儿童英文故事:The Rapunzel长发女孩
发布于: 5年前 13'7" 130wpm
Once a very long time ago, there lived a young man and a woman in a small house by themselves. They did not have any children but they wished to have a daughter. In the house was a little window from which they could see a beautiful garden. That was full of beautiful flowers and herbs. The garden was surrounded by a high wall. And no one dared to enter. As it belonged to a witch who possessed great power and everyone was scared of her.
One day the woman was standing at the window when she saw a beautiful freshly grown lettuce plant. It looked so fresh and green that she wanted to eat someone.
She said to her husband:
(Wife) “It is my greatest desire to eat some of this lettuce.”
(Husband) “But that belongs to a witch.”
(Wife) “Oh, please do something. I really want to eat it. I will not eat anything else but the lettuce.”
The man got worried and started thinking of he could get the lettuce. This desire increased with every day and not knowing how to get any. The wife became miserably ill. Her husband got her many things to eat but she declined to have them. She only wanted lettuce. Her husband was frightened. And one night, the husband decided to get her the lettuce.
(Husband) “Don’t worry, my darling! I will bring you some lettuce.”
(Wife) “But it’s very risky honey.”
(Husband) “Before I let my wife die, I must get her some of the lettuce no matter what it costs me to get it.”
So, just as it was getting dark, he gathered all the courage and climbed over the huge wall into the witch’s garden. He then hastily grabbed a handful of lettuce and took it to his wife. The wife ate it greedily and felt a little bit better. But one handful wasn’t enough. It tasted so good that her desire to eat lettuce had grown three times. The next day, the man climbed the garden once again as it got darker. But this time he saw the witch waiting for him.
(The Witch) “How can you dare to climb into my garden and like a thief steal my lettuce? You will regret this.”
(Husband) “Oh, please forgive me! My wife is pregnant and she saw your lettuce from our window. So she was craving to eat some and that she would die if she did not get any.”
(The Witch) “Why didn’t you ask for my permission?”
(Husband) “I was scared of you as you wouldn’t allow me to take some.”
(The Witch) “If that’s the truth then, I will allow you to take as much as you want. But under one condition. You must give me the child that your wife will bring to the world.”
Out of fear the man accepted the deal. As time passed by, the baby was born. It was a baby girl. They were overjoyed. Soon after, the witch came, named the girl Rapunzel and took her away leaving the parents in complete sorrow.
The witch locked her in a tower that stood far away in the forest and that had neither a door nor a stairway but only a tiny little window at the very top. Rapunzel grew old there thinking that the witch was her real mother. As she grew older, her golden hair grew longer and longer. The witch realized that Rapunzel’s hair had magical healing power. So she would never cut her hair.
When the witch wanted to enter, she stood below and called out:
(The Witch) “Rapunzel, oh, Rapunzel! Let your hair down to me. It’s your mother, dear.”
Rapunzel had splendid long hair, as fine as spun gold. When she heard the witch’s voice, she let her hair out of the window to the ground. The witch climbed up it with the help of her long golden hair.
As Rapunzel grew older, she wanted to get out of that house and see the outside world but the witch told her that the outside world is very mean and cruel. That people would kill her if she went out.
(The Witch) “I brought you here so that you can be safe.”
As Rapunzel turned sixteen, she was eager to go out for her birthday.
(Rapunzel) “Mother!”
(The Witch) “What?”
(Rapunzel) “I’ve been thinking about something.”
(The Witch) “What is it?”
(Rapunzel) “I’m sixteen and I think I’m old enough to leave the tower to celebrate my birthday.”
(The Witch) “What? No way.”
(Rapunzel) “I’ve been reading about the city and it sounds so wonderful. All of the people, all the food… The lights… and everything.”
(The Witch) “No, I told you how cruel the world outside is. You’re so safe here.”
(Rapunzel) “Please, mother! There are so many amazing things I could do. So much to learn, so much to see!”
(The Witch) “I said ‘no’ Rapunzel.”
