داستان کوتاه انگلیسی زیبای خفته

Once upon a time, there was a king and queen who had a beautiful daughter. As was tradition, all the fairies in the kingdom would be made the princess’s godmothers. At the feast, the King and Queen presented each of the seven fairies with a gift of a golden bowl set with diamonds and rubies, and in return, each of the fairies lined up to give the princess a very special gift.

But just as the ceremony was about to be begin, a very old fairy entered the great hall.  Everybody had forgotten that the kingdom had eight fairies. The King immediately told his servants to present the Old Fairy with a golden bowl, but they could not, because they only had made seven golden bowls for the seven fairies that were invited.

The Old Fairy seemed very upset. She said, in her cruel and cackling voice: “I shall curse this kingdom which has forgotten about me! Before the princess comes of age, she will pierce her hand on a spindle and die of the wound.”

The whole room gasped and everyone began to cry.  At that instant, the youngest Fairy spoke out in a calm voice: “Do not worry, Your Majesties, your daughter will not die from this curse. Though I cannot entirely undo what this other fairy has said, I can still give my gift to lessen the tragedy. The Princess shall indeed pierce her hand with a spindle, but instead of dying, she shall only fall into a deep sleep, which shall last at least a hundred years, but her sleep will end only when a noble Prince comes to wake her.”

Although the King and Queen were glad that the young fairy had saved their daughter from certain death, they tried to think of ways to avoid the old fairy’s curse completely. And so, the King told everyone in the kingdom that they were forbidden to use a spinning wheel with a spindle. Years passed, and one day, when the Princess reached the age of sixteen, she went walking through the kingdom and came upon the home of a sweet old woman, who had left her house to tend to her garden.

On the porch was a spinning wheel, which contained a spindle. The Princess had never seen a spinning wheel and wanted to try it out. But, she accidentally touched the spindle and pierced her hand. She immediately fell to the ground, and fell fast asleep. The old woman found her and cried for help. Her neighbors came running and carried the Princess to the castle. When they reached the castle, the King and Queen told their servants to take the Princess to her room and place her on her bed. The King and Queen kissed their sleeping daughter good bye, and waited for the arrival of the young fairy.

The Young Fairy was glad that the Princess was resting so comfortably, but she saw that everybody in the kingdom was so sad without the princess. And so, she waved her wand and cast everyone in the entire castle into sleep. Wherever they sat or stood, each person fell asleep including the King and Queen. The Young Fairy left the castle and then waved her wand at it causing part of the forest to grow up around the castle, covering it on all sides, so that the sleeping palace would be left undisturbed until the one who could awaken the Princess came find her.

After a hundred years had passed, a Prince from a nearby kingdom was riding through the forest and spotted the tallest towers of the castle through the great thick wood that surrounded it. He noticed an old and honest-looking man and asked him about the castle.

The old man told him about the beautiful sleeping princess who could only be awakened by the bravest, most noble prince. He did not know if he was the bravest, most noble Prince that the old man spoke about, but he knew that he must try to awaken this princess from her hundred years of sleep.

The Prince set off on his horse toward the castle, and the great trees, the bushes, and brambles moved aside to let the Prince ride through. He rushed into the castle to the tallest tower, where he found the beautiful, sleeping Princess. He knelt beside her, touched her hand to wake her and at that very moment, the spell was broken… The Princess opened her eyes. “Is it you, my Prince?” she said to him. “You have waited a long time.” Then the Prince asked her to marry him and she said yes.

At the news of the Princess’s awakening and the couple’s engagement, the King and Queen threw a lavish feast in the great hall and invited the Prince’s family and the Princess’s seven fairy godmothers to attend. There was music and dancing and a celebration until a very late hour because no one was tired in the castle… having just slept for a hundred years. The next morning, the Prince and Princess were married and they lived happily ever after.