years old, and then she will die!"

The old witch shook her black stick at the princess.

Then she disappeared, as she had entered, through the keyhole.

The king and queen were troubled when they heard the witch's words, but
the seventh fairy, who had not yet spoken, stepped forward.

"The king's daughter shall not die, but she shall sleep for a hundred
years. When the princess falls asleep, everyone in the palace will go to
sleep, too. They will all sleep for a hundred years."

Then the king ordered that every spindle in the kingdom should be
destroyed.

Not a spindle was to be used, anywhere in the country, until after the
princess had passed her fifteenth birthday.

The gifts of the fairies proved true. The princess was so beautiful and
so good that she was loved by all. She was witty and wise and her voice
was like a silver bell.

One day, when the princess was nearly fifteen years old, she wandered
through the palace and up the winding stairs to an old tower.

There, in a little room, sat an old woman, busily twisting thread upon a
spinning wheel. The old woman had never heard the king's command.

"How merrily the wheel goes round! Let me see if I can spin!" said the