Rapunzel (Story)

Once upon a time, in a far off land
 Lived a King and Queen who had three sons
 They were proud of their fine, handsome princes
 But when the Queen gave birth to a baby daughter
 Their happiness was complete
 They named her Rapunzel
 And she grew into a beautiful child with long golden hair
 And sparkling blue eyes
 The King and Queen loved her dearly
 So you can imagine their grief when one summer morning
 Rapunzel disappeared
 One moment she was lying in her cradle
 And the next she had gone
 An old woman with a basket over her arm was seen leaving the palace
 But although the King and Queen ordered the search of the whole Kingdom
 There was no sign of the baby girl
 In actual fact, the old woman was a witch
 She had hidden Rapunzel in the basket, and she had carried her far away
 To a cottage in the middle of a dense forest
 There she kept Rapunzel
 And looked after her until the girl was sixteen years old
 Then she built a tall, stone tower
 And imprisoned Rapunzel in a small room at the very top
 The tower had no door, and no staircase
 Just one small window high up at the top
 When the witch wanted to enter the tower, she would stand at the bottom
 And cry, "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!"
 Then Rapunzel would untie her ribbon
 And let her long golden hair hang out of the window
 It was so long that it reached all the way to the ground
 The witch would then climb up Rapunzel's hair and in through the window
 Although the witch gave Rapunzel food and drink
 She never let her out of the tower
 Rapunzel spent her days painting, and sewing
 But she was very lonely
 She made friends with the birds of the forest
 They would fly to the window and Rapunzel would feed them
 They would sing to her, and Rapunzel would sing back to them
 In her beautiful voice
 Now one day, a handsome prince happened to be riding in the forest
 He heard the sound of Rapunzel's voice and rode nearer
 But at that moment he saw the witch approaching
 So he hid among the trees and kept watch
 "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!" cried the witch
 And the prince gasped in amazement as Rapunzel's hair
 Came tumbling down like a shower of golden rain
 And the witch climbed up to the window
 He stayed hidden until she left
 And then walked over to the foot of the tower
 "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!" he cried
 Down fell Rapunzel's hair, and up climbed the prince
 He had thought Rapunzel's voice was beautiful
 But the princess herself was even more lovely than he had imagined
 Rapunzel fell in love with the prince at first sight
 And when he heard her sad story he was determined to rescue her
 "I will go and fetch a long rope," he told her
 "And when I return, I shall help you down, and take you back
 To your father's palace where we can be married"
 But the old witch had seen the prince
 She waited until he had ridden off into the trees
 Then she climbed up into the tower
 "So... you thought you could decieve me!" she cried to Rapunzel
 "You stupid girl, now you will never see your prince again"
 She took a pair of scissors from her pocket and cut off Rapunzel's hair
 She cast a spell, and transported the princess to the
 Darkest, deepest part of the forest
 Then she sat down to wait for the prince
 When he returned and called "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!"
 The witch kept tight hold of one end of Rapunzel's hair
 And threw the other end out of the window
 The prince began to climb up
 And when he had almost reached the window, the witch let go of the hair
 "That's the end of you, my fine prince, ha ha ha!" she cackled
 "You'll never see your princess again!"
 Down, down, down fell the prince
 But he did not fall crashing to the ground, as the witch had hoped
 Rapunzel's friends, the little birds, saved him
 Out from the forest they flew, hundreds and hundreds of them
 They took hold of the prince's clothes, in their tiny beaks
 And gently lowered him to the ground
 Then they led him through the dense forest
 To where Rapunzel was wandering alone
 Tears of joy ran down her face
 As she ran into her prince's arms
 He lifted her gently onto his horse
 And led her back to her parent's castle
 How delighted they were, to see their long lost daughter again
 And how grateful they were to the prince
 For rescuing her from the wicked witch
 So the beautiful Rapunzel married her handsome prince
 And they lived happily ever after