Long, long ago, in a small village, lived a carpenter and his wife. They have been married for many years but they did not have any children, and prayed that they would have one someday.
One day, when the carpenter's wife was sweeping the backyard, she caught sight of the vegetable garden next door and was amazed to see a lush greenery of rapunzel cabbages. She was soon overwhelmed with a craving so strong that she could not think of any other food but that.
The carpenter was at odds. He knew that the vegetable garden belonged to the famous village sorceress who was known to be cunning and powerful, and no one dared cross her. But his wife was beyond reasoning and his reluctance made her crave it even more. Even when the carpenter offered to buy some from the market, she did not want it and insisted on having the ones that belonged to the garden.
"If I do not have those cabbages, I shan't ever eat anything else again, and I will surely die," she lamented.
When his wife started becoming thinner and paler day by day, the carpenter feared for her life and, having no choice, did the unthinkable: he climbed over the wall every night to the sorceress' garden and stole the cabbages for her, hoping that the sorceress wouldn't notice a few missing. His wife was thrilled to have the cabbages and ate them all greedily, leaving no leaf untouched. She regained her health and appetite and was back to her old self again, much to the carpenter's relief.
One night, when the carpenter went to steal some more cabbages for his demanding wife, he was caught red-handed by the sorceress who was in a mood to have some cabbage soup. Furious, she threatened to kill the carpenter.
"Please spare my life," the carpenter begged. " I only did this for my wife, who craves your cabbages so much that she will not eat anything else and rather starve and die."
"Very well," the sorceress said after a knowing pause. "But no good deed shall go unpunished. Your wife is currently with child, which is why she has such strong cravings. You will give your child to me on its 1st birthday, and I shall spare your life. If not, all of you will die a wretched death."
The carpenter, fearing for his life, agreed to the terms. He was allowed access to the sorceress' cabbages freely, but the couple was filled with dread everyday at the thought of the sorceress taking the child they wanted so much.
Soon, the carpenter's wife gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, but their happiness were short-lived as the sorceress came as promised to take her away on her 1st birthday. The sorceress named the baby girl 'Rapunzel' after the cabbages she was bred from, and raised her in a tower that reached the skies and had no doors save a few windows to let her see the outside world.
Rapunzel grew to be a beautiful maiden with long, golden hair that had never been touched by scissors or shears in her life. She often longed to leave the tower to see the outside world, but the sorceress would not allow it, telling her that the world was dark and cruel and would harm her at any moment's notice. Whenever the sorceress came to visit her, she would shout these words from the outside the tower:
"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair, so I may climb the golden stairs!"
When Rapunzel heard those words, she would quickly let down her long tresses, and the sorceress would grab onto them and climb up to the tower to where Rapunzel stood in wait, and when she left at sundown, she would climb down the tower from the same long tresses again.
This routine went on for years, until one day, the Prince of the kingdom was out on a deer hunt when he saw the sorceress walking towards the mysterious tower his subjects often spoke of. Following her secretly, he soon saw the sorceress calling out to the tower and the long 'golden stairs' that flowed out of the tower window. Amazed and curious at the sight, he decided to wait until the sorceress left to try it out himself.
Once the sorceress left at sundown, the Prince waited a moment before he made his way to the tower, and following the sorceress, he shouted out the words:
"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair, so I may climb the golden stairs!"
Like clockwork, Rapunzel let down her hair and the Prince climbed up the tower into Rapunzel's domain. He was instantly love struck at upon seeing the fair maiden's beauty, but Rapunzel, having never seen any other soul other than the sorceress, was a little afraid of him. The Prince tried to speak gently towards her so as not to frighten her, and soon curiosity prompted her to get to know him more.
Since that fateful day, the Prince would come to visit Rapunzel every other day, making sure that the sorceress was unavailable on that day to do so. He told Rapunzel tales of the outside world, wowing her with stories of his adventures as well as other stories he heard from his boyhood. As they met more and more, they grew closer and closer, until finally Rapunzel returned the Prince's feelings and agreed to be his Princess. They soon planned to run away together and leave the tower forever to his castle up yonder.
They decided to leave on the eve of her birthday at nightfall, and Rapunzel waited anxiously for that day to come. Unfortunately on that morning of the eve of her birthday, the sorceress came over for an unexpected visit, and as the old hag climbed up her hair, she pulled so hard that Rapunzel couldn't help crying out, "Oh Mother, how you pain me so! If only your touches were as light as the Prince's."
Enraged by Rapunzel's treachery, the sorceress grabbed a pair of scissors and cut off all of the fair maiden's hair and locked her up in her room. She then sat in wait for nightfall, waiting for the Prince to come as promised.
"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair, so I may climb the golden stairs!"
Once those magic words were heard, the sorceress threw down the hair she had cut from Rapunzel's head and watched him climb up to the top. The Prince had apparently fashioned a make-shift ladder carried on his back, no doubt to help Rapunzel escape from the tower along with him. When he was at the top, he was taken aback to be met with the sorceress's ugly face.
"You're too late, young Prince. Your beloved is no longer here, and neither will you!"
So saying, she pushed the Prince off the tower, sending him plummeting down below to his death. Making sure that he was no longer moving, she collected the hair and let Rapunzel out, laughing as she told her what she did and letting her see his body for herself. An unspeakable anger and despair boiled within the fair maiden's veins, and her vision blurred as she picked up a handful of her long golden tresses. The last thing she remembered before blacking out was the sorceress' loud and long cackle...
When she came back to her senses, Rapunzel found herself standing over the sorceress's body, her handful of golden tresses wrapped tightly around the old hag's neck. She was not naive not to know she had done, but she knew it wasn't enough to bring her Prince back.
And she did not want to a prisoner in her own home any longer.
Carrying a bundle of her hair, she made her way to the window and tied it back to where the sorceress did when she was waiting for the Prince. She then wound the rest around her neck, climbed up the window, and took one last look at the night sky before she jumped...
Comments