Charles Perrault

“ Will you let me try?”
“Why, of course,” said the old woman, “every young girl should know how to spin. Here you are, my dear,” and she gave Briar-Rose the spindle.
Now whether the Princess in her eagerness to seize the spindle grasped it too roughly, or whether it was just because the fairy had ordained that it should be so, I do not know, but anyhow the sharp iron point pricked her hand, and immediately she fell backward on to the couch in a deep sleep.
And in that very moment sleep fell upon every man, woman and child in the castle, and upon every living thing within its gates. ”

“ The sharp thorns gripped the unhappy young men like clutching hands, and held them fast, so that they could neither go forward nor back, and they perished miserably. Their bones, whitened by the sun and wind, remained there as a warning for all to see, and the creeping plants grew over them. ”

“ But within the thorn hedge no life stirred, and neither flower nor tree answered the call of spring.
As time went on, the people who were young when the palace was enchanted grew old and died, but they never forgot the prophecy that one of these days the sleeping Princess should awaken ”