Sleeping Beauty - A Softly Told Fairytale for Adults

(00:00:00) Welcome to Rest
(00:00:49) Introducing tonight's story
(00:03:27) Sleeping Beauty

Tonight, we journey into a magical fairytale... to a royal kingdom that’s fallen under a sleepy spell. This is the story of Sleeping Beauty. 🪡🏰

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Good evening, and welcome to Rest, your sanctuary for peaceful
sleep and relaxation. Whether you're escaping daily stresses or seeking
a nightly companion, you're in the right place. My name
is Jessica, and I'll be your host this evening. Before

(00:27):
we begin, why don't you turn off your screens and
turn down your volume. Now that's done, let's unwind and
help you ease into a blessed rest. Tonight's story drifts

(00:56):
from the edges of a long ago kingdom, a place
where moonlight gathers on castle towers and time itself seems
to sleep. They say that once a spell was cast,
and an entire kingdom grew silent. Not a bee buzzed,

(01:17):
not a dog stirred, not even a whisper passed through
the trees. Even the streams, which had always sung to
the stones, stilled mid song, their waters caught in a
glittering pause. It was as though the world had taken

(01:37):
a single, deep breath and decided to hold it above
it all. The castle slept, curtains hung motionless in mid air,
candles frozen in their final flicker, and the air shimmered
faintly with the memory of music and at the heart

(02:00):
of it, beneath the tangled roses, beneath the spell of
time itself, lay a princess resting in a sleep so
peaceful it might have been mistaken for a dream. But
before we wander there, take a moment to find your

(02:22):
own stillness. Let your breath soften inhial the quiet calm
of moonlight. Exhale the weight of the waking world. With
every inhale. Imagine starlight spilling gently through the trees. Imagine

(02:46):
the quiet calm of the night hours. With every exhale,
the world around you grows just a little quieter. Its
worries and demands dissip With each breath, the hush deepens.

(03:06):
With each breath, you drift closer to the silence of
that sleeping kingdom. And now, as night cradles you softly,
let us find our way to the sleeping castle where
sleeping beauty awaits. There was once a king and queen

(03:34):
who had no children, though they had been married for
many years. At last, however, a little daughter was born
to them, and this was a matter of great rejoicing
through all the kingdom. When the time came for the
little princess to be christened a grand feast was prepared,

(03:59):
and six powerful fairies were asked to stand as her
godmother's Unfortunately, the queen forgot to invite the seventh fairy,
who was the most powerful of them all, and was
also very wicked and malicious. On the day of the christening,

(04:21):
the six good fairies came early in chariots, drawn by butterflies,
or by doves or wrens or other birds. They were
made welcome by the King and Queen, and after some talk,
they were led to the hall where the feast had
been set out. Everything there was very magnificent. There were

(04:48):
delicious fruits and meats, and pastries, and game, and everything
that could be thought of. The dishes were all of gold,
and for each fairy there was a goblet cut from
a single precious stone. One was a diamond, one a sapphire,

(05:13):
one a ruby, one an emerald, one an amethyst, and
one a topaz. The fairies were delighted with the beauty
of everything. Even in their own fairy palaces they had
no such goblets as those the king had had made

(05:35):
for them. They were just about to take their places
at the table when a great noise was heard on
the terrace The Queen looked from the window and almost
fainted at the sight. She saw the bad fairy had arrived.

(05:56):
She had come uninvited, and the Queen guest that it
was for no good that she came. Her chariot was
of black iron and was drawn by four dragons with
flaming eyes and brass scales. The fairy sprang from her

(06:16):
chariot in haste and came tapping into the hall with
her staff in her hand. How is this? How is this?
She cried to the queen. Here all my sisters have
been invited to come and bring their gifts to the princess,

(06:36):
and I alone have been forgotten. The Queen did not
know what to answer. She was frightened. However, she tried
to hide her fear and made the seventh Fairy as
welcome as the others. A place was set for her
at the king's right hand, and he and the Queen

(06:59):
tried to pretend they had expected her to come. But
for her there was no precious goblet, and when she
saw the ones that had been given to the six
other fairies, her face grew green with envy, and her
eyes flashed fire. She ate and drank, but she said

(07:25):
never a word. After the feast, the little princess was
brought into the room, and she smiled so sweetly and
looked so innocent that only a wicked heart could have
planned evil against her. The first fairy took the child

(07:46):
in her arms and said, MY gift to the princess
shall be that of contentment, For contentment is better than gold.
Yet gold is good, said the second fairy, And I
will give her the gift of wealth. Health shall be hers,

(08:12):
said the third, for wealth is of little use without it.
And I said the fourth will gift her with beauty
to win all hearts, and wit to charm all is,
said the fifth. That is my gift to her. The

(08:36):
sixth fairy hesitated, and in that moment the wicked one
stepped forward. While the others had spoken, she had been
swelling with spite like a toad. And I say, cried
she that in her seventeenth year she shall prick her

(08:59):
finger with a spindle and fall dead. When the queen
heard this, she shrieked aloud, and the king grew as
pale as death. But the sixth fairy stepped forward. Wait
a bit, said she, I have not spoken yet I

(09:23):
cannot undo what our sister has done. But I say
that the princess shall not really die. She shall fall
into a deep sleep that shall last a hundred years,
and all in the castle shall sleep with her. At

(09:43):
the end of that time, she shall be awakened by
a kiss. When the wicked fairy heard this, she was
filled with rage, but she had already spoken. She could
do no more. She rushed out of the castle and

(10:05):
jumped into her chariot, and the dragons carried her away,
And where she went no one either knew nor cared.
The other fairies also went away, and they were sad
because of what was to happen to the princess. But

