Sleeping Beauty - The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods - As First Collected by Charles Perrault in 1696

Oct 19, 2026

Upload by Oliver

A retelling of “The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods,” as first collected by Charles Perrault in 1696. The story centers on a royal christening where seven fairies bestow blessings—beauty, wisdom, grace, dance, song, and musical skill—before an insulted old fairy curses the princess to pierce her hand with a spindle. A younger fairy mitigates the curse, replacing death with a hundred-year sleep and setting the conditions for her eventual awakening by a king’s son.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryStory & Novel

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time12 min

AccessFree to download

The Royal Christening and the Seven Fairies

The Curse of the Spindle

The Mitigation and the Hundred-Year Sleep

The Princess Falls Asleep

The Royal Preparations

Sleeping Beauty [www.](www.STUDENTHANDOUTS.com)[STUDENTHANDOUTS](www.STUDENTHANDOUTS.com)[.com](www.STUDENTHANDOUTS.com) THE SLEEPING BEAUTY IN THE WOODS As First Collected by Charles Perrault in 1696 Once upon a time there was a king and a queen, who were very sorry that they had no children, so sorry that it cannot be told. At last, however, the Queen had a daughter. There was a very fine christening; and the Princess had for her godmothers all the fairies they could find in the whole kingdom (there were seven of them), so that every one of them might confer a gift upon her, as was the custom of fairies in those days. By this means the Princess had all the perfections imaginable. After the christening was over, the company returned to the King's palace, where was prepared a great feast for the fairies. There was placed before every oneof them a magnificent cover with a case of massive gold, wherein were a spoon, anda knife and fork, all of pure gold set with diamonds and rubies. But as they were all sitting down at table they saw a very old fairy come into the hall. She had not been invited, because for more than fifty years she had not been out of a certain tower, and she was believed to be either dead or enchanted. The King ordered her a cover, but he could not give her a case of gold as the others had, because seven only had been made for the seven fairies. The old fairy fancied she was slighted, and muttered threats between her teeth. One of the young fairies who sat near heard her, and, judging that she might give the little Princess some unlucky gift, hid herself behind the curtains as soon as they left the table. She hoped that she might speak last and undo as much as she could the evil which the old fairy might do. In the meanwhile all the fairies began to give their gifts to the Princess. The youngest gave her for her gift that she should be the most beautiful person in the world; the next, that she should have the wit of an angel; the third, that she should be able to do everything she did gracefully; the fourth, that she should dance perfectly; the fifth, that she should sing like a nightingale; and the sixth, that she should play all kinds of musical instruments to the fullest perfection. The old fairy's turn coming next, her head shaking more with spite than with age, she said that the Princess should pierce her hand with a spindle and die of the wound. This terrible gift made the whole company tremble, and everybody fell a-crying. At this very instant the young fairy came from behind the curtains and said these words in a loud voice:— "Assure yourselves, O King and Queen, that your daughter shall not die of this disaster. It is true, I have no power to undo entirely what my elder has done. The Princess shall indeed pierce her hand with a spindle; but, instead of dying, she shall only fall into a deep sleep, which shall last a hundred years, at the end of which a king's son shall come and awake her." The King, to avoid the misfortune foretold by the old fairy, issued orders forbidding any one, on pain of death, to spin with a distaff and spindle, or to have a spindle in his house. About fifteen or sixteen years after, the King and Queen being absent at one of their country villas, the young Princess was one day running up and down the palace; she went from room to room, and at last she came into a little garret on the top of the tower, where a good old woman, alone, was spinning with her spindle. This good woman had never heard of the King's orders against spindles. "What are you doing there, my good woman?" said the Princess. "I am spinning, my pretty child,"said the old woman, who did not know who the Princess was. "Ha!" said the Princess, "this is very pretty; how do you do it? Give it to me. Let me see if I can do it." She had no sooner taken it into her hand than, either because she was too quick and heedless, or because the decree of the fairy had so ordained, it ran int

FAQs

What curse is placed on the princess at the christening feast?

An uninvited old fairy declares that the princess will pierce her hand with a spindle and die of the wound. The company trembles because the threat seems fatal.

How does the younger fairy change the outcome of the curse?

The younger fairy states the princess will still be pierced by a spindle, but instead of dying she will fall into a deep sleep lasting one hundred years.

What does the king do to try to prevent the foretold disaster?

The king issues orders forbidding anyone, on pain of death, to spin with a distaff and spindle or to keep a spindle in the house.

Oct 19, 2026

Upload by Oliver