Rapunzel

Rapunzel a Grimm's Fairy Tale

Rapunzel is a nickname for a herb, it is also called rampion.

There once lived a man and a woman who always wished for a child. They had a little window at the back of their house where they could see a wonderful garden. The garden was surrounded by a high wall, and no one dared to go into it because it belonged to an witch who everyone said was a nut. She had great power and was feared by everyone since a nut with power was to be feared. One day the woman was standing by the window and looking down into the garden and she saw a bed which was planted with the most tasty rapunzel. She really wished to eat some. This wish got stronger every day. The woman grew more pale and miserable each day just sitting with a blank look on her face. Her husband was worried and asked " What is wrong my dear?" She replied, "if I can't eat some of the rapunzel I think I shall die." The man, who loved her, thought, " I will not let my lovely wife die, I will bring her some of the rapunzel myself, and the rapunzel is just over the wall and almost at my finger tips. That night, he climbed over the wall into the garden , quickly grabbed a handful of rapunzel and took it to his wife. She made herself a salad and ate it happily. She liked it so much" that the next day she wanted more of it. Her husband once more went into the garden. When he climbed over the wall he was terribly afraid, for he saw the witch was watching him. "How dare you," she said with angry look, "sneak into my garden and steal my rapunzel? You shall suffer for this!" "Ah," the frightened husband answered, "please have mercy, I mean well. My wife saw it from the window and felt such a desire for it that she would have died if she didn't get some. In the crunch, I could not let that happen to my wife." The witch's anger eased up, and said to him, "I will allow you to take as much as you like, but you must give me the baby daughter your wife will give birth to." I will care for the child like I was her mother." The man in his fear agreed and when the baby was born the witch appeared and took the baby away with her, naming her Rapunzel. Rapunzel grew into the most beautiful child but when she was twelve years old, the witch shut her into a tower. The tower had no stairs or doors, but only a little window at the very top. It wasn't what some people call a walk up. This tower didn't even have a loo! Rapunzel grew her hair long and it looked like gold. When the witch wanted to go visit, she stood beneath the window and cried, "

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Let down your hair. "

When Rapunzel heard the voice of the witch she wound her braids round one of the hooks of the window, and then the hair fell down the side of the tower and the witch climbed up on it. After a year or two Rapunzel felt that she was living in nut house. Rapunzel passed her time singing to keep herself from becoming a nut. One day the Prince rode through the forest and went by the tower. He heard a song which was so lovely that it put a hex on on him. The Prince wanted to climb up but couldn't find a door. He rode home, but the singing had so put a hex on him, that every day he went out into the forest and listened to it. He asked his youger brother if he could pick his brain over how he would enter the tower but the brother did not know. Once when he was standing behind a tree listening to Rapunzel's song, when the witch cropped up and cried,

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Let down your hair."

Then Rapunzel let down the braids of her hair, and the witch climbed up to her. The Prince didn't have to pick his brain any more and the next day when it began to grow dark, he went to the tower and fudging the witches voice cried,

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Let down your hair."

The Prince climbed up and at first Rapunzel was terribly frightened because she didn't know who this jerk was, but the Prince began to talk to her quite like a friend and told her that his she put a hex on on him with her singing. Then Rapunzel lost her fear, and when he asked her if she would marry him , she said yes. She said, "I will go away with you, but I do not know how to get down. Bring a bit of silk with you every time you come and when we build up a holy pile of silk. I will weave a ladder with it and I will climb down and we can pull the pin and escape together." They agreed that until they could line up the silk that he would come to her every evening. The witch knew nothing of this because she only came during the day. Once Rapunzel accidentally said to the witch, "Oh my heavens, you are so much heavier than the young Prince." " Ah! you wicked child you are a caution," cried the witch "What have you been doing! I thought I had kept you from the world but you have tricked me. " Rapunzel said, " Don't take my head off I was going nuts living in this nut house all by myself." In her anger the witch cracked, seized a pair of scissors cut all of Rapunzel's lovely braids. They lay on the ground like damaged goods. She was so angry that she took poor Rapunzel to live in desert where she would suffer great misery. The witch rushed back to the tower and fastened the braids of hair which were now just damaged goods to the hook of the window, and when the Prince came and cried,

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Let down your hair,"

she let the hair down. The Prince climbed to the window, but he did not find Rapunzel, but the witch, who gazed at him with a wicked look. "I would grill you but I already know what you are doing." You've come for Rapunzel and were going to pull up stakes. Aha! take my Rapunzel my eye! Rapunzel is banished and you will never see her again!" In his fear, the Prince fell down from the tower. He escaped with his life, but he fell into a bunch of thorns which scratched his eyes. Then he wandered quite blind about the forest. He ate nothing but roots and berries and did nothing but cry over Rapunzel. In this way, the Prince roamed in misery for some months. Eventually all of his fine rags actually became rags. He finally wandered into the desert where the witch had sent Rapunzel. He heard a voice singing and it seemed so familiar to him that he went towards it. When he approached, Rapunzel knew him and fell into his arms and wept. Two of her tears fell into his eyes and the Prince could see again. He led her to his kingdom where they lived happily ever after.

nut house blank face build up a caution cracked ease up crop up crunch grill you holy pile pull the pin walk up at my finger tips mean well line up loo pull up stakes put a hex on pick someone's brain jerk rags damaged goods heavens take my head off nut fudge it