The Sleeping Beauty and other fairy tales From the Old French

MP3 Audio CD. The Sleeping Beauty and other fairy tales From the Old French

THE SLEEPING BEAUTY


Once upon a time there lived a King and a Queen, who lacked but one
thing on earth to make them entirely happy. The King was young,
handsome, and wealthy; the Queen had a nature as good and gentle as
her face was beautiful; and they adored one another, having married for
love--which among kings and queens is not always the rule. Moreover,
they reigned over a kingdom at peace, and their people were devoted to
them. What more, then, could they possibly want?

Well, they wanted one thing very badly, and the lack of it grieved them
more than words can tell. They had no child. Vows, pilgrimages, all
ways were tried; yet for a long while nothing came of it all, and the
poor Queen especially was in despair.

At last, however, to her own and her husband's inexpressible joy,
she gave birth to a daughter. As soon as the palace guns announced
this event, the whole nation went wild with delight. Flags waved
everywhere, bells were set pealing until the steeples rocked, crowds
tossed up their hats and cheered, while the soldiers presented arms,
and even strangers meeting in the street fell upon each other's neck,
exclaiming: 'Our Queen has a daughter! Yes, yes--Our Queen has a
daughter! Long live the little Princess!'

A name had now to be found for the royal babe; and the King and
Queen, after talking over some scores of names, at length decided to
call her Aurora, which means The Dawn. The Dawn itself (thought
they) was never more beautiful than this darling of theirs. The next
business, of course, was to hold a christening. They agreed that it
must be a magnificent one; and as a first step they invited all the
Fairies they could find in the land to be godmothers to the Princess
Auror