Rapunzel

There was a witch who had a garden, and in that garden was a patch of rampion (rapunzel), green and lush.

One day, the witch noticed that the rampion was dwindling, so she decided to keep watch at night.

Sure enough, she caught a man stealing her rampion.

The man, upon seeing the witch, was terrified. He said, “Ever since my wife laid eyes on the rampion in your garden, she’s been obsessed with it. She craves rampion all day long. I had no choice but to steal it, because she’s pregnant and won’t eat anything else.”

Upon hearing this, the witch replied, “You may come and pick the rampion, but there’s a condition: your child must be given to me.”

Knowing the witch’s powers, the man reluctantly agreed. Nine months later, his wife gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, and they named her “Rapunzel.”

However, soon enough, the witch indeed took the child away.

As Rapunzel grew older, she became more and more beautiful.

The witch, not wanting Rapunzel to leave her, imprisoned her in a high tower in the forest when she turned twelve.

Rapunzel stayed in the tower every day. When she felt bored, she would sing, and her voice was beautiful. When she sang, the animals in the forest couldn’t help but come over to listen.

One day, a prince rode his white horse through the forest. Suddenly, the horse ran off in another direction, and the prince couldn’t stop it.

They reached the bottom of a tall tower, where the horse abruptly stopped.

At that moment, the prince heard someone singing, and the voice was incredibly beautiful. He had never heard such a lovely sound before, no wonder the horse couldn’t resist coming to listen.

Following the voice, he looked up and saw Rapunzel at the top of the tower. He had never seen such a beautiful girl and instantly fell in love with her.

He circled the tower but found no door.

The witch’s tower had neither a door nor stairs; there was only a window at the top.

As the prince pondered how to meet Rapunzel, the witch arrived.

She called out from below the tower, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair.”

Soon, a long strand of hair descended from the top of the tower, and the witch climbed up it to reach the top, entering through the window.

It turned out that Rapunzel had long hair. When she heard the witch’s call, she would wrap her hair around the window hook and let it down for the witch to climb up.

Observing all this, the prince formulated a plan.

The next day, he returned to the high tower and called up, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair.”

True to form, a long strand of hair quickly descended, and the prince climbed up to the top.

When Rapunzel saw the prince, she was startled, as she had never seen a man before.

However, the prince was very kind and handsome, and soon Rapunzel also grew fond of him.

The prince visited Rapunzel every day.

The witch soon found out about this and became furious.

She angrily cut off Rapunzel’s long hair and threw her into the wilderness.

Unaware that Rapunzel had been thrown into the wilderness, the prince returned.

The witch, instead of Rapunzel, let down the cut hair from the tower top.

The prince climbed up, expecting to see Rapunzel, but instead, he encountered the witch.

The witch pushed the prince off the top of the tower. Fortunately, the soft soil and thick fallen leaves in the forest cushioned his fall, and he was not injured, but his eyes were blinded by thorns.

His white horse saw him, quickly ran over, crouched down to let him mount, and then took off running. 

The prince thought the white horse was taking him back to the palace, but soon realized it was going in the wrong direction, and he couldn’t stop it.

At that moment, he suddenly heard a familiar song—it was Rapunzel. The horse had brought him to find her.

As he dismounted, he called out loudly for Rapunzel.

When Rapunzel saw the prince, she immediately ran over. Upon learning that his eyes had been pierced and blinded, she couldn’t help but cry.

Her tears fell onto the prince’s eyes, and a miracle happened—his eyesight was restored.

The white horse carried them back to the palace.

Later, Rapunzel and the prince got married and had a little prince and a little princess.