Briar Rose

Once upon a time, a king and queen ruled in a far-off country where, in those days, there were fairies. Now this king and queen had plenty of money, plenty of fine clothes to wear, plenty of good things to eat and drink, and a coach to ride out in every day; but though they had been married many years, they had no children, and this grieved them very much. One day, as the Queen was walking by the side of the river at the bottom of the Garden, she saw a poor little fish that had flung itself out of the water and lay gasping, nearly dead, on the bank. The Queen took pity on the little fish and threw it back into the river; and before it swam away it lifted its head out of the water and said, “I know what your wish is, and it shall be fulfilled in return for your kindness to me—you will soon have a daughter.” What the little fish foretold soon came to pass; and the Queen had a little girl, so beautiful that the King could not stop looking at her for joy, and said he would hold a great banquet and make merry, and show the child to all the land. So he asked his relatives, and nobles, and friends, and neighbors. But the Queen said, “I will have the fairies also, that they may be kind and good to our little daughter.” Now there were thirteen fairies in the kingdom; but as the King and Queen had only twelve golden dishes for them to eat from, they were forced to leave one of the fairies without asking her. So twelve fairies came, each with a high red cap on her head, red shoes with high heels on her feet, and a long white wand in her hand; and after the banquet was over they gathered round in a ring and gave all their best gifts to the little princess. One gave her goodness, another beauty, another riches, and so on till she had all that was good in the world.