The Thirteenth Fairy

Sep 23, 2026

Uploaded by Ezra

A king invites twelve fairies to celebrate the birth of a beautiful child, but one fairy is excluded because there are only twelve golden plates. Eleven gifts bless the princess with virtues, beauty, and wealth, while the thirteenth fairy curses her. The curse is softened into a sleep lasting one hundred years, and briar roses grow to seal the castle. After the century ends, a prince awakens Briar Rose and the kingdom’s enchanted stillness lifts.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryStory & Novel

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time11 min

AccessFree to download

The Feast and the Curse

The Hundred-Year Sleep and the Briar Hedge

Awakening Briar Rose

had a little girl who was so beautiful that the King could not con-tain himself for joy,and prepared a great feast.He invited not onlyhis relations,friends,and acquaintances,but the fairies,in order thatthey might be favourably and kindly disposed towards the child.Therewere thirteen of them in the kingdom,but as the King had only twelvegolden plates for them to eat from,one of the fairies had to stay athome. The feast was held with all splendour,and when it came to an endthe fairies all presented the child with a magic gift.One gave her vir-tue,another beauty,a third riches,and so on,with everything in theworld that she could wish for. When eleven of the fairies had said their say,the thirteenth sud-denly appeared.She wanted to revenge herself for not having beeninvited.Without greeting any one,or even glancing at the company,she called out in a loud voice:“The Princess shall prick herself witha distaff in her fifteenth year and shall fall down dead”;and withoutanother word she turned and left the hall. Every one was terror-struck,but the twelfth fairy,whose wish wasstill unspoken,stepped forward.She could not cancel the curse,butcould only soften it,so she said:“It shall not be death,but a deep sleeplasting a hundred years,into which your daughter shall fall.” The King was so anxious to guard his dear child from the misfor-tune,that he sent out a command that all the distaffs in the wholekingdom should be burned. As time went on all the promises of the fairies came true.The Prin-cess grew up so beautiful,modest,kind,and clever that every one whosaw her could not but love her.Now it happened that on the very daywhen she was fifteen years old the King and Queen were away fromhome,and the Princess was left quite alone in the castle.She wanderedabout over the whole place,looking at rooms and halls as she pleased,and at last she came to an old tower.She ascended a narrow,winding # “The Thirteenth Fairy” staircase and reached a little door.A rusty key was sticking in the lock,and when she turned it the door flew open.In a little room sat an oldwoman with a spindle,spinning her flax busily. “Good day,Granny,"said the Princess;"what are you doing?” "I am spinning,"said the old woman,and nodded her head. “What is the thing that whirls round so merrily?”asked the Prin-cess;and she took the spindle and tried to spin too. But she had scarcely touched it before the curse was fulfilled,andshe pricked her finger with the spindle.The instant she felt the prickshe fell upon the bed which was standing near,and lay still in a deepsleep which spread over the whole castle. The King and Queen,who had just come home and had steppedinto the hall,went to sleep,and all their courtiers with them.Thehorses went to sleep in the stable,the dogs in the yard,the doves onthe roof,the flies on the wall;yes,even the fire flickering on the hearthgrew stilland went to sleep,and the roast meat stopped crackling;thecook,who was pulling the scullion's hair because he had made somemistake,let him go and went to sleep.The wind dropped,and on thetrees in front of the castle not a leaf stirred. But round the castle a hedge of briar roses began to grow up But round the castle a hedge of briar roses began to grow up;everyyear it grew higher,till at last it surrounded the whole castle so thatnothing could be seen of it,not even the flags on the roof. But there was a legend in the land about the lovely sleeping BriarRose,as the King’s daughter was called,and from time to time princescame and tried to force a way through the hedge into the castle.Theyfound it impossible,for the thorns,as though they had hands,heldthem fast,and the princes remained caught in them without beingable to free themselves,and so died a miserable death. After many,many years a Prince came again to the country andheard an old man tell of the castle which stood behind the briar hedge,in which a most beautiful maiden called Briar Rose had been asleep forthe last hundred

FAQs

Why does the thirteenth fairy curse the princess?

The thirteenth fairy was not invited because the king had only twelve golden plates for the fairies. She seeks revenge and delivers the curse.

How is the curse changed after the king’s panic?

The twelfth fairy cannot cancel the curse, but she softens it: it becomes a deep sleep lasting one hundred years rather than death.

What allows the prince to enter the castle and wake Briar Rose?

When the hundred years end, the briar hedge blossoms and opens for him. Inside, the enchanted stillness breaks when he kisses Briar Rose.

Sep 23, 2026

Uploaded by Ezra