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Briar Rose.
A long time ago there were a king and queen whosaid every day,
Ah, if only we had a child. But they never hadone. But it happened that once when the queen wasbathing,
a frog crept out of the water onto the land andsaid to her,
Your wish shall be fulfilled. Before a year hasgone by, you shall have a daughter.
What the frog had said came true, and the queenhad a little girl who was so pretty that the kingcould not contain himself for joy, and ordered agreat feast.
He invited not only his kindred, friends andacquaintance, but also the wise women, in orderthat they might be kind and well-disposed towardsthe child.
There were thirteen of them in his kingdom, but,as he had only twelve golden plates for them toeat out of, one of them had to be left at home.
The feast was held with all manner of splendor andwhen it came to an end the wise women bestowedtheir magic gifts upon the baby,
one gave virtue, another beauty, a third riches,and so on with everything in the world that onecan wish for.
When eleven of them had made their promises,suddenly the thirteenth came in.
She wished to avenge herself for not having beeninvited, and without greeting, or even looking atanyone, she cried with a loud voice,
The king's daughter shall in her fifteenth yearprick herself with a spindle, and fall down dead.
And, without saying a word more, she turned roundand left the room.
They were all shocked, but the twelfth, whose goodwish still remained unspoken, came forward, and asshe could not undo the evil sentence, but onlysoften it, she said,
It shall not be death, but a deep sleep of ahundred years, into which the princess shall fall.
The king, who would fain keep his dear child fromthe misfortune, gave orders that every spindle inthe whole kingdom should be burnt.
Meanwhile the gifts of the wise women wereplentiously fulfilled on the young girl, for shewas so beautiful, modest, good-natured, and wise,that everyone who saw her was bound to love her.
It happened that on the very day when she wasfifteen years old, the king and queen were not athome, and the maiden was left in the palace quitealone.
So she went round into all sorts of places, lookedinto rooms and bedchambers just as she liked, andat last came to an old tower.
She climbed up the narrow winding staircase, andreached a little door.
A rusty key was in the lock, and when she turnedit the door sprang open, and there in a littleroom sat an old woman with a spindle, busilyspinning her flax.
Good day, old dame, said the king's daughter, whatare you doing there?
I am spinning, said the old woman, and nodded herhead.
What sort of thing is that, that rattles round somerrily? said the girl, and she took the spindleand wanted to spin too.
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But scarcely had she touched the spindle when themagic decree was fulfilled, and she pricked herfinger with it.
And, in the very moment when she felt the prick,she fell down upon the bed that stood there, andlay in a deep sleep.
And this sleep extended over the whole palace.
The king and queen who had just come home, and hadentered the great hall, began to go to sleep, andthe whole of the court with them.
The horses, too, went to sleep in the stable, thedogs in the yard, the pigeons upon the roof, theflies on the wall, even the fire that was flamingon the hearth became quiet and slept, the roastmeat left off frizzling, and the cook, who wasjust going to pull the hair of the scullery boy,because he had forgotten something, let him go,and went to sleep.
And the wind fell, and on the trees before thecastle not a leaf moved again.
But round about the castle there began to grow ahedge of thorns, which every year became higher,and at last grew close up round the castle and allover it, so that there was nothing of it to beseen, not even the flag upon the roof.
But the story of the beautiful sleeping briarrose, for so the princess was named, when aboutthe country, so that from time to time king's sonscame and tried to get through the thorny hedgeinto the castle.
But they found it impossible, for the thorns heldfast together, as if they had hands, and theyouths were caught in them, could not get looseagain, and died a miserable death.
After long, long years a king's son came again tothat country, and heard an old man talking aboutthe thorn hedge, and that a castle was said tostand behind it in which a wonderfully beautifulprincess, named Briar Rose, had been asleep for ahundred years, and that the king and queen and thewhole court were asleep likewise.
He had heard, too, from his grandfather, that manyking's sons had already come, and had tried to getthrough the thorny hedge, but they had remainedsticking fast in it, and had died a pitiful death.
Then the youths said, I am not afraid, I will goand see the beautiful Briar Rose.
The good old man might dissuade him as he would,he did not listen to his words.
But by this time the hundred years had justpassed, and the day had come when Briar Rose wasto awake again.
When the king's son came near to the thorn hedge,it was nothing but large and beautiful flowers,which parted from each other of their own accord,and let him pass unhurt, then they closed againbehind him like a hedge.
In the castle yard he saw the horses and thespotted hounds lying asleep, on the roof sat thepigeons with their heads under their wings.
And when he entered the house, the flies wereasleep upon the wall, the cook in the kitchen wasstill holding out his hand to seize the boy, andthe maid was sitting by the black hen which shewas going to pluck.
He went on farther, and in the great hall he sawthe whole of the court lying asleep, and up by thethrone lay the king and queen.
Then he went on still farther, and all was soquiet that a breath could be heard, and at last hecame to the tower, and opened the door into thelittle room where Briar Rose was sleeping.
There she lay, so beautiful that he could not turnhis eyes away, and he stooped down and gave her akiss.
But as soon as he kissed her Briar Rose opened hereyes and awoke, and looked at him quite sweetly.
Then they went down together, and the king awoke,and the queen, and the whole court, and looked ateach other in great astonishment.
And the horses in the courtyard stood up and shookthemselves, the hounds jumped up and wagged theirtails, the pigeons upon the roof pulled out theirheads from under their wings, looked round, andflew into the open country.
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The flies on the wall crept again, the fire in thekitchen burned up and flickered and cooked themeat, the joint began to turn and frizzle again,and the cook gave the boy such a box on the earthat he screamed, and the maid plucked the fowlready for the spit.
And then the marriage of the king's son with BriarRose was celebrated with all splendor, and theylived contented to the end of their days.
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英語聞き流し10分間。名作リスニング。英語テキストとMP3ダウンロード。その他の物語は、ホームページよりご利用いただけます。
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