Stranica 257 [257]
OCR
? THE SLEEPING BEAUTY. 205 left the hall. Every one was terrified at her saying, when the . twelfth came forward, for she had not yet bestowed her gift, | and though she could not do away with the evil prophecy, yet . she could soften it, so she said, , "The princess shall not die, but fall into a deep sleep for | a hundred years.” Now the king, being desirous of saving his child even írom . this misfortune, gave commandment that all the spindles in his . kingdom should be burnt up. The maiden grew up, adorned with all the gifts of the wise women; and she was so lovely, modest, sweet, and kind and _ clever, that no one who saw her could help loving her. It happened one day, she being already fifteen years old, , that the king and queen rode abroad, and the maiden was left . behind alone in the castle. She wandered about into all the ! nooks and corners, and into all the chambers and parlours, as the fancy took her, till at last she came to an old tower. She ‘climbed the narrow winding stair which led to a little door, ‘with a rusty key sticking out of the lock; she turned the key, and the door opened, and there in the little room sat an old ‘woman with a spindle, diligently spinning her flax. 7 “Good day, mother,” said the princess, “what are you doing ?” Tam spinning,” answered the old woman, nodding her . head. | “What thing is that that twists round so briskly?” asked the maiden, and taking the spindle into her hand she began to . spin; but no sooner had she touched it than the evil prophecy was fulfilled, and she pricked her finger with it. In that very . moment she fell back upon the bed that stood there, and lay (na deep sleep. And this sleep fell upon the whole castle ; , the king and queen, who had returned and were in the great hall, fell fast asleep, and with them the whole court. The | horses j in their stalls, the dogs in the yard, the pigeons on the . roof, the flies on the wall, the very fire that flickered on the i hearth, became still, and slept like the rest; and the meat on the spit ceased roasting, and the cook, who was going to pull the scullion’s hair for some mistake he had made, let him go, and . Went to sleep. And the wind ceased, and not a leaf fell from the trees about the castle.
