Rapunzel
There were once a man and a woman who had long in vain wished for a child. They had conceived several children, and the woman had born them all. However, all children died before their first year of life had passed. The man and woman could not understand how this was possible, for they gave the best they could and showed much love for their offspring. Still, each child died, leaving the parents on the border of heartache's insanity. One night, though, the woman had a dream of a rose opening, with a baby cuddled within. The next morning, the wife told her husband of this dream. The man, however, also had a dream the night before. His dream, though, held a sinister dichotomy: he, too, dreamed of a child born of a rose. However, this child, he dreamt, was then carried off by a strange figure cloaked in black and hooded. Though he could not see the child's or the figure's face, he knew the child to be bloody, the blood dripping from wounds slashed across the child's body. The figure, he knew, was ugly and sinister-looking, though it had a visage that could fool others into thinking it was beautiful. This was part of the serpentine monstrosity of the figure's character.
The woman, thou, still hoped that God was about to grant her desire. These people had a little window at the back of their house from which a splendid garden could be seen, which was full of the most beautiful flowers and herbs and fruit. It was, however, surrounded by a high wall, and no one dared to go into it because it belonged to an enchantress, who had great power and was dreaded by all the physical and spiritual world.
One day the woman was standing by this window and looking down into the garden, when she saw a bed which was planted with the most beautiful rampion - rapunzel, and it looked so fresh and green that she longed for it, and had the greatest desire to eat some. This desire increased every day, and as she knew that she could not get any of it, she quite pined away, and began to look pale and miserable. Then her husband was alarmed, and asked, what ails you, dear wife. Ah, she replied, if I can't eat some of the rampion, which is in the garden behind our house, I shall die.
The man, who loved her, thought, sooner than let your wife die, bring her some of the rampion yourself, let it cost what it will. At twilight, he clambered down over the wall into the garden of the enchantress, hastily clutched a handful of rampion, and took it to his wife. She at once made herself a salad of it, and ate it greedily. It tasted so good to her - so very good, that the next day she longed for it three times as much as before. If he was to have any rest, her husband must once more descend into the garden. In the gloom of evening, therefore, he let himself down again. But when he had clambered down the wall he was terribly afraid, for he saw the enchantress standing before him.
How can you dare, said she with angry look, descend into my garden and steal my rampion like a thief. You shall suffer for it. Ah, answered he, let mercy take the place of justice, I only made up my mind to do it out of necessity. My wife saw your rampion from the window, and felt such a longing for it that she would have died if she had not got some to eat. Then the enchantress allowed her anger to be softened, and said to him, if the case be as you say, I will allow you to take away with you as much rampion as you will, only I make one condition, you must give me the child which your wife will bring into the world. It shall be well treated, and I will care for it like a mother.
How did you know my wife was with child, the man asked of the enchantress. Here the enchantress cackled. Fool, she screamed, it is I who allowed your wife to conceive. And it will be through my powers that she will bear this child, who will then become mine. I am the rose, of both life and death. Answer to me and I shall rise you up; disobey me, and death shall be at your side.
The man in his terror consented to everything, and when the woman was brought to bed, the enchantress appeared at once, gave the child the name of rapunzel, and took it away with her. Rapunzel grew into the most beautiful child under the sun. When she was twelve years old, the enchantress shut her into a tower, which lay in a forest, and had neither stairs nor door, but quite at the top was a little window. When the enchantress wanted to go in, she placed herself beneath it and cried, Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair to me.
Rapunzel had magnificent long hair, an ocean of chestnut curls, and when she heard the voice of the enchantress she unfastened her braided tresses, wound them round one of the hooks of the window above, and then the hair fell twenty ells down, and the enchantress climbed up by it. After a year or two, it came to pass that the king's daughter rode through the forest and passed by the tower.
Then she heard a song, which was so charming that he stood still and listened. This was rapunzel, who in her solitude passed her time in letting her sweet voice resound. The king's daughter wanted to climb up to her, and looked for the door of the tower, but none was to be found. The princess was jealous of Rapunzel, and wanted her dead. "No one in my father's kingdom shall be fairer than me," this envious princess thought. She rode home, but the jealousy had so deeply snaked her heart, that every day she went out into the forest and listened to Rapunzel singing. And everyday her jealousy and hatred grew stronger, until its fire almost burned itself through her skin.
