Classics: Rapunzel

Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm were two German academics, who collected folk stories in the 19th century. Many of their tales are the first stories that children hear, and it is quite usual for parents to read them to their sons and daughters at bedtime. Most of them are still loved by adults, and many, such as the following story, have been made into films. How many of you have seen the movies Tangled or Frozen?

Once upon a time, there lived a man called Markus, and his wife, Clara. The couple had been married for many years, and had just one daughter. They lived a happy but poor life in a house in the countryside. In the kitchen at the back of the house, they had a small window, which looked onto their neighbour’s garden. It was the most beautiful garden in the country, and was full of flowers and herbs of every colour imaginable.

Nobody ever tried to go into the garden because it was owned by an evil witch, who had great magical powers. Everyone was afraid of her, even though nobody had ever seen her. The stories that parents told their children about her were so frightening that the witch’s garden never had visitors.

Markus, Clara, and their daughter were feeling extremely hungry one day. They hadn’t eaten anything for three days because they couldn’t afford to buy food. Clara was looking out of the window into the witch’s garden, when she saw a lot of wonderful purple flowers growing just on the other side of the garden wall. These flowers were called rampions, or rapunzels. The roots can be boiled and eaten, and the flowers are used as herbs.

“Oh, Markus,” Clara said sadly, “I wish we could have some of those rapunzels to eat. If we had some, I’d make us a lovely meal. Our daughter is so hungry.”

Markus decided to climb over the wall that evening and take some. His wife cooked the roots and added the rest of the flowers into a delicious salad. They were so tasty that Markus decided to get some more the next evening.

The moon and stars were shining brightly as he climbed over the witch’s wall and into her garden. He bent down and picked up a huge handful of the purple flowers. As he was walking back to the wall, he heard a terrible voice shout, “How dare you! Those are my flowers, you thief!” The witch was standing there, with her long finger pointing at Markus. “You will be punished for this!” she screamed.

“Oh, please, Madam!” cried Markus. “We are the poor family who live next door. We are so hungry. We haven’t eaten a meal in days. I just wanted some of your rapunzels to help my wife and daughter. You have so many growing here. Please let me have some.”

The witch thought to herself for a minute. “Very well,” she said. “I’ll allow you to take as many as you like. But on one condition. You must give me your daughter. She shall live with me. I shall become her mother!”

Markus was shocked at this offer, but he was so crazy with hunger that he agreed. The witch went to his house and took the three-year-old daughter away. “I will call her Rapunzel,” she laughed as she put the little girl on her broomstick and flew up into the sky.

The years passed. Rapunzel was now the most beautiful girl in the world. When she was twelve, the witch locked her in a tall tower in the forest. There was no door to this tower, and no stairs. There was just one tiny window at the very top, where Rapunzel had a small room to live in. She was never allowed out, and had to eat and sleep in that room. The witch had never let Rapunzel cut her lovely golden hair, so it was incredibly long. When the witch wanted to visit Rapunzel, she would call out, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!”

Rapunzel would let her hair fall out of the window like a long golden rope, and the witch would climb up it. As time went on, Rapunzel’s hair grew longer and longer, and she grew even more beautiful.

A few years later, a good-looking prince was riding his horse through the forest when he saw the tower. He could hear someone singing. It was such a beautiful voice that he stopped and listened for an hour. He examined the tower, but couldn’t find a door or a way to climb it, so he rode home. The next day, he was standing behind a tree and listening to the delightful singing coming from the tower. Suddenly, he saw the witch arrive and say, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!” The young woman let down her hair, and the witch climbed up to her room.

“I wonder who lives up there,” thought the prince. “With a voice like that, she must be very pretty. Now I know how to find out!”

That evening, the prince came back to the tower and whispered, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair.” Immediately, her hair fell down, and the prince quickly climbed up. At first, Rapunzel was terribly frightened to see a young man standing in her room because she had never seen one before. But, the prince was so gentle and kind, that she fell in love with him. The prince also felt great love for Rapunzel, and they agreed he could visit the next evening.

They met in the tower every evening for a month. One day, the witch was in Rapunzel’s room when the young woman asked her, “Why do you take so long to climb up my hair? The prince climbs up here so quickly when he visits me in the evenings.”

