There once was a hideous Beast who stole a baby from the king and queen of a great palace. The little princess was a girl named Belle, and the Beast had kept her in a lonely tower all her life. The Beast was friendly towards her, and acted as if she were his own child by feeding her, teaching her life lessons, and cleaning up after her. However, he would never let her out of the tower. He had said it was for her own safety, but in reality he was scared of losing her.
There was only one window in the entire tower, and it was at the very top, where Belle stayed. Belle had beautiful golden-brown, long hair, and anytime the Beast went out to hunt or run errands, he would have to climb down Belle's hair. Every time he wanted to come back up to the tower, he would yell "Belle, let down your hair!" One day, when she was older, a prince from a neighboring kingdom happened to travel through the forest with the tower, in which Belle was staying. He soon saw the Beast call Belle from down below to let down her hair, and he saw how the Beast was able to climb up the hair all the way inside the tower. He was immediately intrigued and the next day, he waited until the Beast left the tower, then called to Belle from down below. Immediately, Belle let down her long hair and the prince climbed up.
Belle was extremely startled, as she had never seen anybody else in her life but the Beast. She, too, was intrigued by the handsome prince. He convinced her that he was a good person and asked her to marry him. She wanted to, but she was afraid of what the Beast may say. The prince convinced her to run away with him, so she did.
Back at the prince's kingdom, Belle was welcomed with open arms. Everybody loved her and thought she was well suited for the prince. After a long day of touring the kingdom and finding out there was much more to life than her little tower, Belle found a magic mirror in the prince's room. The prince told her it would show her the thing she wanted to see the most in that moment. She immediately thought of the Beast. When the mirror drew up an image of the Beast, Belle saw him in pain. He had fallen over and looked very ill, and was lamenting about losing Belle.
Distraught over what had happened to the Beast that had card for her for years, the princess immediately traveled to the tower once again, threw her hair up to the window, climbed up, and found the Beast trembling on the floor. Immediately, the Beast was engulfed in puffs of white smoke and when it cleared, a handsome man stood before Belle.
He quickly explained how a witch had cursed him long ago, causing him to transform into a hideous beast, and that he would only be released from the curse when someone actually cared for him like family. Belle had grown to care for him, and although she ran away from the tower to be with the prince that rescued her, she always had a special place in her heart for the Beast who had raised her.
Bibliography: Thomas Crane's Italian Popular Tales.
Author's Note: As many of you may have guessed, I have combined aspects from two fairy tales into my story for this week: that of Beauty and the Beast and that of Rapunzel. The Italian Popular Tales I read had different versions of these stories; Zelinda and the Monster and the Fair Angiola. In Zelinda and the Monster, the father of three daughters asked what everyone wanted as a present, and the first two haughty daughters asked for something expensive, while the youngest, Zelinda, asked for a simple rose. In getting her that rose, a fearsome Beast mistook the father for a thief and asked for either him or his daughter to stay with him. Zelinda decided to stay with him and the Beast treated her nicely and even asked her to marry him. She said no at first, then when she saw her father in pain in a magic mirror, the Beast said he would let her see her father if she promised to marry him. She did so, and when she got back, the Beast got turned into a handsome prince and he explained how a witch had turned him into a Beast and only someone who loved him for him could release the curse. In the Fair Angiola, a woman stole from a witch, who made her promise to give up her first-born child at the age of 7. The woman agreed, and when the time came, she had to give up her daughter Angiola to the witch. The witch kept her in a tower and cared for her as her own. One day, a prince came by and convinced Angiola to marry him. She consented, and gave all the furniture in the room something to eat so they would not tell the witch where she went. The broom in the corner was not seen, so he didn't get any food. When the witch got back, the broom is the one who told her where Angiola went. The witch found her and turned her face into a dog. A few months later, an actual dog came and helped Angiola get her beautiful face back with the witch's consent and the prince and Angiola got married. I took both of these and combined the stories to make one. This author's note is really long but I had to explain the context behind both!