Once when she was thus standing behind a tree, she saw that an enchantress came there, and he heard how she cried, rapunzel, rapunzel, let down your hair. Then rapunzel let down the braids of her hair, and the enchantress climbed up to her. "If that is the ladder by which one mounts, I too will try my fortune, said she," and the next day when it began to grow dark, she went to the tower and cried, rapunzel, rapunzel, let down your hair. Immediately the hair fell down and the king's daughter climbed up.
At first Rapunzel was terribly frightened when a young woman, such as her eyes had never yet beheld, came to her. But the king's daughterbegan to talk to her quite like a friend, and told her that her heart had been so stirred that it had let her have no rest, and she had been forced to see her. Then Rapunzel lost her fear, and when she asked her if she would take her for her friend, and she saw that she was young and friendly, she thought, she will love me more like a sister and I shall be lonely no more. The princess then offered Rapunzel her friendship. All the while, within the dark chambers of her mind, the princess plotted to get rid of Rapunzel. The princess urged Rapunzel to leave the tower. Rapunzel, however, said that she could not, as there was no way out. The princess then told Rapunzel that she will bring her brother, the prince, to the tower. "He will save you", she told Rapunzel. Rapunzel happily agreed, but asked the princess to "Bring with you a skein of silk every time that you come, and I will weave a ladder with it, and when that is ready I will descend, and you will take me on your horse." They agreed that until that time she should come to her every evening, for Rapunzel told her that the old enchantress came by day. As the days unfolded and wore on, the princess and prince came to visit Rapunzel every evening. They soon became friends, even as the princess plotted her murder of Rapunzel. The prince, however, fell in love with Rapunzel. And he thought that Rapunzel was beginning to love him as well.
One evening, as the threesome were in the tower, the princess remarked at how beautiful Rapunzel's hair was. The princess admired her own hair, and felt that her own mane was the most beautiful in the kingdom, save for Rapunzel's. her jealousy grew deeper and stronger. She spotted a pair of scissors laying on Rapunzel's table. Surreptitiously she went over to it and slipped it into her dress pocket. Pretending to be admiring Rapunzel's hair, she went over to where Rapunzel was sitting and began braiding her hair. All the while she kept thinking hateful things until her anger grew so great that she withdrew the scissors from her pocket and viciously cut off Rapunzel's hair. Rapunzel sat in her chair quietly, not stirring even. The prince began scolding his sister, while the princess stood there, still holding Rapunzel's hair in her hand. Soon, however, she began to feel a pressure. The hair began snaking its way across Rapunzel's arm, squeezing hard and cutting of the limb's blood supply. Soon, the hair was wrapping itself around the princes' neck. The prince removed his sword from its scabbard and began hacking away at the hair. However, as he tried hacking at the hair, he also hacked at the flesh of his sister. Soon, the princess' body lay on the floor of the tower, blue and bloody. The prince, overcome by grief at what he had done, fell to the tower floor. Rapunzel rushed upon him, wrapping her arms around him. The prince kept sobbing, blood his sister's blood coagulating upon his arms and hands. Soon, however, he composed himself and stood up. He looked at Rapunzel for the first time now, and saw not her usual beauty. Instead, he saw an old hag, ugly and bony. It was the enchantress. With the pair of scissors which the princess had used just a while prior, the enchantress pierced the prince' eyes. Blood poured forth profusely and mixed with the blood of his sister upon the floor. He groaned in agony, falling to the floor in a fit of pain and rage. The enchantress smiled at herself and picked up the prince's sword.
"Fool!" she exclaimed. The Rapunzel you believed me to be was murdered many years ago. As a child, I took her from her parents, slit her little body, and drank her blood. This is why I remain young. However, now I need more blood, young blood, strong blood. Yours will suit the purpose quite well.
And with that, she slit the prince open from crown to groin. The blood that spilled forth she captured in a golden goblet and drank. And as she drank, she began regaining vitality. And with that, she set off to find more victims.
The End