There were once a man and woman who had long in vain wished for a child.At the length the woman hoped that god was about to grant her desire.These people had a little window at their back of the house from which a splendid garden could be seen which was full of the most beautiful flowers and herbs.It was however surrounded by a high wall,no one dared to go there because it belongs to a scary witch who has a great power and was dreaded by all over the world.One day the woman was standing near the window and looking at the splendid garden then she saw a bed which was planted with the most beautiful rampion it looked so fresh and green that she longed for it,she quiet pined away,and began to look pale and miserable that her husband was alarmedand asked:"what ails you dear wife?" 'Ah'she replied'if i cant eat some of the rampion,which is in the garden behind our house,i shall die'.
The man,who loved her,thought:'sooner than let your wife die,bring her some of the rampion yourself,let it cost what it will.' The wife was sick because she didnot eat anything for several days so the husband was scared amd decided to take the rampion on the night he climbed the high wall into the sorceress's garden,hastily dug up a handful of rampion and took it to his wife.Then she immediatly made a salad from the rampion,which she devoured eagerly.It tasted so good to her by the next day her desire for more had grown threefold.If she were to have any peace,the man would have to climb into the garden once again.Thus he set the fourth once again just as it was getting dark.But no sooner he had climbed over the wall than to his horror,he saw the sorceress standing right before him."How can you dare" she asked him with a angry look on her face"to climb in to my garden and steal my rampion?you will pay for this" she said.Oh," he answered, "Let mercy overrule justice. I came to do this out of necessity. My wife saw your rapunzel from our window, and such a longing came over her, that she would die, if she did not get some to eat."The sorceress's anger abated somewhat, and she said, "If things are as you say, I will allow you to take as much rapunzel as you want. But under one condition: You must give me the child that your wife will bring to the world. It will do well, and I will take care of it like a mother."In his fear the man agreed to everything.When the woman gave birth, the sorceress appeared, named the little girl Rapunzel, and took her away.Rapunzel became the most beautiful child under the sun. When she was twelve years old, the sorceress locked her in a tower that stood in a forest and that had neither a door nor a stairway, but only a tiny little window at the very top.When the sorceress wanted to enter, she stood below and called out:
Rapunzel, Rapunzel,
Let down your hair to me.
Rapunzel had splendid long hair, as fine as spun gold.When she heard the sorceress's voice, she untied her braids, wound them around a window hook, let her hair fall twenty yards to the ground, and the sorceress climbed up it.A few years later it happened that a king's son was riding through the forest.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 none was to be found.He rode home, but the song had so touched his heart that he returned to the forest every day and listened to it. One time, as he was thus standing behind a tree, he saw the sorceress approach, and heard her say:
Rapunzel, Rapunzel,
Let down your hair.
Then Rapunzel let down her strands of hair, and the sorceress climbed up them to her.
"If that is the ladder into the tower, then sometime I will try my luck."And the next day, just as it was beginning to get dark, he went to the tower and called out:
Rapunzel, Rapunzel,
Let down your hair.
The hair fell down, and the prince climbed up.
At first Rapunzel was terribly frightened when a man such as she had never seen before came in to her. However, the prince began talking to her in a very friendly manner, telling her that his heart had been so touched by her singing that he could have no peace until he had seen her in person. Then Rapunzel lost her fear, and when he asked her if she would take him as her husband, she thought, "He would rather have me than would old Frau Gothel." She said yes and placed her hand into his. She said, "I would go with you gladly, but I do not know how to get down. Every time that you come, bring a strand of silk, from which I will weave a ladder. When it is finished I will climb down, and you can take me away on your horse." They arranged that he would come to her every evening, for the old woman came by day.The sorceress did not notice what was happening until one day Rapunzel said to her, "Frau Gothel, tell me why it is that you are more difficult to pull up than is the young prince, who will be arriving any moment?