Most children have heard of Rapunzel. Beautiful girl with long hair locked in a tower and eventually marries a dashing prince. The Disney version was executed beautifully, and the way they worked with the plot was amazing. Not many people, however, know of how the story was originally written.
If you enjoy the childhood memories you had with fairy tales, then I suggest you leave this page (even though this isn't even the most drastically changed fairy tale).
The story started with a couple with a baby on the way. At some point in her pregnancy, the woman wanted nothing more than lettuce. Lucky her, their neighbor, a witch, had a garden with Rampion lettuce, so her genius husband deicides to jump over to the witch's garden and steal lettuce. But this craving did not disappear after one serving of lettuce. Oh, no. She still craved the leafiness and oh-so-amazing taste that no other plant could match. So her husband, once again, carried out his fool proof plan to steal the witch's plant. As it turns out, the plan wasn't so fool proof after all. The witch catches him stealing her hard work. Her precious leaves were being stolen by her neighbor! She could not stand for this. She WOULD not stand for this. How dare he think he could get away with such an unforgivable crime. She would confront him. And confront him she did. She stuck it to the man. Told him he couldn't carry on stealing her lettuce. But he was a stubborn man. He didn't go away quietly. He had to make a deal with the witch. He told her she could have anything she wanted if only she would let him take all the lettuce he wanted. But what could match her invaluable lettuce? Ah! She came to a conclusion. She would let this robber take her lettuce as long as he agreed to give up his first born child. Was it worth it, though? Were irreplaceable memories he and his wife could make together raising a beautiful baby girl worth giving up? But, of course it was. So he agreed to the terms.
When the baby was born, and she was named after the lettuce that was obviously worth so much more than herself, the couple gave it to the witch as promised. And the witch, being a witch, decided there was nothing better to do with this girl than to lock her up in a tall tower with no way out. The girl grew up to be beautiful and developed a beautiful voice. She sang to her heart's content. One day, a prince heard her beautiful voice and realized he wanted nothing more than to see the girl that possessed it. So he followed the voice. He followed it until he reached the tower. But, alas! There was no way in. So he waited. He hid in the bushes, because that's the normal reaction, and watched as the witch called out "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair". And at that moment, the girl with the beautiful voice dropped all her hair down the window, which served as a way of entrance.
The prince left after witnessing this, but he wasn't gone for long. When he returned, he chanted what the witch had, and lo! and behold, down came Rapunzel's hair. He climbed up the hair and convinced Rapunzel to run away with him. When the witch cam back, Rapunzel let out the only secret she ever had to keep in her entire life. The only one. She said to the witch: "How come the prince is so much lighter than you are". (I guess she takes after her parents). The witch, of course, was furious. She cut off all of Rapunzel's hair and awaited the prince to execute his plan. When the prince called for Rapunzel, he was greeted with what he expected: her hair. He climbed up with the intention of taking Rapunzel away. Instead, he was greeted with an angry woman who's pride had been wounded. The witch pushed the prince out of the window, and he landed in a bush. He lived, but two thorns punctured his eyes and he was left blind.
The prince, blind and confused, roamed the woods for years. One day, however, he heard a familiar voice. He followed the voice, once again, and was met by Rapunzel. Rapunzel, with two children now, saw the prince and cried into his face. But she didn't just cry into his face, she cried into his eyes. And because of this coincidence he gets his sight back.
That's it. That's how the story ends.
That's it. That's how the story ends.
