Sleeping Beauty, Part 2

Now today, we've got Part 2 of the story of Sleeping Beauty.

Where were we? The king and queen had had a baby daughter, the fairies had given her gifts, and the bad fairy had made a prophecy that she was going to prick her finger on her eighteenth birthday.

The Princess Briar Rose has now grown up, and I think today is her eighteenth birthday.

Yes, and she was exploring the castle.

Okay, ready for Part 2? Briar Rose stood for a moment before the old tower door, looking at the key already in the lock.

Then she turned it, and the heavy door opened with a slow creak.

Inside was a little dusty chamber, and beyond it, a winding staircase leading upward.

Curiosity overcame hesitation.

Briar Rose stepped inside and began to climb.

As she went higher up the stairs, she heard a sudden rustle and flapping of wings.

An owl flew past her face in the dim light.

Though she was startled, she laughed a little at her own fear and continued upward, for the staircase seemed to invite her on.

At the top, she came to another door, and in this door, too, was a rusty key.

She turned it easily and entered.

There sat an old woman by a window, spinning at a wheel.

"Good morrow, Mother Kin," said Briar Rose.

"What are you doing?" "I am spinning, my pretty child," replied the woman without pausing.

"Spinning?" said the princess.

"What is that thing that goes round so merrily?" "It is the spinning wheel," said the old woman.

Now, Briar Rose had never seen such a thing before, and she was full of wonder.

"How interesting it is," she said.

"I wonder if I could do it as well as you.

Will you let me try?" "Why, certainly," said the woman.

"Every young girl should know how to spin." And she handed her the spindle.

Now, whether the princess grasped it too eagerly or whether it was fate, no one can say, but as her fingers touched the sharp point, she pricked herself, and immediately she fell backward upon a couch in a deep sleep.