(10:26):
at once the king gave orders that every spinning wheel
and spindle in the land should be destroyed, And when
this was done, he felt quite happy again, for if
all the spindles were gone, the princess could not prick
her finger with one, and if she did not prick

(10:49):
her finger, she would not fall into the enchanted sleep.
So the king and queen were at peace, and all
were well in the castle. For seventeen years, all that
the fairies had promised to the princess came true. She

(11:11):
was so beautiful that she was the wonder of all
who saw her, and so witty and gentle hearted that
everyone loved her. Beside this, she had health, wealth, and contentment,
and was smiling and joyous from morn till night. One day,

(11:38):
the King and Queen went away on a journey, and
the princess took it into her head to mount to
a high tower, where she had never been before, and
to watch for their return. From there, she found the
stairs that led to the tower, and then she mounted

(11:59):
them up and up and up, until she was high
above the roofs of the castle. At last she reached
the very top of the tower, and there was an
iron door with a rusty key in it. The princess

(12:21):
turned the key and the door swung open. Beyond she
saw a room and an old, old, wrinkled woman sat
there at a wheel spinning. The princess had never seen
a spinning wheel before. It seemed a curious thing to her.

(12:44):
She went in and stood close to the old woman
so as to see it better. What is that you
are doing, she asked, I am spinning, answered the old woman.
And what is that little thing that flies around so fast?

(13:06):
That is a spindle? It is a curious little thing,
said the princess, and she reached out her hand to
touch it. Then the point of the spindle pricked her finger,
and at once the princess sighed, and her eyes closed,

(13:31):
and she sank back on a couch in a deep sleep.
Immediately a silence fell also upon all in the castle.
The King and Queen had just returned from their journey.
They had alighted from their horses and had entered the castle,

(13:54):
and just then sleep fell upon them. The courtiers who
followed them also fell asleep. The dogs and horses in
the courtyard slept, and the pigeons in the eaves. The
boy who turned the spit in the kitchen slept, and

(14:15):
the cook did not scold him, for she too was asleep.
The meat did not burn, for the fire was sleeping.
Even the flies in the castle, and the bees among
the flowers hung motionless. All slept. Then all about the

(14:40):
castle sprang up an enchanted forest that shut it in
like a wall. The forest grew so dark and high
that at last not even the topmost tower of the
castle could be seen. But so the princess slept. She

(15:02):
was not forgotten. Many brave princes and heroes came and
tried to cut their way through the forest to rescue her.
But the boughs and branches were as hard as iron,
and moreover, as fast as they were cut away, they

(15:24):
grew again. Also, they were twisted so closely together that
no one could creep between them. Then, as years passed by,
the brave heroes who had sought the princess grew old
and had children of their own. These two grew to

(15:47):
be men and married, and at last the princess was
forgotten by all, or was remembered only as an old tale.
At last a hundred years had slipped away. And then
a young and handsome prince came by that way. He

(16:11):
had been hunting, and he had ridden so fast and
eagerly that he had left his huntsman far behind. Now
he was hot and weary, and seeing a hut, he
stopped and asked for a drink of water. The man
who lived in the hut was very old. He brought

(16:35):
the water the prince asked for, and after the prince
had drank, he sat awhile and looked about him. What
is that darkness like a cloud that I see over yonder,
he asked, I cannot tell you for sure, said the

(16:55):
old man. For it is a long distance away, and
I have never gone to see. But my grandfather told
me once that it was an enchanted forest. He said
there was a castle hidden deep in the midst of it,
and that in that castle lay a princess asleep. That princess,

(17:22):
so he said, was the most beautiful princess in all
the world. But a spell had been laid on her,
and she was to sleep a hundred years. At the
end of that time, a prince was to come and
waken her with a kiss. And how long has she slept, now,

(17:47):
asked the prince, and his heart beat in his breast
like a bird. That I cannot say, answered the old man,
but a long long time. My grandfather was an old
man when he told me, and he could not remember her.

(18:12):
The prince thanked the old man for what he had
told him, and then he rode away toward the enchanted forest.
And he could not go fast enough, he was in
such haste. When he was at a distance from the forest,
it looked like a dark cloud. But as he came nearer,

(18:37):
it began to grow rosy. All the boughs and briars
had begun to bud. By the time he was close
to them, they were in full flower. And when he
reached the edge of the forest, the branches divided, leaving

(18:58):
an open path before him. Along this path the Prince rode,
and before long he came to the palace. He entered
the courtyard and looked about him wandering. The dogs lay
sleeping in the sunshine and never wakened at his coming.

(19:21):
The horses stood like statues. The guards slept leaning on
their arms. The Prince dismounted and went on into the palace.
On he went through one room after another, and no
one woke to stop nor stay him. At last he

(19:45):
came to the stairway that led to the tower, and
he went on up it, up and up, as the
princess had done before him. He reached the tower room,
and then he stopped and stood amazed. There on the

(20:08):
couch lay a maiden more beautiful than he had ever
dreamed of. He could scarcely believe there was such beauty
in the world. He looked and looked, and then he
stooped and kissed her at once. On the moment, all

(20:32):
through the castle sounded the hum of waking life. The
king and queen down in the throne room stirred and
rubbed their eyes. The guards started from sleep, the horses stamped,
the dogs sprang up, barking. The meat in the kitchen

(20:58):
began to burn, and the cook boxed the boy's ears.
The courteers smiled and bowed and simpered Up in the tower,
the princess opened her eyes, and as soon as she

(21:18):
saw the prince she loved him. He took her hand
and raised her from the couch. Will you be my
own dear bride? Said he, and the princess answered yes.

(21:41):
And so they were married with great rejoicings. And the
six fairies came to the wedding and brought with them
gifts more beautiful than ever were seen before. As for
the seventh fairy, if she did not burst with spite,

(22:05):
she may be living still. But the prince and princess
lived happily forever after