Sleeping Beauty Charles Perrault ( 1628 - 1703 ) There once lived a brave King and his fair Queen . For years , they wanted to have children . Finally , the Queen had a baby girl . Her birth was celebrated throughout the kingdom . There were seven magical fairies in the land . The King and Queen asked them to be the baby ' s godmothers . The fairies ' gifts would make any baby perfect . They would provide the baby with grace and goodness . The King gave a party for the fairies . There was a table with seven places . The fairies all sat down to eat . Then , an old , old fairy walked into the room . No one had invited her because they thought she had died . She had lived alone in a tower for fifty years . The old , old fairy said angrily . " Insult me , will they ? I will teach them something . " A younger fairy heard her . She wanted to prevent it when the old fairy did anything awful . The youngest fairy gave the baby beauty . The next gave her wit . The third gave her grace . The fourth made her an excellent dancer . The fifth made her a wonderful singer . The sixth gave her musical talent . It was now the old , old fairy ' s turn . Angrily , she said . " The princess will cut her finger on a spindle and die . " Everyone was shocked . The younger fairy stepped up to the baby . She said , " Do not fear , Your Majesties . I can ' t undo this wicked curse . But I can change it . When the princess cuts her finger , she will not die . She ' ll sleep for a hundred years . She will be awakened by a handsome prince . " The king wanted to protect his daughter . He made a law . There should be no spindles in the kingdom . Fifteen years later , the princess grew into a beautiful young lady . One day she decided to explore the castle . She found a tiny room high up in the castle . In the room , she saw an old woman . In her hand she held a spindle . The princess had never seen it before . " Please , what is that ? " asked the princess . " This is a spindle , my dear , " said the old woman . " How beautiful ! May I see it ? " asked the princess . As the princess reached out , she cut her finger on the spindle . she fell on the floor . She came to sleep . The king ran to the young princess . He now knew that the curse had come true . The king placed Sleeping Beauty in a beautiful room . The magic sleep increased her beauty . Her cheeks and lips became rosy . There was a soft sound of her breathing . The good fairy who saved the princess ' life came to the palace and said . " The princess might be sad if she wakes in an empty castle . I will give her company and servants . " The fairy then put many servants to sleep . Even the princess ' little dog was put to sleep beside Sleeping Beauty . The King and Queen went off live in another place . The fairy made a forest of trees grow around the castle . The trees were very thick . Sleeping Beauty was safe from the outside world . A hundred years passed . There was a new king of the land . He had a son who always went hunting . One day the prince saw the castle towers in the forest . The prince went into the thick forest . As he came near the castle , vines and trees magically separated . He could pass through the forest . Everything was silent in the courtyard . People were sleeping everywhere . Finally , the prince came to a golden room . There on a high bed was the most beautiful lady he had ever seen . The prince touched her hand , and the lovely princess woke . She looked at the prince as if she had always known him . " Is that you , my prince ? " she whispered . " I have waited a long time for you . " The prince ' s heart jumped for joy . " I have fallen in love with you . " answered the prince . He asked the princess to marry him , and she agreed . After two years , the prince and princess had two children . The eldest was a girl named Dawn . The second was a boy , and they called him Day . After Day ' s birth , the old king passed away . The prince then became king . The new king had to go fight in a war . " Please rule in my place , " he asked his mother . She was originally an ogress . She had a bad temper . After he left , his mother ordered the king ' s wife and children to live in a country house . The king ' s mother called the cook and said , " I want to eat little Dawn for dinner tomorrow ! " The poor man knew that he could not argue with an ogress . So he got his knife and went to Dawn ' s room . However , the man could not hurt the smiling child . Instead , he chose a young lamb from the barn . He prepared it for dinner the next day . The ogress Queen greedily ate up all the lamb . " She ' s even tastier than I ' d imagined . " she said . The next Sunday , the king ' s mother said to the cook , " I want to eat little Day for lunch ! " The cook hid Day in a barn with Dawn . Then he prepared a tender young goat for lunch . " He is delicious . You prepared a fine meal . " said the ogress . " Now I should eat Queen ! " So the cook hid the Queen in the barn with the children , and then cooked a young deer . The ogress ate all of it . She was very pleased . She planned on lying to her son . She would tell him that wolves had eaten his family . One day , the ogress went walking . She walked past the barn and heard children laughing . She heard a mother ' s voice hushing them . It was the young Queen with her children . The ogress was angry because she had been tricked . " Get the biggest pot in the kingdom ! Put it in the courtyard . Fill it with snakes , toads , and some spiders . " she said . " I ' ll throw the Queen , the children , and the cook in it to die . And I ' ll love watching ! " The next day , the ogress ' servants prepared everything . They were ready to throw the young Queen into the pot . Suddenly , the king rode through the gate . " What on earth is going on here ? " he demanded . No one dared to speak . The ogress was furious . She knew that she could not always have her own way . So she jumped into the pot . The snakes and spiders instantly ate her . The king was upset for a while . However , his sadness gradually disappeared . He was happy to be with his beautiful wife and his two pretty children .