tion; necessity alone drove me to
the deed. My wife saw your rampion from her window, and conceived such
a desire for it that she would certainly have died if her wish had not
been gratified.' Then the Witch's anger was a little appeased, and she
said:

'If it's as you say, you may take as much rampion away with you as you
like, but on one condition only--that you give me the child your wife
will shortly bring into the world. All shall go well with it, and I will
look after it like a mother.'

The man in his terror agreed to everything she asked, and as soon as
the child was born the Witch appeared, and having given it the name of
Rapunzel, which is the same as rampion, she carried it off with her.

Rapunzel was the most beautiful child under the sun. When she was twelve
years old the Witch shut her up in a tower, in the middle of a great
wood, and the tower had neither stairs nor doors, only high up at the
very top a small window. When the old Witch wanted to get in she stood
underneath and called out:

'Rapunzel, Rapunzel,
Let down your golden hair,'

for Rapunzel had wonderful long hair, and it was as fine as spun gold.
Whenever she heard the Witch's voice she unloosed her plaits, and let
her hair fall down out of the window about twenty yards below, and the
old Witch climbed up by it.

After they had lived like this for a few years, it happened one day that
a Prince was riding through the wood and passed by the tower. As he
drew near it he heard someone singing so sweetly that he stood still
spell-bound, and listened. It was Rapunzel in her loneliness trying to
while away the time by letting her sweet voice ring out into the wood.
The Prince longed to see the owner of the voice, but he sought in vain
for a door in the tower. He rode home, but he was so haunted by the song
he had heard that he returned every day to the wood and listened. One
day, when he was standing thus behind a tree, he saw the old Witch
approach and heard her call out:

'Rapunzel, Rapunzel,
Let down your golden hair.'

Then Rapunzel let down her plaits, and the Witch climbed up by them.

'So that's the staircase, is it?' said the Prince. 'Then I too will
climb it and try my luck.'

So on the following day, at dusk, he went to the foot of the tower and
cried:

'Rapunzel, Rapunzel,
Let down your golden hair,'

and as soon as she had let it down the Prince climbed up.

At first Rapunzel was te