Story

Sleeping Beauty

15 minAges 7-9

Listen to the beginning

This is the start of the story. The whole story plays in the Sonacast app.

The story

Introduction

Hello there, little dreamers! Have you ever wondered what it would be like to sleep for a hundred years? Imagine waking up to a world completely different from the one you knew. Today, we're off on a magical journey to a faraway kingdom, where a beautiful princess is about to embark on the longest nap ever! Get ready for a tale of fairies, a spinning wheel, and a very special kiss. It’s the enchanting story of Sleeping Beauty!

The Royal Christening and Uninvited Guest

Our story begins with a King and Queen who were ever so happy! They had waited a very, very long time for a little baby, and finally, their wish came true! A beautiful princess was born! The whole kingdom rejoiced! To celebrate, they organised a marvellous christening party. There were delicious cakes, colourful decorations, and music playing throughout the grand palace! They invited all their friends, important lords and ladies, and especially, seven kind and powerful fairies from all over the land. Each fairy was a special godmother to the baby princess, who they named Aurora. At the party, each fairy came forward to give Princess Aurora a wonderful gift. One gave her beauty, another gave her kindness, and another gave her a lovely singing voice. The gifts were magical and perfect, making little Aurora the most charming baby you could imagine! But just as the sixth fairy was about to give her gift, a terrible shadow fell over the room! An eighth fairy appeared, uninvited! She was an old, wicked fairy, full of anger because she hadn't been asked to the party.

A Wicked Curse and a Softened Spell

This old fairy, with her long, pointy nose and eyes that sparkled with mischief, looked very cross indeed. Her voice was like a rusty gate creaking open as she stomped her foot, making the fancy chandeliers wobble. She pointed a bony finger at the tiny baby, sleeping peacefully in her royal cradle. 'Because you forgot to invite me to this special party,' she shrieked, 'this princess, on her sixteenth birthday, will prick her finger on a spinning wheel and fall into a sleep from which she will *never* wake up!' The joyful hall went silent. Everyone gasped! The Queen burst into tears, and the King's face turned as pale as fresh snow. But just as despair began to creep in, the sixth fairy, who had waited patiently, stepped forward. She had a gentle smile on her face and her sparkling wand glowed with a soft, warm light. 'I cannot completely undo a wicked fairy's magic,' she said, 'but I can change it a little bit.' 'Princess Aurora will still prick her finger on a spinning wheel on her sixteenth birthday,' the kind fairy explained, 'but instead of dying, she will fall into a very deep, quiet sleep.' 'And she will only awaken when a true love's kiss breaks the spell.' And there's more! When Princess Aurora falls asleep, everyone in the castle will fall asleep too! The busy cooks in the kitchen, the brave guards on the wall, the stable boy with his ponies, and even the little mice scurrying in the pantry! They will all sleep for a hundred years, until the princess wakes up! The King and Queen were still sad, but a tiny spark of hope flickered in their hearts. The King, worried sick about his precious daughter, immediately sent out a royal decree. 'Find every spinning wheel in the whole kingdom!' he boomed. 'Every single one must be brought to the castle and burned!' He wanted to make sure his sweet Aurora would *never*, ever find one. And so, all the spinning wheels were gathered and burnt, hoping to keep little Princess Aurora safe for sixteen happy years.