There was only one window in the entire tower, and it was at the very top, where Belle stayed. Belle had beautiful golden-brown, long hair, and anytime the Beast went out to hunt or run errands, he would have to climb down Belle's hair. Every time he wanted to come back up to the tower, he would yell "Belle, let down your hair!" One day, when she was older, a prince from a neighboring kingdom happened to travel through the forest with the tower, in which Belle was staying. He soon saw the Beast call Belle from down below to let down her hair, and he saw how the Beast was able to climb up the hair all the way inside the tower. He was immediately intrigued and the next day, he waited until the Beast left the tower, then called to Belle from down below. Immediately, Belle let down her long hair and the prince climbed up.
Belle was extremely startled, as she had never seen anybody else in her life but the Beast. She, too, was intrigued by the handsome prince. He convinced her that he was a good person and asked her to marry him. She wanted to, but she was afraid of what the Beast may say. The prince convinced her to run away with him, so she did.
Back at the prince's kingdom, Belle was welcomed with open arms. Everybody loved her and thought she was well suited for the prince. After a long day of touring the kingdom and finding out there was much more to life than her little tower, Belle found a magic mirror in the prince's room. The prince told her it would show her the thing she wanted to see the most in that moment. She immediately thought of the Beast. When the mirror drew up an image of the Beast, Belle saw him in pain. He had fallen over and looked very ill, and was lamenting about losing Belle.
Distraught over what had happened to the Beast that had card for her for years, the princess immediately traveled to the tower once again, threw her hair up to the window, climbed up, and found the Beast trembling on the floor. Immediately, the Beast was engulfed in puffs of white smoke and when it cleared, a handsome man stood before Belle.
He quickly explained how a witch had cursed him long ago, causing him to transform into a hideous beast, and that he would only be released from the curse when someone actually cared for him like family. Belle had grown to care for him, and although she ran away from the tower to be with the prince that rescued her, she always had a special place in her heart for the Beast who had raised her.
Source: The Disney's Belle and Rapunzel.
Bibliography: Thomas Crane's Italian Popular Tales.
Author's Note: As many of you may have guessed, I have combined aspects from two fairy tales into my story for this week: that of Beauty and the Beast and that of Rapunzel. The Italian Popular Tales I read had different versions of these stories; Zelinda and the Monster and the Fair Angiola. In Zelinda and the Monster, the father of three daughters asked what everyone wanted as a present, and the first two haughty daughters asked for something expensive, while the youngest, Zelinda, asked for a simple rose. In getting her that rose, a fearsome Beast mistook the father for a thief and asked for either him or his daughter to stay with him. Zelinda decided to stay with him and the Beast treated her nicely and even asked her to marry him. She said no at first, then when she saw her father in pain in a magic mirror, the Beast said he would let her see her father if she promised to marry him. She did so, and when she got back, the Beast got turned into a handsome prince and he explained how a witch had turned him into a Beast and only someone who loved him for him could release the curse. In the Fair Angiola, a woman stole from a witch, who made her promise to give up her first-born child at the age of 7. The woman agreed, and when the time came, she had to give up her daughter Angiola to the witch. The witch kept her in a tower and cared for her as her own. One day, a prince came by and convinced Angiola to marry him. She consented, and gave all the furniture in the room something to eat so they would not tell the witch where she went. The broom in the corner was not seen, so he didn't get any food. When the witch got back, the broom is the one who told her where Angiola went. The witch found her and turned her face into a dog. A few months later, an actual dog came and helped Angiola get her beautiful face back with the witch's consent and the prince and Angiola got married. I took both of these and combined the stories to make one. This author's note is really long but I had to explain the context behind both!
Hi! I really liked your story. I thought you did a great job seamlessly blending the two stories. I liked that Belle served Rapunzel’s role as a princess locked in the tower, but you preserved Belle’s eventual love for the beast. I also thought your story image was cool because it combined the two princesses. Great job with this story!
ReplyDeleteHi Akriti! This is such a cool story, and I really enjoy that you were able to combine the two princesses without making it feel like you favored one over the other. You also managed to pack a lot of plot into this short tale. Being kind of long-winded is something I struggle with, so I find your brevity impressive!
ReplyDeletehey i like that cool story.
ReplyDeletekeep it up .all the best for next story.