And so they went on, one saying one thing, and one another, for each repeated what he had heard. At last an old peasant stepped forward.
“Fifty years ago, my Prince,” said he, “my father told me the story of that castle, and since he was born in these parts, I think it was the true story, and I will tell it you if you would like to hear it.”
The Prince nodded eagerly, and the old man went on:
“My father said that years before he himself was born a King and Queen lived in the castle with their daughter, the most beautiful Princess that ever was seen. In some way or other they angered the fairies, who put a spell upon the place and upon every one within it, so that they fell into a deep sleep. My father said that this sleep would last a hundred years, but at the end of that time a King’s son should come and waken the beautiful Princess and make her his bride.”
When the young Prince heard these words he felt his heart beat quickly. Something seemed to tell him that he and no other was the King’s son who was destined to remove the spell, and he cried: “Show me the way to the castle, for I will take this adventure upon me.”
But the old man shook his head. “I have not yet told you all, my Prince. Many are the young men who have tried to force their way through the thick wood that guards the enchanted castle. Each of them thought that he, and he alone, was destined to awaken the Sleeping Beauty, and each of them set out with high hopes; but none of them all came back, and their bones, whitened by the wind and rain, lie among the thorns of the thick
