Once upon a time there was a man and a woman who had long in vain wished for a child. Finally the woman came to believe that the goodLord would fulfill her wish. Through the small rear window of thesepeople's house they could see into a splendid garden that was filled withthe most beautiful flowers and herbs. The garden was surrounded by a highwall, and no one dared enter, because it belonged to a sorceress whopossessed great power and was feared by everyone.
One day the woman was standing at this window, and she saw a bedplanted with the most beautiful rapunzel. It looked so fresh and greenthat she longed for some. It was her greatest desire to eat some of therapunzel. This desire increased with every day, and not knowing how to getany, she became miserably ill.
Her husband was frightened, and asked her, "What ails you, dearwife?"
"Oh," she answered, " if I do not get some rapunzel from the gardenbehind our house, I shall die."
The man, who loved her dearly, thought, "Before you let your wife die,you must get her some of the rapunzel, whatever the cost."
So just as it was getting dark he climbed over the high wall into thesorceress's garden, hastily dug up a handful of rapunzel, and took it tohis wife. She immediately made a salad from it, which she devouredeagerly. It tasted so very good to her that by the next day her desire formore had grown threefold. If she were to have any peace, the man wouldhave to climb into the garden once again. Thus he set forth once againjust as it was getting dark. But no sooner than he had climbed over thewall than, to his horror, he saw the sorceress standing there beforehim.
"How can you dare," she asked with an angry look, "to climb into mygarden and like a thief to steal my rapunzel? You will pay for this."
"Oh," he answered, "Let mercy overrule justice. I came to do this out ofnecessity. My wife saw your rapunzel from our window, and such a longingcame over her, that she would die, if she did not get some to eat."
The sorceress's anger abated somewhat, and she said, "If things are asyou say, I will allow you to take as much rapunzel as you want. But underone condition: You must give me the child that your wife will bring to theworld. It will do well, and I will take care of it like a mother."
In his fear the man agreed to everything.
When the woman gave birth, the sorceress appeared, named the littlegirl Rapunzel, and took her away. Rapunzel became the most beautiful childunder the sun. When she was twelve years old, the fairy locked her in atower that stood in a forest and that had neither a door nor a stairway,but only a tiny little window at the very top.
When the sorceress wanted to enter, she stood below and called out:
Rapunzel, Rapunzel,Let down your hair to me.
Rapunzel had splendid long hair, as fine as spun gold. When she heard thesorceress's voice, she untied her braids, wound them around a window hook,let her hair fall twenty yards to the ground, and the sorceress climbed upit.
A few years later it happened that a king's son was riding through theforest. As he approached the tower he heard a song so beautiful that hestopped to listen. It was Rapunzel, who was passing the time by singingwith her sweet voice. The prince wanted to climb up to her, and looked fora door in the tower, but none was to be found.
He rode home, but the song had so touched his heart that he returned tothe forest every day and listened to it. One time, as he was thus standingbehind a tree, he saw the sorceress approach, and heard her say:
Rapunzel, Rapunzel,Let down your hair.
Then Rapunzel let down her strands of hair, and the sorceress climbed upthem to her.
"If that is the ladder into the tower, then sometime I will try myluck."
And the next day, just as it was beginning to get dark, he went to thetower and called out:
Rapunzel, Rapunzel,Let down your hair.
The hair fell down, and the prince climbed up.
At first Rapunzel was terribly frightened when a man such as she hadnever seen before came in to her. However, the prince began talking to herin a very friendly manner, telling her that his heart had been so touchedby her singing that he could have no peace until he had seen her inperson. Then Rapunzel lost her fear, and when he asked her if she wouldtake him as her husband, she thought, "He would rather have me than wouldold Frau Gothel." She said yes and placed her hand into his. She said, "Iwould go with you gladly, but I do not know how to get down. Every timethat you come, bring a strand of silk, from which I will weave a ladder.When it is finished I will climb down, and you can take me away on yourhorse. They arranged that he would come to her every evening, for the oldwoman came by day.
The sorceress did not notice what was happening until one day Rapunzelsaid to her, "Frau Gothel, tell me why it is that you are more difficultto pull up than is the young prince, who will be arriving any momentnow?"
"You godless child," cried the sorceress. "What am I hearing from you?I thought I had removed you from the whole world, but you have deceived menonetheless."
In her anger she grabbed Rapunzel's beautiful hair, wrapped it a fewtimes around her left hand, grasped a pair of scissors with her righthand, and snip snap, cut it off. And she was so unmerciful that she tookRapunzel into a wilderness where she suffered greatly.
On the evening of the same day that she sent Rapunzel away, the fairytied the cut-off hair to the hook at the top of the tower, and when theprince called out:
Rapunzel, Rapunzel,Let down your hair.
she let down the hair.
The prince climbed up, but above, instead of his beloved Rapunzel, hefound the sorceress, who peered at him with poisonous and evil looks.
"Aha!" she cried scornfully. "You have come for your Mistress Darling,but that beautiful bird is no longer sitting in her nest, nor is shesinging any more. The cat got her, and will scratch your eyes out as well.You have lost Rapunzel. You will never see her again."
The prince was overcome with grief, and in his despair he threw himselffrom the tower. He escaped with his life, but the thorns into which hefell poked out his eyes. Blind, he wandered about in the forest, eatingnothing but grass and roots, and doing nothing but weeping and wailingover the loss of his beloved wife. Thus he wandered about miserably forsome years, finally happening into the wilderness where Rapunzel livedmiserably with the twins that she had given birth to.
He heard a voice and thought it was familiar. He advanced toward it,and as he approached, Rapunzel recognized him, and crying, threw herarms around his neck. Two of her tears fell into his eyes, and they becameclear once again, and he could see as well as before. He led her into hiskingdom, where he was received with joy, and for a long time they livedhappily and satisfied.
The End
