“Briar Rose” is a Grimm fairy tale in which a princess sleeps for one hundred years. Perrault also tells us about this sleepy princess, but his story differs from that of the Grimm brothers in many ways.
Like the Grimm version, Perrault’s tale begins with the birth of a princess. Seven fairies who lived in the realm were invited to the christening of the child. After the christening, when the guests were about to enjoy a banquet, an aged fairy entered. The hosts prepared a place for her; but they could not supply her with exquisite knives forks and spoons such as they had given to the other fairies.
The king and queen had not invited the aged fairy because they had not seen her for a long time and did not know that she was alive. Moreover, they would have given her fine utensils if they had another set available. Although no slight was intended, the aged fairy felt hurt.
As is commonly known from Grimm’s version, each fairy gave the child a blessing and the uninvited fairy stated that she would prick herself with a spindle and die.
One of the six fairies suspected that the aged fairy was plotting some mischief, so she deliberately delayed her blessing until after the aged fairy had spoken. This astute fairy then commuted the death sentence to a sleep that would last 100 years.
In spite of her parents’ futile efforts, sleeping beauty pricked herself with a spindle and fell asleep. When the king found out what had happened, he laid the sleeping princess on a bed.
In Perrault’s version, the fairy who modified the old fairies curse continued to help the sleeping princess. So that she would not be alone when she awakened, she put everyone in the castle to sleep except the king and queen, who kissed their daughter goodbye and left the castle. The helpful fairy then caused formidable vegetation to grow around the castle so that no one would disturb the princess while she slept. (In Grimm’s version, the king and queen also sleep for 100 years.)
In the Grimm version, many princes came from far and wide and lost their lives in the brambles until one prince happened to come at the time when she was scheduled to awaken. In Perrault’s version, no princes lost their lives, and it was a local prince who awakened her.
The parents of the princess died before their daughter awakened. Since their only child was enjoying a prolonged nap, a new dynasty exercised royal power in the land. It was the son of the new king that awakened the princess. It was easy for him to reach her because the helpful fairy caused the vegetation to move out of the way.
Perrault’s prince seemed to be rather shy. He did not kiss her. However, she woke up anyway, and they were married after everyone in the castle enjoyed a hearty meal.
Perrault adds further material that is not treated by Grimm. The mother of the prince happened to have ogre blood in her veins, so the prince did not tell his parents about his marriage to the princess. After his marriage, he returned to the home of his parents, but frequently absented himself so that he could spend time with his wife.
Two years passed. The clandestine couple had two children: first a daughter named Dawn and then a son named Day.
When his father died, the prince became king of the realm. He then brought his family into his castle.
To the ogre-like mother of the new king, Dawn and Day were delicious temptations. When her son was absent fighting a war, she summoned the chief steward and commanded him to serve Dawn for dinner on the following day. Unwilling to obey such a cruel command, he hid the child in his own home, prepared a lamb for dinner, and pretended that it was Dawn. When he was later commanded to serve Day for dinner, he again hid the child and served a young goat. Eventually the royal ogre wanted to eat the queen. After some hesitation, the steward decided that a deer would be a good substitute.
Until the steward had to hide the queen, the queen thought that her children were dead. So the queen enjoyed a happy reunion with her children when it was necessary to hide her.
Unfortunately, the mother of the king learned that her victims were still alive. In anger, she ordered that a large vat be placed in the middle of the courtyard. The vat was then filled with toads and all kinds of snakes. She was just about to have the queen, the two children, and the steward thrown into the vat when the king unexpectedly came home.
When he saw what was happening, the king demanded an explanation. He was greeted by an uneasy silence. At this point, the mother of the king threw herself into the vat and was killed by the creatures it contained.
The king grieved at the death of his mother, but the love of his wife and children soon comforted him.
Since I currently do not have access to the original French of Perrault, the foregoing comments have been based on an English translation published on the University of Pittsburgh website.
References:
University of Pittsburgh: The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/perrault01.html
Grimm’s Fairy Tales” Translation Anonymous; Introduction and notes by Elizabeth Dalton.
