In ancient times, when fairy tales were not made up stories but reality, there lived a young and beautiful prince. Everyone was breathless at his beauty and wealth, and the prince became so haughty that he forgot to treat people with respect.
He was only interested in luxury and surrounded himself only with beautiful things, and he considered relationships unimportant. For he was convinced that no human being could match him, so why should he bother? But one day, in his pride, he insulted the wrong person – a powerful witch. She would have none of it and cursed the prince. She robbed him of his beauty and put a spell on him that turned him into an ugly, repulsive creature that aroused horror and contempt. His face and body were covered with fur and feathers, and instead of a nose he had a huge beak. Only his human hands remained.
“If any woman falls in love with you even in this form, the curse will be broken,” the witch told him and disappeared.
All the people of the castle fled in terror, the Beast remained there alone. Many years passed, the castle fell into disrepair and no trace of its former splendour remained. In fact, everyone has forgotten how beautiful it once was and what a handsome prince lived there. The only beautiful thing was the roses in the garden, which the cursed prince grew as his only pleasure.
One day a merchant was passing by the castle on his way back from his travels. He saw the beautiful roses and thought he must bring them to his daughters. He had three daughters, so he picked three roses too. Then a terrible creature suddenly appeared in front of him and said, “How dare you pluck my roses! My only joy in the world! I will punish you for this,” thundered the Beast.
“Please forgive me. They are for my daughters. If I had known that somebody lived here, I wouldn’t have dared.”
“For your daughters, you say? If you send one of your daughters to live here with me, I will spare you,” said the monster. “But if none come, I will find you, and your punishment will not pass.”
The merchant swore to send one of his daughters to the Beast, and the Beast let him go. At home, he told his daughters what happened. The eldest and middle daughter refused. But the youngest felt sorry for her father. She was sweet, kind and so beautiful since the day she was born that they named her Beauty.
“Don’t cry, Daddy, I will live in the castle with the Beast. It breaks my heart to see you’re hurting. I’m sure it won’t be so bad,” said Beauty. Her father was unhappy to lose his daughter, but he was too afraid that the monster would take revenge if he did not send him any daughter.
So Beauty went to the castle. She saw that it had probably once been very nice, but now dust, cobwebs, and splinters covered everything.
“Where are you?” she called out as she walked through several halls and encountered no one.
Then she heard a beautiful male voice behind her, “Here I am. My name is Prince Eric. Your father has traded you for his life and if you want to save him, you must stay here with me. But you must never see me, you must always face me with your back.”
And so it was. Beauty and Prince Eric spent time together, talking, eating together, but Beauty always had to face him with her back. All she ever saw of him were his beautiful soft hands as he leaned in from behind and caressed her. She had urged him to show himself to her, but the prince had never chosen to do so. He had fallen in love with Beauty and was too afraid that she would run away if she saw him in this form.
In her spare time, Beauty tried to make the castle a better place. She cleaned and tidied each room. You could say she was happy, if only she hadn’t been so sad for her father. She missed him more and more every day. One day, while she was polishing the mirror, Prince Eric came into the room. He asked her what wish he could grant her today. Beauty said she wished to see her father. Her back was turned to the prince as always, but when she stepped away from the mirror, she saw a terrible face in it. She screamed and fainted. When she woke up, the prince, hiding in the shadows, confessed to her that it was he whom she had seen in the mirror.
For a moment, Beauty could say nothing. Then she asked the prince again if she could visit her father. The prince finally agreed, but Beauty had to promise to come back.
At home, it was a joyous reunion with his father and sisters. Beauty stayed with them for a few days, but then decided to return. After all, she had promised the prince. But Father wouldn’t hear of it. When his daughter was away, he was very worried and very sorry that he had sent her to the Beast.
So Beauty stayed with her family, but to her own surprise, she missed Prince Eric. Day by day, her desire to be with the prince again grew. She didn’t know why, but she was drawn to him. Finally, she thought, “He looks scary, so what? He was always so kind to me, and I felt as comfortable with him as with anyone else.” Then she decided to turn back and ran back to the castle.
When she arrived, she couldn’t find the prince anywhere. It wasn’t until she saw his body in the garden by the rose bush. While she was away, the prince had been so distressed that he had lost a will to live. Beauty thought he was dead. At that moment she realized that, despite his terrible appearance, she loved him and wanted to be with him. She burst into tears and began to kiss him on his animal cheek. Her love at that moment broke the evil curse.The prince not only woke up, but turned back into a human.
Although it seemed hopeless for so long and no one would have said that this story could end happily, in the end a miracle happened. The prince and Beauty were able to live together in human form from that moment on, loving each other and being happy. in that castle today.
good book