The Forbidden Tower and the Long Sleep

And so, with all the spinning wheels gathered and burnt to ashes, the King and Queen breathed a great sigh of relief. They watched their beautiful daughter, Princess Aurora, grow up happy and healthy. She had sparkling eyes the colour of the brightest bluebells, and hair like spun gold that danced around her face when she laughed. Everyone in the castle adored her, from the royal gardeners to the littlest kitchen maid. Aurora was kind and gentle, and her favourite thing to do was play hide-and-seek in the grand castle gardens with the friendly squirrels and cheeky robins. She didn't know anything at all about a wicked curse or a spinning wheel, and her parents made sure it stayed that way. They kept her safe, tucked away, and loved more than anything in the whole wide world. Years tumbled by like colourful autumn leaves, one after another, until, Princess Aurora was almost sixteen. Her sixteenth birthday was going to be a very special day indeed! There were plans for a grand feast, music, and dancing. Everyone was excited, but perhaps no one more so than Aurora herself. She woke up on that bright morning feeling a little fluttery inside, a bit like a butterfly in her tummy. She had grown into a graceful young lady, full of curiosity and a love for exploring. She spent the morning opening presents and greeting her family, but by the afternoon, she felt a little restless. 'I wonder what secrets this old castle still holds?' she thought to herself, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. Aurora decided to explore parts of the castle she’d never seen before. She wandered up winding staircases and down long, quiet corridors, her little shoes making soft tapping noises on the stone floors. She passed rooms filled with dusty suits of armour and portraits of serious-looking ancestors. Finally, at the very top of a tall, forgotten tower, she found a tiny, creaky door. It looked like it hadn't been opened in a hundred years! She pushed it gently, and it groaned open, revealing a narrow, spiral staircase leading even higher. 'Ooh, where does this go?' she whispered, her heart thumping with excitement. Up and up she climbed, her breath coming in little puffs. At the very top, in a small, dusty room bathed in a soft, silvery light from a tiny window, sat an old woman. She was busily working away at something Aurora had never, ever seen before. It had a whirring wheel and a sharp, pointy stick. It was a spinning wheel. The old woman, with her spectacles perched on her nose, was humming a quiet tune as she spun flax into thread. She looked up and smiled kindly at Aurora, her eyes crinkling at the corners. 'Good day, my dear,' she said. 'Would you like to try?' Aurora, who had never been told of such a thing, was completely fascinated. She stepped closer, her eyes wide with wonder. 'What is that, please?' she asked, pointing at the whirring spindle. The old woman, happy to have a visitor, showed her how it worked, how the thread was made from the fluffy flax. Aurora reached out her hand, eager to touch the mysterious, pointy part, feeling a pull she couldn't explain. And just as her tiny finger brushed against the sharp tip, the terrible curse came true. A prick! A tiny, little prick, but enough to fulfill the wicked fairy's words. Princess Aurora didn't even have time to feel a bit of pain. Her eyes fluttered, then closed, and she fell instantly into a deep, deep sleep, right there on the floor beside the spinning wheel. But it wasn't just Aurora who fell asleep. Oh no! At that very moment, a wave of sleep spread throughout the entire castle, like a sleepy magic cloud. The King, who was just about to scold his royal chef for burning the Sunday roast, stopped mid-sentence and yawned a huge yawn, then fell asleep at the dining table, his crown slightly askew. The Queen, who was trying on a new hat for the birthday feast, closed her eyes and began to snore gently, her hat askew. The guards at the gate, standing tall and straight, suddenly drooped and fell asleep against the castle walls. The horses in the stable slumped down, their heads resting on their knees, dreaming of juicy carrots. Even the fire in the great hearth stopped crackling and fell silent, glowing softly, asleep. The cooks in the kitchen, the maids sweeping the corridors, the scullery boy peeling potatoes – everyone, every single person and every single thing, fell into a deep, magical slumber. Outside, in the castle gardens, the roses and ivy began to grow faster and faster, twisting and twining around each other. Thorns, long and sharp, sprouted from their stems, forming a thick, prickly hedge all around the castle walls. It grew so tall and so dense that soon, no one could even see the castle anymore! It was completely hidden, swallowed by the green, thorny wall. The hedge was so thick and spiky that no one could get through it, not even a little bird. And there it stayed, a silent, sleeping castle, waiting. Waiting for a very long time indeed. For a hundred years, the curse would hold, and everyone inside would dream peacefully, unaware of the world passing by outside.

