Skip to content

Sleeping Beauty – Brothers Grimm Version (aka Dornroschen )

Briar-Rose

A long time ago there were a King and Queen who said every day, "Ah,
if only we had a child!" but they never had one. But it happened that
once when the Queen was bathing, a frog crept out of the water on to the
land, and said to her, "Your wish shall be fulfilled; before a year has
gone by, you shall have a daughter."

What the frog had said came true, and the Queen had a little girl who
was so pretty that the King could not contain himself for joy, and
ordered a great feast.  He invited not only his kindred, friends and
acquaintance, but also the Wise Women, in order that they might be kind
and well-disposed towards the child.  There were thirteen of them in his
kingdom, but, as he had only twelve golden plates for them to eat out of,
one of them had to be left at home.

The feast was held with all manner of splendour 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 can wish for.

When eleven of them had made their promises, suddenly the thirteenth
came in.  She wished to avenge herself for not having been invited,
and without greeting, or even looking at any one, she cried with a loud
voice, "The King's daughter shall in her fifteenth year prick herself
with a spindle, and fall down dead." And, without saying a word more,
she turned round and left the room.

They were all shocked; but the twelfth, whose good wish still remained
unspoken, came forward, and as she could not undo the evil sentence,
but only soften it, she said, "It shall not be death, but a deep sleep
of a hundred years, into which the princess shall fall."

The King, who would fain keep his dear child from the misfortune, gave
orders that every spindle in the whole kingdom should be burnt. Meanwhile
the gifts of the Wise Women were plenteously fulfilled on the young girl,
for she was so beautiful, modest, good-natured, and wise, that everyone
who saw her was bound to love her.

It happened that on the very day when she was fifteen years old, the King
and Queen were not at home, and the maiden was left in the palace quite
alone. So she went round into all sorts of places, looked into rooms and
bed-chambers just as she liked, and at last came to an old tower. She
climbed up the narrow winding-staircase, and reached a little door. A
rusty key was in the lock, and when she turned it the door sprang open,
and there in a little room sat an old woman with a spindle, busily
spinning her flax.

"Good day, old dame," said the King's daughter; "what are you doing
there?" "I am spinning," said the old woman, and nodded her head. "What
sort of thing is that, that rattles round so merrily?" said the girl,
and she took the spindle and wanted to spin too. But scarcely had she
touched the spindle when the magic decree was fulfilled, and she pricked
her finger with it.

And, in the very moment when she felt the prick, she fell down upon the
bed that stood there, and lay in a deep sleep. And this sleep extended
over the whole palace; the King and Queen who had just come home,
and had entered the great hall, began to go to sleep, and the whole
of the court with them. The horses, too, went to sleep in the stable,
the dogs in the yard, the pigeons upon the roof, the flies on the wall;
even the fire that was flaming on the hearth became quiet and slept,
the roast meat left off frizzling, and the cook, who was just going to
pull the hair of the scullery boy, because he had forgotten something,
let him go, and went to sleep. And the wind fell, and on the trees before
the castle not a leaf moved again.

But round about the castle there began to grow a hedge of thorns,
which every year became higher, and at last grew close up round the
castle and all over it, so that there was nothing of it to be seen, not
even the flag upon the roof. But the story of the beautiful sleeping
"Briar-rose," for so the princess was named, went about the country,
so that from time to time kings' sons came and tried to get through the
thorny hedge into the castle.

But they found it impossible, for the thorns held fast together, as if
they had hands, and the youths were caught in them, could not get loose
again, and died a miserable death.

After long, long years a King's son came again to that country, and
heard an old man talking about the thorn-hedge, and that a castle was
said to stand behind it in which a wonderfully beautiful princess,
named Briar-rose, had been asleep for a hundred years; and that the
King and Queen and the whole court were asleep likewise. He had heard,
too, from his grandfather, that many kings' sons had already come,
and had tried to get through the thorny hedge, but they had remained
sticking fast in it, and had died a pitiful death. Then the youth said,
"I am not afraid, I will go and see the beautiful Briar-rose." The good
old man might dissuade him as he would, he did not listen to his words.

But by this time the hundred years had just passed, and the day had come
when Briar-rose was to awake again. When the King's son came near to
the thorn-hedge, it was nothing but large and beautiful flowers, which
parted from each other of their own accord, and let him pass unhurt,
then they closed again behind him like a hedge. In the castle-yard he
saw the horses and the spotted hounds lying asleep; on the roof sat the
pigeons with their heads under their wings. And when he entered the house,
the flies were asleep upon the wall, the cook in the kitchen was still
holding out his hand to seize the boy, and the maid was sitting by the
black hen which she was going to pluck.

He went on farther, and in the great hall he saw the whole of the court
lying asleep, and up by the throne lay the King and Queen.

Then he went on still farther, and all was so quiet that a breath could
be heard, and at last he came to the tower, and opened the door into the
little room where Briar-rose was sleeping. There she lay, so beautiful
that he could not turn his eyes away; and he stooped down and gave her a
kiss. But as soon as he kissed her, Briar-rose opened her eyes and awoke,
and looked at him quite sweetly.

Then they went down together, and the King awoke, and the Queen, and
the whole court, and looked at each other in great astonishment. And
the horses in the court-yard stood up and shook themselves; the hounds
jumped up and wagged their tails; the pigeons upon the roof pulled out
their heads from under their wings, looked round, and flew into the open
country; the flies on the wall crept again; the fire in the kitchen burned
up and flickered and cooked the meat; the joint began to turn and frizzle
again, and the cook gave the boy such a box on the ear that he screamed,
and the maid plucked the fowl ready for the spit.

