There once lived a carpenter and his wife who longed for a child. They prayed everyday for a child but they never had one. At the back of their house, there was a beautiful garden with beautiful flowers and plants. No one dared enter into the garden for it belonged to a witch, Mother Gothel.
One day, the carpenter’s wife was sick and she craved some rampion from Mother Gothel’s garden. The carpener was worried for his wife and asked her “What shall i do for you, my dear wife?“
“Oh,” she answred, “I shall die unless I can have some of that rampion to eat that grows in the garden at the back of our house.” The carpenetr loved his wife so he agreed to steal some rampion for her.
That night, he climbed over the wall into the garden and plucked a handful of rampion and brought it to his wife. His wife made a salad and ate it but she liked it so much. She wanted more.
The carpenter climbed into Mother Gothel’s garden againb that night, but this time, the witch was waiting for him. She noticed some of her rampion was missing the day before and wanted to catch the thief.
“How dare you climb over into my garden like a thief, and steal my rampion! I will place a curse upon you!“ the witch threatned.
“Oh, please be merciful. my wife saw your delicious rampion and wanted some of it.” The man pleaded. Then the witch said,
“You can have as much rampion as you want but only on one condition. Your wife will have a baby and the baby must be given to me. I will care for it like a mother“.
The man was unhappy but because he was afraid, he agreed. When the time came when the child was born, the witch appeared.
She took the child from them and called the child Rapunzel. It was a baby girl. The witch took the baby away with her.
As Rapunzel grew, she was the most beautiful child in the world. When she was twelve years old, the witch locked her up in a tower deep in the forest. This tower had no steps nor doors, only a small window above. Whenever the witch went out or came in, she would say,
“Rapunzel, Rapunzel!
Let down your hair!”
Rapunzel had beautiful long golden hair and whenever the with called out, she would let down her hair for the witch to climb.
One day, the King’s son was riding through the forest and heard a sweet voice singing. He was astonished and wanted to know who the mysterious singer was. It was Rapunzel. She sat by her window, singing. The King’s son wanted to meet her, and searched for door into the tower, but there was none.
So he went home sad. Another day came and as he was listening to Rapunzel sing, he saw the witch arrive and heard her say:
“O Rapunzel, Rapunzel!
Let down your hair.”
Then he saw how Rapunzel let down her long hair, and how the witch climbed up. The prince was happy and the next day he went to the tower and cried,
“O Rapunzel, Rapunzel!
Let down your hair.”
And she let down her hair, and the King’s son climbed up the tower. Rapunzel was afrarid because she had never seen a man before.
The prince spoke to her kindly and asked her to marry him. Rapunzel was hesitant but since she didn’t like Mother Gother very much, she agreed to marry him.
The prince was happy but there was no way for Rapunzel to climb out of the tower since there was no door. The prince promised to bring a long rope the next evening and she would climb out of the tower and he would take her away on his horse.
The next day, when the witch was away, the prince came with a long rope as promised. He called out
“Rapunzel, Rapunzel!
Let down your hair.”
Then she let the hair down, and the King’s son climbed up. He fastened the rope to the window and made a knot so that the rope would hold them as they climbed down. Rapunzel and the prince then climbed out of the tower before the with returned. He took her to his kingdom and they lived happily ever after.
