Knjigice
Fairy tale · Classic fairy tales
Rapunzel
The old tale of the girl with the golden braid
Also in: Motovilka (Slovenian) · Rapunzelka (Slovak)
Once upon a time a man and his wife longed very much for a child. Right beside their house stood a high wall, and behind it the loveliest garden anyone could imagine. Lamb's lettuce grew there too, soft and green.
1
The wife looked over the wall and wanted that lettuce so badly that she could neither eat nor sleep. When dusk came, her husband climbed over the wall and picked a handful.
2
But in the middle of the garden stood the gardener — the godmother with the violet headscarf. "Pick all you like," she said. "But when your child is born, let me be its godmother." The man promised.
3
A little girl was born and they named her Rapunzel. The godmother came every Sunday, brought honey and cherries, and taught her the name of every flower.
4
But the godmother was lonely, and afraid the world would take Rapunzel away from her. When the girl had grown, she led her to a tower in the middle of the forest. "Nothing bad can happen to you here," she said.
5
The tower had no door and no stairs — only a little window right at the top. Whenever the godmother came, she called: "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!" And Rapunzel let down her braid like a long golden rope.
6
Rapunzel sang in her tower. Her voice carried out over the treetops — so lovely that the birds stopped to listen.
7
One day a prince came riding through the forest. He heard the singing and stopped still. He searched and searched, but all he found was a tower with no door.
8
So he hid among the trees and watched the godmother call and climb up the braid. "Aha," he said to himself. The next evening he called the very same words — and down came the braid.
9
Rapunzel was frightened at first, and then they laughed together until it was night. The prince came every evening, and each time he brought one silken thread. Out of the threads Rapunzel wove a ladder.
10
But one day Rapunzel let it slip. The godmother was sad and angry both at once. She cut off the braid and took Rapunzel far away, to a little cottage in the middle of a meadow.
11
When the prince climbed into the tower that evening, the window was empty. He searched the whole land for her — over hills, across rivers, from village to village, a year and a day.
12
And one morning, across a meadow, he heard a song he knew. He ran — and there was Rapunzel. They held each other, and both of them cried for happiness.
13
Soon there was a wedding, and the godmother danced at it too, and was never lonely again. And out of the cut-off braid they made a swing in the garden — the finest swing in all the world.
14The End
