Briar Rose, the Story of the Sleeping Beauty

By the Brothers Grimm, illustrated by Margery Gill

Briar Rose, the Story of the Sleeping Beauty tells the story of a king and queen who desperately want to have a child.  One day they have a baby girl, and they are so pleased that they plan a great celebration and invite family, friends, acquaintances, and even fairies.  During the celebration, twelve fairies offer the child numerous talents as gifts.  However, just before the twelfth fairy offers her gift, a thirteenth fairy, who was not invited to the banquet, puts a curse on the child:  "In the sixteenth year of her age the princess shall prick herself with a spindle and shall fall down dead."  The twelfth fairy cannot undo the curse, but softens it saying: "The princess shall not die when she pricks her finger, but will sleep for a hundred years."  Despite the king's many efforts to avoid the curse, it comes true when the girl, Rosamond, is fifteen years old.  When she pricks her finger she, along with the rest of the village, falls into a deep sleep for one hundred years.  During this time, many king's sons try to reach Rosamond, but die in an attempt to cross the hedge that grew around the castle.  Finally, after one hundred years, a prince reaches Rosamond, falls in love with her and kisses her.  At this time, she and the entire village awake from their sleep.  She and the prince live happily ever after.

The story demonstrates a clear sense of good and evil.  The illustrations of the characters even portray good and evil on their faces.  The faces of all the people are smooth and pleasant, except for the evil fairy, whose face is rugged, wrinkled and has warts.  As is the case with many traditional fantasies, the story takes place in the distant past ("long ago") and time passes quickly.  The one hundred years pass promptly and the quest of one prince to meet the beautiful princess is satisfactorily resolved, with a happy ending for all.  The story is written with a formalized opening ("Long ago the king and queen of a pleasant little country were happily married...") and closing ("And the prince and Rosamond lived very happily together until their lives end."), which is common for traditional fantasies.  This story is great for reading aloud, another important characteristic of traditional fantasies.  Most children enjoy this story, particularly if it is read aloud to them.  The action throughout the story, along with a final triumph of good over evil, will thrill many.