(Rapunzel) “I can handle myself out there. I’m big enough now.”
(The Witch) “Look at you. You’re clumsy. I don’t want people to take advantage of you.”
(Rapunzel) “I’m not!”
(The Witch) “You are never leaving this tower, ever. I do this because I love you.”
(Rapunzel) “I just wanted to go see the city at least once. I wish someone could just take me there…”
A year or two passed. It happened that a prince riding through the forest heard someone singing. As he approached the tower, he heard a song so beautiful that he stopped to listen. It was Rapunzel who was passing the time by singing with her sweet voice. The prince wanted to climb up to her and looked for a door in the tower but he found nothing.
He rode back home but the song had so touched his heart that he returned to the forest every day and listened to it. One day, as he was thus standing behind a tree, he saw the witch approach and heard her say:
(The Witch) “Rapunzel, oh, Rapunzel! Let down your hair to me. It’s your mother, dear.”
Then Rapunzel let down her strands of golden hair and the sorceress climbed up to her.
(The Prince) “Woooh! If that is the ladder to the tower, then I shall try my luck sometime.”
And the next day, just as it was beginning to get dark, he went to the tower and called out.
(The Prince) “Rapunzel, oh, Rapunzel! Let your hair down to me. It’s your mother, dear.”
The hair fell down. The prince climbed up. At first Rapunzel was terribly frightened when a man such as she had never seen came up.
(Rapunzel) “Who are you?”
(The Prince) “I’m the Prince.”
(Rapunzel) “How did you come here?”
The prince told her that his heart had been so touched by her singing that he could have no peace until he saw the person who sang. Rapunzel lost her fear and the prince was mesmerized by her beauty. He asked her:
(The Prince) “Will you marry me, Rapunzel? Will you be my wife?”
Rapunzel thought to herself. He would rather have me than the mother. He would also take me to the city and show me the outside world. She said yes and placed her hand into his hand.
(Rapunzel) “But I do not know how to get down. If I let my hair down, how will I come out?”
(The Prince) “OK! I will think of something and come back tomorrow and take you from here.”
When the prince was getting down from the tower, the witch saw that and she learnt that something was going on.
(The Witch) “Rapunzel, oh, Rapunzel! Let down your hair to me. It’s your mother, dear. How dare you try to escape from here? I’ve fed you and grown you up. How could you think of betraying me? You will have to pay for this.”
In her anger, she grabbed Rapunzel’s beautiful hair and grasped a pair of scissors and snip snap, she cut it off. She was so unmerciful that she sent Rapunzel to a desert far far away to suffer. The next evening, the witch waited the prince to arrive and when the prince came, he called out:
(The Prince) “Rapunzel, oh, Rapunzel! Let down your golden hair.”
The wicked witch let down Rapunzel’s golden hair that she had cut off. The prince climbed up but above, instead of his beloved Rapunzel, he found the witch who peered at him with her evil looks.
(The Witch) “Ahaaa… You have come for your Darling Rapunzel but that beautiful bird is no longer sitting in her nest. You have lost her and will never see her again.”
The witch then threw him from the tower. He fell on thorns which poked out his eyes and blinded him. Unable to see anything, he wandered about in the forest eating grass and roots. He wandered about miserably for some years. Finally, he reached the desert where he could hear a beautiful voice and thought it was familiar. As he approached and said:
(The Prince) “Rapunzel, is that you?”
Rapunzel recognized him and crying. Two of her tears fell into his eyes and they became clear once again and he could see as well as before.
They then went back to his kingdom where he was received with joy. The king and queen were happy to find the lost prince back. Later the people from the kingdom found out that she was the girl who was stolen by the witch.
So Rapunzel learnt who her real parents were and met them. On the other hand, they told her the witch had now died and that they were happy to see her grow into a beautiful lady.
The couple decided to marry. The king announced their marriage with a feast for the whole kingdom. The kingdom was lit with lights and happiness. There was music, dance.
They lived happily ever after.
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