And then the marriage of the King's son with Briar-rose was celebrated
with all splendour, and they lived contented to the end of their days.

The full text of the Fairy Tales of the Brother's Grimm can be found in the Project Gutenberg in PDF and text versions.

 

28 Comments

  1. Emily Emily

    I am wondering where the ‘dragon’ from the Walt Disney movie got added in-a different version?

  2. Briana Briana

    I thought this was supposed to have an evil twist to it?

  3. Kupo Kupo

    Maybe not an evil twist, just a little gruesome? Like how the many princes died trying to get in.

  4. Frank Frank

    This is not the original version.

  5. Kirty Kirty

    This isnt the original! In the real one she gets raped by her father and wakes up to twins!!

  6. Hi Kirty,

    Do you have a link for us?

    Making the web work for you, Alec

  7. Sable Sable

    I think, Kirty, you’re thinking of Sun, Moon, and Talia, which I believe was one of the original versions of Sleeping Beauty. Here’s a link I found with several versions of the story: link to pitt.edu

  8. marlowe marlowe

    like others have said, this is definitley not the original. the father does not rape rose, but the prince does when he finds her. he falls into lust, and rapes her, and she is awoken by the twins from the prince.

  9. jack jack

    wie kan mij vertellen wie de uitgever van het 1 ste doornroosje boek is

  10. Britt Britt

    The first version is from an Italian writer, Giambattista Basile, ‘Sun, Moon, and Talia’. Afterwards Charles Perrault wrote a new version, and after that the Brothers Grimm did.

  11. this is the last more edited version by the brothers grimm this story was in their first book that received bad reviews for its gruesomeness so when later editions came out the grimm brothers made changes to make them more friendly.

  12. myra patricia tolentino myra patricia tolentino

    hello, can you give me a link of where I could find and read the original sleeping beauty story. I really need it for our class discussion, thank you :)

    Myra

  13. Hi Myra,

    Thanks for stopping by. This is the original story.

    Cordial regards,

    Alec

  14. Leslie Leslie

    Hey I enjoy these stories way better but the other one are ok I like how these have a twist to it and I can’t find the original

  15. story teller story teller

    Who actually raped her cause we know she woke up to twins

  16. fat man 88 fat man 88

    ya i want to know as well cause im doing research on the difference on the Brothers Grimm vs. Disney version could any one help me out????

  17. hello there hello there

    um I hope this is the right one because I just did an essay about it and if not which one is the original one please someone tell me

  18. Melissa Melissa

    In the one I heard, a king from another kingdom came by, could not wake her so he raped her. A while later she gave birth to twins (still unconscious). One of the twins sucked out a silver (forgot what it was that killed her) from under her fingernail. She woke to the twins. The king that raped her found out about her waking up, but he was already married. His wife also heard and tried to eat the twins. He burned her they got together TA DA!!!!

  19. Talien Talien

    This is the Brother’s Grimm version of the story. It is not the ‘original’ story that you had heard about.

    The Grimm brothers were a pair of German lawyers, and at least one of them had a strong interest in linguistics and the history of legal practice. This pair lived around the 1800s.

    The more unsavory version of the story that you had read about is older than the Grimm brother’s rendition. It is called “Sun, Moon, and Talia” by the Italian Giambattista Basile around the 1600s. Do not read this one if there are children present. You have been warned.

    These tales gained greater popularity after they had been praised by the Grimm brothers.

    To be perfectly honest, I find the Disney version of the story much more likeable than any of it’s source material. In the Disney version, the prince’s horse had more personality than any of the characters in the original stories. A great deal more craftsmanship went into making the Disney cartoon than was put into these stories.

    Then again, technology probably helps with that, a bit. Imagine what it would have been like trying to write a story if one small mistake on a page requires you to throw away the entire parchment. Not to mention the high price of ink in those days.

  20. Hi Talien,

    Thanks for your notes. The “Sun, Moon and Talia” is here too.

    Not sure I care for the Disneyfication of life. The underlying proposition is still the same: you are born alone, you live, you die alone. We are not of this world, only visitors.

  21. Christina Christina

    I don’t understand why everyone is saying this is not the original version. The one with the rape and everything is called “Sun, Moon, and Talia” The story posted here is the real version

  22. i herd in the real story she has twins

  23. Kalea Kalea

    I literally just read the story from The Brothers Grimm 101 Fairy Tales book, and this is exactly how it is published. The story you all are thinking of may not be published by the Grimms. Just sayin.

  24. rachel rachel

    No Kalea, this is the grimm version it’s just not the original. The grimms edited it from a version were the princess falls asleep due to a flax allergy- is raped by a king and gives birth to twins who suck the flax out of her finger. So while the grimms are famous for it. It is not really theirs.

  25. Katy Katy

    Ok. I have this story in my book just the same. Everyone, the one with the rape is The sun, the moon and talia. Check it out. Im sorry but this is the truth.

  26. […] with a spindle and shall fall down dead! " "I am spinning," said the old woman. Sleeping Beauty – Brothers Grimm Version (aka Dornroschen ) | la vie viennoise. May 17th, 2006 § | Briar-Rose A long time ago there were a King and Queen who said every day, […]

  27. Page Page

    this version, written by the Brothers Grimm, is the earliest form of the story that is commonly known. The actual earliest version is Sun, Moon, and Talia but it doesn’t follow the storyline of the fairytale we now know

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *