This is the story of Rapunzel.
Once there were a man and a woman who, after many years of wishing, discovered that they were going to have a child.
This happy couple had a little window at the back of their house from which a splendid garden could be seen.
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.
One day the woman was looking down into the garden.
There she saw a flowerbed planted with the most beautiful rampion, which is often called Rapunzel.
It looked so fresh and good that she longed to eat some of its leaves.
And because she could have none of it, she grew pale and miserable.
Then her husband became alarmed and asked, What ails you dear wife? Ah, replied she, if I cannot eat some Rapunzel, I shall surely die.
The man was so distressed that he climbed over the wall into the garden of the enchantress.
There he clutched a handful of Rapunzel.
Suddenly he saw the fierce enchantress.
How dare you sneak into my garden and steal my Rapunzel like a thief! You shall be sorry for this.
Please be merciful, he cried.
I stole the Rapunzel only to keep my dear wife alive.
Then the enchantress allowed her anger to be softened and said to him, If what you say is true, you may take as much Rapunzel as you want.
But you must do one thing.
Give me your child when it is born.
I will keep it and care for it like a mother would.
The man was so frightened that he agreed.
Soon his wife grew strong again and gave birth to a little girl.
The parents tried to guard their baby from harm, but the enchantress overpowered them with her magic so that they fell into a deep sleep.
Quickly then the enchantress stole the baby and carried her far into the forest, leaving the parents an enchanted garden behind forever.
Because the enchantress loved her purple flowers so much, she named the child after them, Rapunzel.
And Rapunzel grew to be the most beautiful child under the sun, with golden hair of great length.
By the time Rapunzel was twelve years old, the enchantress had forgotten her promise to love the child as a mother would.
Selfishly she decided never to share Rapunzel with anyone.
And so she took Rapunzel to a strange tower which had no stairs nor any door, but only a window at the very top.
She forced Rapunzel to climb a rope into the tower, and the rope was thrown away.
When the enchantress wished to visit Rapunzel, she cried, Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair, that I may climb the golden stair.
Rapunzel then wound her magnificent long braids round a window hook, and let them spill down, down so that the enchantress could climb up.
Years passed with Rapunzel a prisoner in the tower.
Still she had seen no other person except the enchantress.
One day, as a prince rode through the forest, he heard a song which was so charming that he stopped and listened.
Looking up, he saw Rapunzel, who in her loneliness passed the time singing as sweetly as a bird.
The prince looked for a door to the tower, but there was none.
He rode home, but the singing had touched his heart so deeply that each day he went into the forest and listened.
Once, as he was watching, he heard the enchantress cry, Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair, that I may climb the golden stair.
Rapunzel let down her braids, and the enchantress climbed up to her.
Aha, I see, whispered the prince.
The next evening he quietly approached the tower.
Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair, that I may climb the golden stair.
And so the hair fell down and the prince climbed up.
Rapunzel was terribly frightened, for this was the first man she had ever seen.
But when the prince began to talk to her quite like a friend, Rapunzel lost her fear.
And so, for many evenings, the prince visited Rapunzel in secret and spoke to her of the wonders beyond the forest.
After a time, the prince told Rapunzel that he wanted to take her for his wife.
And she said, yes, I would willingly go away with you, but I cannot get down from this tower.
Bring with you a bit of silk thread each time you visit, and I will weave a ladder for my escape.
The selfish enchantress knew nothing of this until one day when Rapunzel asked the old woman a foolish question.
Why is it, enchantress, that when you climb up my braids you are so much heavier than the prince? He is with me in a moment.
Ah, you wicked child! What did I hear you say? I thought I had separated you from all the world, and yet you have deceived me.
In her anger, she clutched Rapunzel's beautiful braids, seized a pair of scissors from a sewing basket, and snip, snap, the braids were cut off.
Then, having no pity, the enchantress fastened the braids to the hook of the window and forced Rapunzel down from the tower, through the forest, and into a faraway desert.
There she left Rapunzel to live in misery, more alone than she had ever been.
The very same day, the old woman returned to the forest and climbed up the braids into the tower in order to take her cruel revenge on the prince.
In the evening, the prince arrived and called out, Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair, that I may climb the golden stair.
And as he watched, the braids reached down from the window to welcome him as they always had.
So up the golden hair he climbed, but at the window he found not the gentle face he expected, but the awful face of the enchantress.
Aha, you came to find your dearest.
But as a cat catches a bird, I have caught Rapunzel, and she no longer sits singing in this nest.
Rapunzel is lost to you.
You will never see her again.
The cat has got her, and will scratch out your eyes as well.
No, it cannot be, the prince yelled.
And broken hearted, he pulled the golden braids free and jumped from the tower.
But alas, his eyes were pierced in the thorns below.
Blind, he left the tower where the wicked enchantress was now trapped forever.
Then, day after day, and night after night, he wandered about the forest eating nothing but roots and berries.
And he wept bitterly for his lost love.
When days had turned to months, and months to years of lonely wandering, the prince chanced to hear the faint singing of a lonely song by a voice familiar and sweet.
At the sight of the prince, Rapunzel was filled with joy.
But when she saw that he was blind, she wept and threw her arms about his neck.
Then it was that two of her tears spilled into his blind eyes.
Instantly his eyes were healed, and he beheld the face of Rapunzel.
And so, full of happiness, the prince led Rapunzel to his kingdom to take her for his bride.
There they were joyfully received and happily married.
And when a year had passed, Rapunzel gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl.
And they all lived for a long time afterwards, happy and contented.
