A king and queen once upon a time reigned in a country a great way off,where there were in those days fairies. Now this king and queen hadplenty of money, and plenty of fine clothes to wear, and plenty ofgood things to eat and drink, and a coach to ride out in every day: butthough they had been married many years they had no children, and thisgrieved them very much indeed. But one day as the queen was walkingby the side of the river, at the bottom of the garden, she saw a poorlittle fish, that had thrown itself out of the water, and lay gaspingand nearly dead on the bank. Then the queen took pity on the littlefish, and threw it back again into the river; and before it swam awayit lifted its head out of the water and said, 'I know what your wish is,and it shall be fulfilled, in return for your kindness to me--you willsoon have a daughter.' What the little fish had foretold soon came topass; and the queen had a little girl, so very beautiful that the kingcould not cease looking on it for joy, and said he would hold a greatfeast and make merry, and show the child to all the land. So he askedhis kinsmen, and nobles, and friends, and neighbours. But the queensaid, 'I will have the fairies also, that they might be kind and goodto our little daughter.' Now there were thirteen fairies in the kingdom;but as the king and queen had only twelve golden dishes for them to eatout of, they were forced to leave one of the fairies without asking her.So twelve fairies came, each with a high red cap on her head, and redshoes with high heels on her feet, and a long white wand in her hand:and after the feast was over they gathered round in a ring and gave alltheir best gifts to the little princess. One gave her goodness, anotherbeauty, another riches, and so on till she had all that was good in theworld.

Just as eleven of them had done blessing her, a great noise was heard inthe courtyard, and word was brought that the thirteenth fairy wascome, with a black cap on her head, and black shoes on her feet, and abroomstick in her hand: and presently up she came into the dining-hall.Now, as she had not been asked to the feast she was very angry, andscolded the king and queen very much, and set to work to take herrevenge. So she cried out, 'The king's daughter shall, in her fifteenthyear, be wounded by a spindle, and fall down dead.' Then the twelfth ofthe friendly fairies, who had not yet given her gift, came forward, andsaid that the evil wish must be fulfilled, but that she could soften itsmischief; so her gift was, that the king's daughter, when the spindlewounded her, should not really die, but should only fall asleep for ahundred years.

However, the king hoped still to save his dear child altogether fromthe threatened evil; so he ordered that all the spindles in the kingdomshould be bought up and burnt. But all the gifts of the first elevenfairies were in the meantime fulfilled; for the princess was sobeautiful, and well behaved, and good, and wise, that everyone who knewher loved her.

It happened that, on the very day she was fifteen years old, the kingand queen were not at home, and she was left alone in the palace. So sheroved about by herself, and looked at all the rooms and chambers, tillat last she came to an old tower, to which there was a narrow staircaseending with a little door. In the door there was a golden key, and whenshe turned it the door sprang open, and there sat an old lady spinningaway very busily. 'Why, how now, good mother,' said the princess; 'whatare you doing there?' 'Spinning,' said the old lady, and nodded herhead, humming a tune, while buzz! went the wheel. 'How prettily thatlittle thing turns round!' said the princess, and took the spindleand began to try and spin. But scarcely had she touched it, before thefairy's prophecy was fulfilled; the spindle wounded her, and she felldown lifeless on the ground.

However, she was not dead, but had only fallen into a deep sleep; andthe king and the queen, who had just come home, and all their court,fell asleep too; and the horses slept in the stables, and the dogs inthe court, the pigeons on the house-top, and the very flies slept uponthe walls. Even the fire on the hearth left off blazing, and went tosleep; the jack stopped, and the spit that was turning about with agoose upon it for the king's dinner stood still; and the cook, who wasat that moment pulling the kitchen-boy by the hair to give him a boxon the ear for something he had done amiss, let him go, and both fellasleep; the butler, who was slyly tasting the ale, fell asleep with thejug at his lips: and thus everything stood still, and slept soundly.

A large hedge of thorns soon grew round the palace, and every year itbecame higher and thicker; till at last the old palace was surroundedand hidden, so that not even the roof or the chimneys could be seen. Butthere went a report through all the land of the beautiful sleeping BriarRose (for so the king's daughter was called): so that, from time totime, several kings' sons came, and tried to break through the thicketinto the palace. This, however, none of them could ever do; for thethorns and bushes laid hold of them, as it were with hands; and therethey stuck fast, and died wretchedly.

After many, many years there came a king's son into that land: and anold man told him the story of the thicket of thorns; and how a beautifulpalace stood behind it, and how a wonderful princess, called Briar Rose,lay in it asleep, with all her court. He told, too, how he had heardfrom his grandfather that many, many princes had come, and had tried tobreak through the thicket, but that they had all stuck fast in it, anddied. Then the young prince said, 'All this shall not frighten me; Iwill go and see this Briar Rose.' The old man tried to hinder him, buthe was bent upon going.

Now that very day the hundred years were ended; and as the prince cameto the thicket he saw nothing but beautiful flowering shrubs, throughwhich he went with ease, and they shut in after him as thick as ever.Then he came at last to the palace, and there in the court lay the dogsasleep; and the horses were standing in the stables; and on the roof satthe pigeons fast asleep, with their heads under their wings. And when hecame into the palace, the flies were sleeping on the walls; the spitwas standing still; the butler had the jug of ale at his lips, goingto drink a draught; the maid sat with a fowl in her lap ready to beplucked; and the cook in the kitchen was still holding up her hand, asif she was going to beat the boy.

Then he went on still farther, and all was so still that he could hearevery breath he drew; till at last he came to the old tower, and openedthe door of the little room in which Briar Rose was; and there she lay,fast asleep on a couch by the window. She looked so beautiful that hecould not take his eyes off her, so he stooped down and gave her a kiss.But the moment he kissed her she opened her eyes and awoke, and smiledupon him; and they went out together; and soon the king and queen alsoawoke, and all the court, and gazed on each other with great wonder.And the horses shook themselves, and the dogs jumped up and barked; thepigeons took their heads from under their wings, and looked about andflew into the fields; the flies on the walls buzzed again; the fire inthe kitchen blazed up; round went the jack, and round went the spit,with the goose for the king's dinner upon it; the butler finished hisdraught of ale; the maid went on plucking the fowl; and the cook gavethe boy the box on his ear.

And then the prince and Briar Rose were married, and the wedding feastwas given; and they lived happily together all their lives long.