lonely song by a voice familiar and sweet.

95
00:09:08.660 --> 00:09:12.580
At the sight of the prince, Rapunzel was filled with joy.

96
00:09:12.580 --> 00:09:19.220
But when she saw that he was blind, she wept and threw her arms about his neck.

97
00:09:19.860 --> 00:09:24.800
Then it was that two of her tears spilled into his blind eyes.

98
00:09:25.580 --> 00:09:30.680
Instantly his eyes were healed, and he beheld the face of Rapunzel.

99
00:09:32.020 --> 00:09:38.760
And so, full of happiness, the prince led Rapunzel to his kingdom to take her for his bride.

100
00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:43.840
There they were joyfully received and happily married.

101
00:09:44.320 --> 00:09:50.440
And when a year had passed, Rapunzel gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl.

102
00:09:50.880 --> 00:09:56.340
And they all lived for a long time afterwards, happy and contented.