A Hundred Years Pass and a Brave Prince Arrives

A whole century passed. One hundred years! The seasons came and went, the sun shone, the rain fell, and still, the magnificent castle slept. All around it, the thorny hedge grew taller and thicker, a massive, spiky green mountain that hid the castle completely. From nearby villages, people could only see this enormous, mysterious green wall where the castle once stood. Over those hundred years, stories were whispered from grandparent to grandchild about the 'Sleeping Castle'. Some tales spoke of a dragon, others of a wicked witch, but the oldest ones, like a lullaby, told of a beautiful princess and a whole kingdom deep inside, sleeping under a powerful spell. Many brave knights and daring adventurers tried to get through. They chopped, they burned, they climbed, but the thorns were too sharp, the branches too strong, and the magic too powerful. The hedge just wouldn't let anyone in. Many miles away, in a land of green hills, lived a young prince. He was kind, brave, and very curious, loving old stories of faraway lands and sleeping princesses. One day, while having tea with his wise old granny, she told him a tale he'd never heard. "There's a castle, dear boy," she began, "hidden behind a wall of thorns. They say a beautiful princess sleeps inside, waiting for a true hero to wake her." The prince's eyes grew wide. "A sleeping princess? For a hundred years?" he asked, "That sounds like a grand adventure!" His granny smiled. "Indeed it does, my brave prince. But remember, many have tried, and none have succeeded." But the prince wasn't discouraged. He loved a challenge. He thought about the castle, the thorns, and the beautiful, sleeping princess. He knew, deep in his heart, that *he* had to be the one to try. So, one sunny morning, after packing a little bag, the brave prince set off. He rode his trusty pony, Pip, through forests and over mountains. He asked everyone he met about the Sleeping Castle, but most just warned him away. "It's dangerous!" they'd say. "That hedge is unbreakable!" Finally, after many days of travel, he arrived at the very edge of the enchanted forest. And there it was! Not the castle yet, but the most enormous, colossal, spiky green hedge he had ever seen! It stretched as far as his eyes could see, a giant, grumpy green monster guarding a secret, just as the old stories described. The prince dismounted from Pip, patting his soft nose. "Well, Pip," he whispered, "this is it." He walked closer, cautiously. The thorns looked terribly sharp. He wondered how he could possibly get through, but there was no gate, no path, just a solid, prickly wall. He took a deep breath, thinking of the princess inside, and wished with all his heart to find her. And then, something truly amazing happened. Right at the very moment the hundred years of the curse came to an end, the enormous thorny hedge began to change! The spiky branches gently, slowly, gracefully began to part, like enormous green curtains opening up. The sharp thorns softened and became covered in the most beautiful, fragrant roses – red, pink, and white – blooming everywhere, smelling absolutely delightful! The thorny wall was gone, replaced by a pathway of flowers, just wide enough for him to walk through. The prince gasped. "Oh, Pip!" he exclaimed. "Look!" Pip neighed softly, as if to say, "Go on then!" With his heart thumping, the prince stepped onto the rose-petal path and walked into the archway. The roses gently brushed against him, releasing their sweet scent. He passed through the magical opening and suddenly, he was inside the castle grounds! And what a sight it was! Everything was perfectly still, like a photograph. Leaves on trees unrustling, fountains frozen mid-spray, birds perched silent. He walked past the stables, where horses slept standing. He saw a cook, hand on spoon, paused in stirring. A little dog slept by the fireplace. In the great hall, the king and queen rested at a long table, heads bowed. Knights slept in their armour. Even the flies on the wall were asleep! It was so quiet, the prince could almost hear his own heart beating. Everything was covered in a thin, soft layer of dust. He tiptoed through the silent castle, a strange mixture of awe and sadness in his heart. All these people, sleeping, waiting. He remembered his granny's story about the princess. Where could she be? He climbed the grand staircase, past sleeping servants and guards, even a little sleeping cat. He passed through many rooms, each filled with silent sleepers. Finally, he came to a tall, winding tower. He knew, somehow, that this was where she would be. He climbed the narrow, spiral steps. At the very top, he found a small, quiet room. And there, on a beautiful, ancient bed with soft, white curtains, lay the princess. She was so lovely! Her long, golden hair flowed over the pillow, her face peaceful, as if dreaming the sweetest dreams. Her cheeks were still rosy, and her lips a soft, delicate pink. The prince knelt beside her bed, his heart filled with a feeling he’d never known before. She looked just like the princess in his granny's stories, even more beautiful than he had imagined. He gazed at her, feeling a deep connection, a sense of destiny. He had travelled so far, faced so many warnings, and now, here she was. The Sleeping Beauty.

Outro

And so ends our tale of the Sleeping Beauty. Thank you for joining us on this magical adventure! We hope you loved hearing about the brave prince and the beautiful princess. What magical stories will you dream up next? Perhaps about talking squirrels or a flying teapot! Let Sonacasts know if you have any feedback – we'd love to hear from you. Until next time, keep dreaming big dreams and exploring wonderful worlds. Goodbye for now!