The story of Rapunzel is not just a fairy tale, but a great romance story. Stolen from her parents through trickery, the girl was raised by an evil Witch, who's jealousy knew no bounds. The girl became more lovely every day and filled with every good virtue, she grew like a beautiful wild rose. Seeing the girl's beauty and goodness, the Witch hid Rapunzel deep in the forest where she lived in the top of a tall stone tower.
Innately musical, the girl loved to sing and filled much of her time learning the haunting melodies of the birds and wind blown trees.
One day a young Nobleman hunting in the forest followed her song to the tower. Alighting from his horse, he walked around its base. Finding no doorway and filled with curiosity, he shouted a greeting. Imagine his astonishment as he viewed the sweet face of a girl leaning from the window above.
Frightened at first, Rapunzel hid from the lad, listening to his queries. But something about his voice warmed her heart. Setting her fear aside, for the first time in her life, the girl spoke to another human being besides her evil captor.
But when dusk filled the air, she told the boy to leave--for if he were to stay, his life would be in danger. Reluctantly, because of her tears, he left vowing to return.
And so their great romance was born. Before the days of cell phones and the internet, their long-distance romance was of another sort. As their friendship grew, the young Nobleman was filled with a longing to see her face to face. So, unbeknownst to Rapunzel, he devised a plan to rescue her.
Hidden in the forest, he watched as the Witch appeared in a shuddering cloud of brown smoke. The old woman cried out, "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair." A rope of shimmering gold braid slid from the tower window to the ground. Grasping her bundles, the Witch weirdly clambered its length to enter the tower window.
When the Witch was gone, the boy gathered his courage and shouted, "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair."
He quickly climbed to the window sill of the round tower room. Leaping to the flagstone floor he saw her.
There she is, there is my love. He clasped the girl in his arms and looking into her sweet face, he kissed her. He pleaded with her to come away with him.
But she was afraid. "You will die, if I leave with you." And so they continued to meet.
Then the tragedy. Sensing something had changed, the evil Witch found them out. One day, the gallant young nobleman, bearing a bouquet of roses, sprang into the room. Rapunzel, her golden braid shorn away, screamed a warning and threw herself into his arms. But the lovers were wrenched apart. The Witch shrieked her rage. The boy was cruelly pinned against the wall. The girl fell to her knees among the scattered rosebuds, pleading for his life.
"I knew someone had been here," gloated the Witch, "Now you will pay dearly." Turning to the girl, she said, "You will never see him again." Rapunzel vanished in a crash of stinking brown smoke. "And you will blindly seek and never find her," snarled the Witch to the boy.
A twitch of her gnarled fingers. The boy was instantly blinded by the thorns of the roses he'd brought and was brutally thrown from the tower.
For years he wandered, seeking his own true love. One day, resting at the foot of a mighty oak, he heard a familiar haunting song--then the sound of footsteps. He felt soft hands touching his poor blinded face.
Then a beloved voice shaken with sobs, "Is it you, my dear love?" Rapunzel kissed his ravaged face with her lips and her hot tears fell into his sightless eyes.
But as she wept and held him close to her heart, suddenly he could see again. Miraculously Rapunzel's tears of love and faithfulness had broken the evil spell.
And of course, they lived happily ever after. You see, once the spell was broken, the Witch had no power over them. And besides, since the insurmountable power of true love cannot be broken, the old Witch grew hopelessly bored in trying to punish them. Instead, she put her evil attention on other dastardly doings--which, if the reader wishes to know--did not end well for her!
And that, as they say, is that!
I hope you enjoyed my rendition of this old fairy tale. Have a lovely week, dear friends. Thank you SO much for your visit. I love to hear your thoughts, dear Friends. Your visits are so encouraging.
