Comparing: Dornroschen

A long time ago there were a king and queen who said every day, 'If only we had a child!' but they never had one. Then one day the queen was bathing, and a frog crept out of the water onto the land and said to her, 'Your wish shall be fulfilled. Before a year has passed, you shall have a daughter.' What the frog had said came true, and the queen had a little girl who was so beautiful that the king could not contain himself for joy and ordered a great feast. He invited not only his relatives, friends, and acquaintances, but also the wise women, so that they would be kind and generous to the child. There were thirteen wise women in his kingdom, but because he had only twelve golden plates from which they could eat, one of them had to stay at home. The feast was held with great splendor, and when it came to an end, the wise women bestowed their magic gifts upon the baby: one gave virtue, another beauty, a third riches, and so on with everything in the world that one could wish for. When eleven had given their gifts, suddenly the thirteenth burst in. She was furious that she had been left out and cried out, 'Because you did not invite me, I tell you that in her fifteenth year, the princess shall prick herself with a spindle and fall down dead!' And without another word, she turned and left the hall. Everyone was horrified, but then the twelfth wise woman, who had not yet given her gift, came forward. Because she could not undo the evil curse, she could only soften it, so she said, 'It shall not be death, but a hundred-year sleep into which the princess shall fall.' The king, who wanted to keep his dear child from the misfortune, gave orders that all the spindles in the entire kingdom should be burned. In the meantime, the gifts of the wise women were richly fulfilled on the young girl: she was so beautiful, modest, good-natured, and wise that everyone who saw her had to love her. Now it happened that on the very day when she was fifteen years old, the king and queen were not at home, and the girl was alone in the castle. She walked about everywhere, looked at rooms and bedrooms as she pleased, and at last came to an old tower. She climbed up the narrow winding staircase and reached a little door. An old key was in the lock, and when she turned it, the door opened. There in a little room sat an old woman with a spindle, spinning her flax busily. 'Good day, old mother,' said the princess, 'what are you doing there?' 'I am spinning,' answered the woman, nodding her head. 'What kind of thing is that that jumps about so merrily?' asked the girl, taking the spindle and trying to spin too. But scarcely had she touched the spindle when the magic curse was fulfilled, and she pricked her finger with it. At that moment she fell onto the bed that was standing there, and lay in a deep sleep. And this sleep spread over the whole castle. The king and queen, who had just returned home, walked into the hall and began to fall asleep. The horses in the stables, the dogs in the courtyard, the pigeons on the roof, the flies on the wall, yes, even the fire that was burning on the hearth became still and slept. The wind stopped blowing, and not a leaf moved on the trees. The cook, who was about to grab the boy who had done something wrong, let him go and went to sleep. The smoke rose lazily from the meat on the spit and stopped. The maid finished plucking the chicken and fell asleep with her hand still on the feathers. And then a thick hedge of thorns began to grow around the castle, growing higher every year, until at last nothing could be seen of the castle at all. The story of the beautiful sleeping Briar Rose (for so the princess was named) spread throughout the land, and from time to time princes came and tried to break through the thicket into the castle. But they could not do it, for the thorns held fast, as if they had hands, and the princes were caught there and died a miserable death. After many, many years, a prince came to the country and heard an old man tell the story of the thicket of thorns, saying that behind it stood a castle in which a beautiful princess lay sleeping for a hundred years. The old man also told him, from his grandfather, that many princes had already tried to break through the thicket and had died a miserable death. But the young prince said, 'I am not afraid. I will go and see the beautiful Briar Rose.' The good old man tried to dissuade him, but the prince would not listen. By now the hundred years had just passed, and the day had come when Briar Rose was to awaken. When the prince approached the thicket, it was nothing but large, beautiful flowers, which parted for him of their own accord and let him pass unharmed. Behind them he saw the castle, and in the courtyard he saw the horses and spotted hunting dogs lying asleep. On the roof sat the pigeons with their little heads tucked under their wings. When he walked into the house, the flies were asleep on the wall, the cook in the kitchen was still holding the boy as if to box his ears, and the maid sat before the chicken she had plucked. He went further and saw the whole court lying asleep, and the king and queen lying on their thrones. Then he went on, and everything was so quiet that he could hear his own breathing. At last he came to the tower and opened the door to the little room where Briar Rose was sleeping. There she lay, looking so beautiful that he could not turn his eyes away. He bent down and gave her a kiss. As soon as he kissed her, Briar Rose opened her eyes, awoke, and looked at him sweetly. Then they went down together, and the king and queen awoke, and the whole court, and they looked at each other in astonishment. The horses in the courtyard stood up and shook themselves. The hunting dogs jumped about and wagged their tails. The pigeons on the roof flew out into the fields. The flies on the wall crawled again. The fire in the kitchen rose up, cooked the meat, and the meat began to sizzle. The cook boxed the boy's ears so that he cried out. The maid finished plucking the chicken. And then the wedding of the prince and Briar Rose was celebrated with great splendor, and they lived happily until they died.

Il etait une fois un roi et une reine qui desiraient ardemment un enfant. Un jour, tandis que la reine se baignait, une grenouille lui annonca : "Avant qu'une annee ne soit ecoulee, vous aurez une fille." La prophetie se realisa, et une magnifique petite princesse vit le jour. Le roi organisa une grande fete et invita les fees du royaume. Malheureusement, il n'avait que douze assiettes d'or, si bien qu'une des treize fees ne fut pas conviee. Pendant le banquet, chaque fee offrit un don a la princesse : la vertu, la beaute, la richesse. Quand la onzieme fee eut parle, la treizieme fee, furieuse d'avoir ete oubliee, fit irruption et lanca une malediction : "Dans sa quinzieme annee, la princesse se piquera avec un fuseau et mourra !" La douzieme fee, qui n'avait pas encore donne son don, adoucit la sentence : "Ce ne sera pas la mort, mais un sommeil de cent ans." Le roi fit bruler tous les fuseaux du royaume. Mais le jour de ses quinze ans, la princesse, seule au chateau, decouvrit une vieille tour ou une vieille femme filait au fuseau. Curieuse, elle prit le fuseau et se piqua le doigt. Aussitot, un sommeil profond la gagna, et se repandit sur tout le chateau : le roi et la reine s'endormirent, les chevaux, les chiens, les pigeons sur le toit, meme le feu de la cheminee s'eteignit. Une epaisse haie d'epines poussa autour du chateau, le cachant aux yeux du monde. Des princes tenterent de percer la haie mais perirent empales. Au bout de cent ans, un jeune prince s'approcha. Les epines s'etaient transformees en magnifiques fleurs qui s'ecarterent pour le laisser passer. Il traversa le chateau endormi et trouva la princesse dans la tour. En la voyant, il se pencha et lui donna un baiser. Elle ouvrit les yeux et sourit. Le chateau entier s'eveilla : le feu repartit, les chevaux se leverent, le cuisinier donna la gifle qu'il avait suspendue. Le prince epousa la princesse, et ils vecurent heureux.