“You evil child!” the witch screamed. “You were never supposed to meet another person for your whole life. And now you tell me that you’re seeing a man?” The witch took hold of Rapunzel’s hair and cut it all off with a huge pair of scissors. She then put Rapunzel on her broomstick and took her to a desert, where she left her.

The witch went back to the tower and sat waiting in the room. That evening, the prince returned. “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair,” he said quietly. The witch had glued Rapunzel’s long hair to her head, so let it down for the prince to climb up. The prince climbed into the room and came face-to-face with the evil, ugly old witch.

“Ha! Ha! Your Rapunzel has gone, you fool. And you will never see her again,” the witch laughed. She ran towards him and pushed him out of the window. He fell a long way down, and he landed in a large thorn bush. The thorns went into his eyes, and he was now blind.

The poor prince walked off into the forest, unable to see where he was going. He spent the next few months living in darkness, and eating roots and berries. He cried all the time because he had lost Rapunzel forever and he had lost his eyesight.

He had walked so far that one day he reached a desert. He suddenly heard a familiar singing and he went towards the beautiful sound. Rapunzel recognized him and ran towards him. She threw her arms around his neck and started crying with happiness. Two of her tears fell upon the prince’s eyes. The magical love in those tears immediately gave the prince his sight back. Now they were both crying and laughing, and they kissed. The prince got down on one knee and asked Rapunzel to marry him. Of course, she said yes. They walked back to the prince’s castle and lived happily ever after. The witch was so angry that she fell off her broomstick one day and fell next to a huge bear, which killed her and ate her all up.

1. Can anyone really live “happily ever after”?

2. Do you think the witch deserves to die in the end? What other punishment would you give her?

3. Is there a version of Rapunzel in your language? How similar or different is it to the version you have just read?

4. If you have seen the filmTangled, do you prefer it to the story you have just read?

Words

1. academic /ˌækəˈdemɪk/ n.学者

2. folk story /fəʊk/民间故事

3. herb /hɜ:b/ n.药草

4. imaginable /ɪˈmædʒɪnəbl/adj. 可想象的

5. evil /ˈi:vl/adj. 邪恶的

6. witch /wɪtʃ/n. 女巫

7. frightening /ˈfraɪtnɪŋ/ adj. 令人害怕的

8. extremely /ɪkˈstri:mli/ adv.极其

9. afford /əˈfɔ:d/v.负担得起

10. rampion /ˈræmpɪən/n. 匍匐风铃草

11. rapunzel /rəˈpʌnzəl/n. 莴笋

12. bend /bend/v. 弯下腰

13. scream /skri:m/v. 大喊

14. shocked /ʃɒkt/ adj. 震惊的

15. hunger /ˈhʌŋgə/n. 饥饿

16. broomstick /ˈbru:mstɪk/n. 扫帚

17. lock /lɒk/v. 把……锁起来

18. incredibly /ɪnˈkredəbli/ adv. 极其

19. delightful /dɪˈlaɪtfl/ adj. 令人愉快的

20. whisper /ˈwɪspə/ v. 小声说

21. frightened /ˈfraɪtnd/ adj. 害怕的

22. glue /glu:/v.（用胶水）粘贴

23. thorn bush /θɔ:n/ /bʊʃ/荆棘丛

24. berry /ˈberi/n. 浆果

25. eyesight /ˈaɪsaɪt/n. 视力

26. familiar /fəˈmɪliə/adj. 熟悉的

27. recognize /ˈrekəgnaɪz/ v. 认出

Notes

1. Tangled 《魔发奇缘》，美国迪士尼电影公司制作的动画电影。

2. Frozen 《冰雪奇缘》，迪士尼动画音乐奇幻喜剧和三维电影，取材自安徒生童话故事《冰雪女王》。

3. In the kitchen at the back of the house they had a small window, which looked onto their neighbour’s garden.

房屋后部的厨房里有着一扇小窗，正对着邻居家的花园。

4. The stories that parents told their children about her were so frightening that the witch’s garden never had visitors.

父母们给孩子们讲述的女巫故事太吓人了，以至于没有人去过她的花园。

5. With a voice like that, she must be very pretty.

有着这么动听的好嗓音，她一定非常漂亮。

6. You were never supposed to meet another person for your whole life.

你这辈子都不该见其他人。