Years went by and then, one spring, when they thought all hope was gone, the queen gave birth to a baby girl. The young princess was such a lovely baby and they called her Aurora.
Everyone was excitedly preparing for the christening of the new baby princess. Anyone who was important in the land had been invited to the christening, including all the good fairies.
But, unfortunately, there was one important fairy that the king and queen had forgotten to invite: Grizzlestinki!
She was a scary fairy who lived up in the mountains.
On the day of the christening everyone had a wonderful celebration at the palace and there were lots of lovely presents for the baby. But the most magical presents of all were from the good fairies; one gave her beauty, one gave her a sweet nature, one a lovely voice, one charm, one kindness and one a sense of humour. The king says to the queen that their daughter wasn't lucky to have all these presents.
Suddenly an horrific voice said that he mustn't be so sure and a cold wind blew throught the hall, the door burst open and Grizzelstinki arrived. She says that she hasn't given her present to the baby. Her present was a terrible thing: when the little girl was older, she'll cut her finger and fall asleep for 100 years.
So Grizzelstinki disappeared in a puff of smoke!
The king and queen were still very worried so they decided to ban anything sharp in the kingdom that the princess might cut her finger on.
Years went by and as Aurora got older the people almost forgot the curse that was upon her.
One day, when she was alone and bored, Aurora decided to explore all the rooms in the palace. Up and up the stone staircase she climbed until she came to a room right at the top of a tower. It was the only room in the palace she’d never been in! So she peeped inside and, to her surprise, there was a little old woman busily spinning wool on a spindle.
The little old woman says hello to the princess and she stood up and tried to curtsey. Aurora asks her if she can tell her what she was doing in that tower. The woman says that she was spinning silk to make her a dress; so the princess wanted to try.
Aurora sat down with the spindle in her hand and the little old woman began to show her how to spin silk.
Suddenly a sharp pain shot through Aurora’s arm as a spike on the spindle cut her finger. Grindlestinki’s curse was upon her!
Suddenly the little old lady threw off her cloak and stood up straight, it was Grindlestinki all along! She laughed a wicked laugh and ran away leaving the princess all alone. Princess Aurora fell into a deep sleep.
And all across the palace, people started to fall asleep too (the cook, the guards, the cat... Even the king and the queen.).
Over the years, weeds, brambles and plants grew up over the palace and a deep dark wood encircled.
One spring day a young prince was riding his horse in the woods around the forgotten palace. He had heard the tale of a beautiful sleeping princess and a terrible birthday curse.
The prince wanted to find out so he began to climb up the palace wall.
And when he reached the top he couldn’t believe his eyes!
With his heart beating quickly the prince began to explore the palace. In every room people slept so he climbed higher and higher, looking through every door… Until he came to a tiny room at the top of a tower with a stone stair case.
He pushed open the door and there lay the beautiful Princess Aurora!
The handsome prince leaned down and kissed her… And at that moment she woke up… And the whole palace woke up with her… Yawning and stretching and wondering how long they’d been asleep.
The king and queen were so grateful to the prince for waking up their daughter and everyone else in the palace that they let him live in the palace with them.
They were overjoyed and everyone lived happily ever after!
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