Once upon a time, there lived a carpenter and his wife who longed for a child. They prayed for a child every day, but never had one. Behind their house there was a beautiful garden with gorgeous flowers and plants. No one dared to enter the garden because it belonged to a witch named Gertrude.
One day, the carpenter’s wife fell ill and craved some salad made from the lettuce in Gertrude’s garden. The carpenter was worried about his wife and asked her, “What can I do for you, my dear wife?”
“Oh,” she replied, “I will die unless I get some of the lettuce that grows in the garden behind our house.” The carpenter loved his wife, so he agreed to steal some of the lettuce for her.
That night, he climbed over the wall, entered the garden, picked a head of lettuce, and brought it to his wife. His wife made a salad and ate it, but she liked it so much that she wanted more.
That night, the carpenter climbed into Gertrude’s garden again, but this time the witch was waiting for him. She noticed that some of her lettuce had disappeared the day before and wanted to catch the thief.
“How dare you climb into my garden like a thief and steal my lettuce! I will put a curse on you!” threatened the witch.
“Oh, please be merciful. My wife is sick and was craving lettuce,” the man begged her.
Then the witch said: “You can take as much lettuce as you want, but only on one condition. Your wife will give birth to a child, and that child must be given to me. I will take care of it like a mother.”
The man was unhappy, but because he was afraid of the witch, he agreed. When the time came for the child to be born, the witch appeared. She named her Rapunzel and took the child away from them.
When Rapunzel grew up, she was the most beautiful child in the world. When she was twelve years old, the witch locked her in a tower deep in the forest. This tower had no stairs or doors, only a small window at the top. Whenever the witch left or returned, she would say:
“Rapunzel, Rapunzel! Let down your hair!”
Rapunzel had beautiful long golden hair, and whenever the witch called, she let down her hair so that the witch could climb up.
One day, the king’s son was riding through the forest and heard lovely singing. He was surprised and wanted to know who was singing so beautifully. It was Rapunzel. She was sitting by the window, singing to herself. The king’s son wanted to meet her, so he looked for the door to the tower, but there was none.
So he went home sad. The next day came, and as he listened to Rapunzel singing, he saw the witch coming and heard her say:
“Rapunzel, Rapunzel! Let down your hair.”
Then he saw Rapunzel let down her long hair and the witch climb up. The prince was happy, and the next day he went to the tower and called out:
“Rapunzel, Rapunzel! Let down your hair.”
And she let down her hair, and the king’s son climbed up to the tower.
Rapunzel was afraid of him at first because she had never seen a man before.
The prince spoke kindly to her and asked for her hand in marriage. Rapunzel hesitated, but since she did not like her mother Gertrude very much, she agreed to marry him.
The prince was happy, but Rapunzel had no way of getting out of the tower because there were no doors. The prince promised her that the next evening he would bring a long rope, she would climb out of the tower, and he would take her away on his horse.
The next day, when the witch was away, the prince came with a long rope, as he had promised, and called out: “Rapunzel, Rapunzel! Let down your hair.”
So she let down her hair, and the king’s son climbed up. He tied the rope to the window and made a knot to hold it in place as they climbed down. Rapunzel and the prince then climbed out of the tower before the witch returned. The prince took Rapunzel to his kingdom, and they lived happily ever after.