Once upon a time, there lived a married couple who desperately wanted to have a child.
Their house overlooked a beautiful garden. Every day from her window, the wife looked down at all the flowers and herbs.
Her favorite was the rapunzel herb. "If only I had a daughter as beautiful as that rapunzel," she wished. Finally the wife became pregnant.
One day the wife, pointing to the rapunzel, asked her husband, "Darling, would you bring me some of those herbs?"
"But . . . but . . . that's the witch's garden," he stammered.
"If I don't have some rapunzel, I'll die!" she said angrily.
Everyone was afraid of the old witch.
She had great powers and cast spells on people.
No one dared enter her garden, knowing they would probably not come out alive!
The wife refused to eat anything and began to look pale.
Worrying about her health, as well as the baby's, the husband finally gave in.
"I'll get the herbs for you," he said.
"Thank you, honey," she said. She blew him a kiss and clapped her hands.
That night the husband crept into the witch's garden and stole some rapunzel.
He brought it to his wife, who immediately ate it up.
"Bring me fresh rapunzel every night!" she said happily.
For a few nights after that, the husband bravely did as his wife asked until one evening, when he got caught by the witch herself.
"So you are the thief stealing my rapunzel!" she accused angrily.
"Please have mercy," he pleaded. "My pregnant wife said she would die if she couldn't have some."
"Take as much as you like," the witch said, softening her voice.
"But in return, the child born to you will be mine!"
The husband, frightened out of his wits, had no choice but to agree.
A few months later, a baby girl was born.
The couple's happiness lasted only a short time because soon after, the witch appeared.
She snatched the baby from the astonished wife and said, "I will call her Rapunzel and raise her as my own."
Without another word, she vanished, taking Rapunzel with her.
Rapunzel grew up to be an extremely beautiful girl.
The witch did not want others to see her beauty, so she shut Rapunzel up in a tower.
This tower, located in the forest, had no stairs or doors.
There was only one way to enter it.
"Rapunzel, Rapunzel! Let down your hair!" shouted the witch.
From the small window dropped a thick golden rope.
The witch climbed up the strange, shiny rope to the top of the tower.
But in fact, it was no rope at all. Rapunzel had magnificent, long golden hair that reached past her feet.
Whenever the witch called out, Rapunzel dropped her hair out the window.
A few years later, the king's son happened to be riding through the forest.
He imagined that he heard an angel singing and stopped to listen.
"No, it's the voice of a maiden!" he realized.
The sweet melancholy voice was coming from a tower just ahead.
Upon seeing Rapunzel in the window, the prince fell deeply in love with her.
He longed to go up and declare his feelings to her.
"But how can I get inside that tower?" He was about to find out.
He saw the witch approach the tower. "Rapunzel, Rapunzel! Let down your hair!" shouted the witch.
The prince watched in amazement as a long golden rope descended from the window.
The prince waited until the witch left and then called out loudly, "Rapunzel, Rapunzel! Let down your hair!"
A few minutes later, the rope appeared, and the prince began his climb.
Rapunzel was shocked when she saw a strange man enter through the tower window.
"I mean no harm," the prince spoke gently.
He confessed his feelings for her and asked if she would marry him.
Rapunzel's heart welled with joy, and she accepted his proposal.
Rapunzel and the prince continued to meet secretly.
On each visit, the prince brought some silk threads.
Rapunzel used the silk to make a rope so she could escape from the tower.
"Rapunzel, Rapunzel! Let down your hair!" shouted the witch at her usual time.
As she let her hair fall down, Rapunzel thought happily to herself that today would be her last day as a captive.
In a few hours, the prince would come on his horse and . . .
"What are you so happy about?" The witch interrupted Rapunzel's thoughts.
"Uh . . . nothing," Rapunzel stammered.
"What's that?" The witch pointed to something next to the bed.
Rapunzel stared in horror as the witch held up the prince's hat.
"Ungrateful girl! You dare deceive me?" yelled the witch.
"I . . . I love him! We're going to get married!" Rapunzel managed to reply.
The witch's eyes turned red as she pulled out a pair of scissors.
Then in the blink of an eye—snip, snip!—Rapunzel's braid fell to the floor.
The witch then banished Rapunzel to the forest.
That evening the prince arrived, unaware of what had happened.
"Rapunzel, Rapunzel! Let down your hair!" he called out joyfully.
The end of the braid fell and hit his head. "Ouch!"
The prince rubbed his head. Climbing the tower, he thought only of getting married.
"Tonight will be the last time I . . ." Suddenly he screamed.
Looking out the window at him was the witch. The prince was speechless.
"So you tried to steal what's not yours!" said the witch, moving closer.
Before she could cast a spell on him, the prince let go of Rapunzel's hair.
He fell into a thorny bush that pierced his eyes.
Blinded, the prince got on his horse and took off for the forest.
Days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months.
The blind prince searched and searched for his beloved.
He could find no trace of Rapunzel.
After several years the prince was about to give up and return to his palace when he heard a familiar sound.
"Rapunzel? Is that you?" he called out toward the sweet singing voice.
The singing stopped abruptly, and the woman turned around.
"My prince, you found me!" she cried.
As tears of joy ran down his face, the prince saw a bright light.
True love reopened his eyes. Not even the witch's hate could separate them forever.
The prince took Rapunzel back to his palace, and they lived happily ever after.