Once upon a time, in a far-off land, there lived a sad queen who could not have children. Although she had every luxury imaginable, the one thing she wanted more than anything was a child to hold in her arms. She cried herself to sleep every night knowing she would never be a mother. The king did everything he could to make his wife happy, but nothing eased the queen’s heartbreak.
One afternoon, to take her mind off the unfortunate matter, the queen took a walk beside a river. She stopped for a moment when she noticed something strange; it was a large fish flopping on the riverbank. Although her heart was broken, it still was kind, so the queen helped the poor fish back into the water. To her surprise, the fish peeked its head out of the water and began talking.
“Thank you ever so much for helping me back into the river,” the fish said. “I jumped out of the water to escape a predator, but I would have suffocated on the bank if it hadn’t been for you.”
“Oh my! You can speak?” the queen asked.
“I can, because I’m a magic fish,” he said. “I am so grateful to you for saving my life. I would like to say thank you by granting you a wish, if you’ll allow it. Although I’m sure a queen as fair as you does not want for much.”
At first the queen thought she might be ill or dreaming. She had never heard of a talking fish before—let alone one that could grant her magic wishes. But just in case she was not ill and was not dreaming, the sad queen told the fish her heart’s greatest desire.
“I wish to have a child,” the queen said. “But if that’s too big of a wish for a fish to grant, I understand.”
The fish winked both eyes at her, and the wish was granted.
“Nine months from now, you will be blessed with a child,” it said and swam away.
True to his word, nine months later the queen gave birth to a baby girl. It was such a miracle, the king hosted a giant celebration for everyone in the kingdom to welcome his child into the world.
There were parades and fireworks, singing and dancing, and costumes and games. The rulers from neighboring and distant lands came to join the festivities. Fairies visited the castle to bestow gifts upon the infant princess.
One fairy blessed the princess with the gift of beauty. Another fairy blessed her with the gift of health. The princess was also blessed with the gifts of talent, intelligence, and grace. Finally, it was the smallest fairy’s turn to bless her. She flew up to the cradle and withdrew her wand.
“Sweet baby princess, the gift I would like to leave you with is the gift of—”
Unfortunately, before the smallest fairy had her chance to bless the princess, she was interrupted. An evil Enchantress stormed the castle, and the celebration came to a halt.
The Enchantress was a terrible and cruel woman. She was the only person in all the kingdom not to have received an invitation, and when she’d learned this, it had angered her beyond reason.
“You have no business being here!” the king yelled. “Leave at once!”
“Leave?” the Enchantress said. “I didn’t come all this way for nothing. I too have a gift for the child.”
Everyone in attendance gasped, for they knew that the Enchantress’s gift for the princess would be very unpleasant.
“Please don’t, I beg of you!” the queen said. “She’s our only child!”
But before she could be convinced otherwise, the evil Enchantress had already begun. She didn’t bestow a gift on the baby princess, but a nasty curse.
“The child shall indeed grow to be beautiful, wise, and graceful,” the Enchantress said. “However, in sixteen years’ time she shall prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die!”
The Enchantress laughed wildly and disappeared in a thick cloud of smoke. The king and queen were devastated. They held their newborn daughter in their arms and wept. All seemed lost, until a tiny hand tapped the king on his shoulder.
“Your Majesty, I still haven’t given my gift to the princess,” the smallest fairy said.
“Can you reverse the curse?” the king asked desperately.
The little fairy shook her head. “The Enchantress is far too powerful for me to reverse her spell, but perhaps I can shape it into something a little less grim.”
The fairy waved her wand over the baby and did what she could to amend the Enchantress’s curse.
“In sixteen years’ time, the child will not die after pricking her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel, but shall fall into a deep sleep,” she said. “A sleep that can be interrupted only by a kiss of true love.”
Knowing the curse wouldn’t kill their daughter but only put her to sleep let the king and queen rest easier that night, but they still did everything in their power to prevent the prophecy from ever happening. The king ordered all the spinning wheels in the kingdom to be destroyed at once. They were rounded up by his soldiers, brought to the courtyard of the castle, and burned.
As the princess grew, her parents kept a close eye on her. She was forbidden to leave the castle and wasn’t even allowed in certain parts of it. However, she was never warned about the curse placed upon her, so the princess started resenting her parents for being so strict.
Living such a sheltered life caused the princess to become a curious and mischievous child. Every night, once everyone in the castle was asleep, the princess made it a hobby to sneak out of bed and explore the parts of the castle she was not allowed in.
On the eve of her sixteenth birthday, while her parents and the castle servants slept peacefully in their beds, the princess snuck out of her room and came upon a spiral staircase she had never seen before. It led to the tallest tower in the castle and was so high, it took the princess until morning to reach the very top.
Unfortunately for the princess, no one had thought to check the tower for a spinning wheel all those years ago. One was waiting inside, just as the Enchantress’s curse foretold.
“Oh my goodness, whatever could that be?” the princess said.
Since she had never seen a spinning wheel before and had no knowledge of the dangers it presented her, the princess began to play with it. Eventually, she figured out how it worked and became rather good at using it. But just as she became comfortable with the contraption, her hand slipped on the spindle and her finger was pricked by the needle.
The princess instantly fell into the deepest sleep she had ever experienced. The fairy’s amendment to the curse had worked! However, the curse was much more powerful than the fairy had expected. Not only did the princess fall asleep, but the entire kingdom entered into a deep slumber as well.
Castle servants fell asleep standing up as they did their morning chores. Gardeners dozed off while tending to the plants in the gardens. The shopkeepers, butchers, bakers, and farmers throughout the kingdom’s villages went to sleep too. The king and queen even fell asleep on their thrones.
The fairies returned and looked after the kingdom and made the people comfortable while they slept. They searched all over the world for someone to break the curse, but none of the suitors they brought to the castle awoke the princess with a kiss.
To make matters worse, the Enchantress cursed the kingdom a second time, this time with vines and thornbush. The plants grew over the land until it was virtually hidden and went unnoticed to any travelers nearby. As time went on, the fairies lost all hope of breaking the curse.
The kingdom slept for over a hundred years. Its existence faded from history and became a fable. As more time passed, the fable was reduced to just a myth, and the myth was soon forgotten entirely. Well, almost entirely.
During the curse’s one hundred and first year, an adventurous young prince was traveling through the woods when he came upon the long-lost kingdom.
“What a strange place,” he said.
Using his sword, the prince cut through the plants covering the kingdom and found a road winding through the sleeping villages. The number of people he saw sleeping peacefully was astonishing. He tapped their shoulders, poked their arms, and waved his fingers in front of their faces, but nothing woke them up.
“This must be the Sleeping Kingdom!” the prince said excitedly. “My grandfather told me about a place like this when I was a child, but I thought it was just a story.”
The prince followed the road up to the castle and eagerly began to explore. All the servants and soldiers sleeping inside seemed to be frozen in time.
Eventually, he came upon the spiral staircase leading to the tallest tower of the castle. He climbed it, hoping to get a better view of the mysterious kingdom. When he finally reached the top, he discovered the sleeping princess resting on a giant bed inside.
“What a beautiful girl,” he said to himself.
The prince’s grandfather had told him about the princess of the Sleeping Kingdom, but he was so smitten with her beauty, the prince forgot all about the story. For all he knew, she was just a pretty girl cursed to sleep for all eternity.
As if he were being controlled by something much greater than himself, the prince stood beside her bed and leaned down to kiss her lips.