ing for the Princess's birthday feast--even they ceased to
turn, and the very fire stopped flickering and the flames sank down.

[Illustration]

A deep silence fell over the castle. In the fields the lambs ceased to
bleat, the horses to neigh and the cows to low. The birds in the trees
were silent. One moment the air was full of the music of their
twittering; the next, all was as still as in a desert. The very wind
dropped to sleep in the woods; not a leaf stirred, and the white clouds
were motionless in the sky.

* * * * *

So sleep fell upon the enchanted castle and upon all within it, because
of the Princess Briar-Rose, who lay there on her couch in the ancient
tower waiting till the hundred years should be past and the Prince
should come to waken her.

And all round the castle there grew up a hedge of thorn, tangled with
ivy, woodbine and creeping plants, so dense that from a distance it
seemed like a little wood. Higher and higher it grew, closing round the
castle like a wall until all that could be seen was the top of the
highest tower, and the flagstaff from which the royal standard hung limp
and motionless.

And the years went by, each with its changing seasons. Spring came and
brought to the fields and woods outside the new life of leaf and flower.
The trees awoke from their winter sleep and clothed themselves
gloriously in green; the birds began to sing again and the swallows and
martins built their nests under the eaves; children laughed and clapped
their hands because they were happy in the bright sunshine, and old
people felt their hearts filled with joy when they saw the mist of
bluebells in the woods and the daffodils dancing in the breeze.

[Illustration]

But within the thorn hedge no life stirred, and neither flower nor tree
answered the call of spring.

[Illustration]

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; and they told the story to
their children, who told it in their turn, changing it a little because
it was only a tale to them. And so, after many years, the legend spread
abroad to neighbouring countries, and many a young prince dreamed that
it was he who was destined to break the spell and waken the sleeping
Princess.

Now and again one would take the quest upon him and try to force his way
through the thic