necessary; for in a quarter of an hour's time
there grew up all round about the park such a vast number of trees,
great and small, bushes and brambles, twining one within another, that
neither man nor beast could pass through; so that nothing could be seen
but the very top of the towers of the palace; and that, too, only from
afar off. Every one knew that this also was the work of the fairy in
order that while the Princess slept she should have nothing to fear from
curious people.

After a hundred years the son of the King then reigning, who was of
another family from that of the sleeping Princess, was a-hunting on that
side of the country, and he asked what those towers were which he saw in
the middle of a great thick wood. Every one answered according as they
had heard. Some said that it was an old haunted castle, others that all
the witches of the country held their midnight revels there, but the
common opinion was that it was an ogre's dwelling, and that he carried
to it all the little children he could catch, so as to eat them up at
his leisure, without any one being able to follow him, for he alone had
the power to make his way through the wood.

The Prince did not know what to believe, and presently a very aged
countryman spake to him thus:--

"May it please your royal Highness, more than fifty years since I heard
from my father that there was then in this castle the most beautiful
princess that was ever seen; that she must sleep there a hundred years,
and that she should be waked by a king's son, for whom she was
reserved."

The young Prince on hearing this was all on fire. He thought, without
weighing the matter, that he could put an end to this rare adventure;
and, pushed on by love and the desire of glory, resolved at once to look
into it.

As soon as he began to get near to the wood, all the great trees, the
bushes, and brambles gave way of themselves to let him pass through. He
walked up to the castle which he saw at the end of a large avenue; and
you can imagine he was a good deal surprised when he saw none of his
people following him, because the trees closed again as soon as he had
passed through them. However, he did not cease from continuing his way;
a young prince in search of glory is ever valiant.

He came into a spacious outer court, and what he saw was enough to
freeze him with horror. A frightful silence reigned over all; the image
of death was everywhere, and there was nothing to be seen