Rapunzel

 

 

tale of the Brothers Grimm

translation by Renate Kaufmann
review by Ruth Salles

Once upon a time there was a man and a woman who long ago wanted a child in vain; finally, the woman had hope that the adored God would grant her desire.

At the back of the house there was a little window, from which one could see a magnificent garden full of vegetables and beautiful flowers; but it was surrounded by a high wall, and no one dared to enter it, for it belonged to a sorceress who had great power, and everyone was afraid of her.

One day, while the woman was at the window looking out into the garden, she saw a flower bed where the most beautiful rapuccinos were planted; and they were so fresh and green that she felt an overwhelming urge to eat them. Her will grew day by day, and knowing she couldn't get any, she became very thin and pale and weak. The frightened husband asked:

– What do you have, my dear?

“Ah,” she replied, “I'll die if I don't get to eat rapuccino from the garden behind our house.

The husband, who loved her very much, thought: “Hey, you can't let your wife die. Go get her some raucous, whatever the cost.”
So, at dusk, he climbed over the wall of the witch's garden, quickly plucked up a handful of rapuncios, and took them to his wife. Immediately, she made a salad, ate it heartily, and enjoyed it so much that the next day, her craving was three times greater. In order to calm her down, the man would have to go to the garden once more. So, at dusk, he climbed the wall, but when he got down on the other side, he got a great fright; for he saw the sorceress before him.

And, with a look full of anger, she asked him:

– How dare you jump into my garden and steal my rapuccinos as if you were a thief? You will pay dearly!

- Ah, pity me - replied the man - I only decided to do this out of necessity: my wife saw the rapuncios through the window and felt such a desire, she would die if she couldn't eat them.

Then the witch's anger subsided, and she said to the man:

- If that's the reason, I'll let you take all the rapuncios you want, but on one condition: you'll have to give me the child that will be born to your wife. She will be fine, and I will take care of her as if I were her mother.

Out of fear, the man agreed, and when the woman had the child, the sorceress immediately appeared, named the girl Rapunzel, and took her with her.

Rapunzel was the most beautiful child in the world. When she was 12 years old, the sorceress locked her in a tower that was in a wood, and which had neither stairs nor door; there was only one window at the top. When the sorceress wanted to enter, she shouted from below:

– Rapunzel, Rapunzel, throw me your braids!

Rapunzel had long, beautiful hair, as fine as spun gold. When she heard the witch's voice, she would let go of her braids, wrap them around a hook in the window, and then the hair would fall about fifty feet, and the witch would climb through it.

After some years, it happened that the king's son was riding through the woods and came near the tower. Then he heard such a beautiful song that he stopped and listened. It was Rapunzel who, in her solitude, made her sweet voice sound to scare away time.

The king's son wanted to climb up to where she was and looked for a door in the tower, but found none. He rode back home, but that song had so touched his heart that every day he went into the woods and listened. Being thus once behind a tree, he saw a witch coming and heard her call:

– Rapunzel, Rapunzel, throw me your braids!

Soon Rapunzel let her hair fall, and the sorceress climbed through it.

"If this is the ladder you go up, I'll try my luck too," said the king's son.

The next day, when it was getting dark, he came near the tower and called out:

– Rapunzel, Rapunzel, throw me your braids!

At once the hair fell to the ground, and through it the king's son climbed.

As soon as he appeared before her, Rapunzel was very frightened, for she had never seen any man. But the king's son began to talk amiably, and said that her song had touched his heart in such a way that he would have no peace until he saw her. Then Rapunzel lost her fear, and when he asked if she would accept him as her husband, and seeing that he was young and handsome, she thought, "He must treat me better than old lady Gothel." And she said yes, she put her hand on his hand and added:

“I would love to go with you, but I don't know how I'm going to get down from here. Every time you come, bring a skein of silk; with that I braid a ladder, and when it's ready I'll go down and you take me on your horse.

The two agreed that he would come every night, for the old woman came during the day. The sorceress didn't notice anything, until once Rapunzel asked her:

“Lady Gothel, how can you explain yourself being so much heavier and more difficult to climb than the king's son, who arrives here in an instant?

- Ah, impish girl - exclaimed the sorceress - I hear that from you, I, who thought I had removed you from the whole world, and you deceived me!

In a rage, she grabbed Rapunzel's beautiful hair, wrapped it a few times around her left hand, grabbed a pair of scissors with her right and, wham, it was cut, and the beautiful braids fell to the floor. And it was so cruel that it took Rapunzel to a desert, where she would have to live in the greatest misery and desolation.

On the same day that Rapunzel was taken away, at nightfall the sorceress fastened the cut braid to the window hook, and when the king's son came and called

“Rapunzel, Rapunzel,
let go of your braids!”

she let her hair down. The king's son ascended, but he did not find his dear Rapunzel up there, but the sorceress, who stared at him with evil and venomous eyes.

“Ah,” she exclaimed, mockingly, “you have come to fetch your beloved, but the bird is no longer in the nest and does not sing anymore; the cat took it and will also gouge out your eyes. Rapunzel is lost to you and you will never see her again!

The king's son was beside himself with grief, and in his despair he leapt down from the top of the tower. He didn't die, but fell on thorns that pierced his eyes. And he was left blind, wandering through the woods, feeding on roots and fruit, doing nothing but cry over losing his beloved bride. So he walked there for a few years in misery, until he came to the desert where Rapunzel lived in poverty with the pair of twins that had been born to her, a boy and a girl. He heard a voice that seemed familiar to him and went towards it. And as he arrived, Rapunzel recognized him and hugged him, crying. Two of her tears wet his eyes, which then cleared and he was able to see as before.

The king's son took them to his kingdom, where they were received with joy, and they lived happily and contentedly for a long time.

 

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