princess.

Scarcely had the princess touched the spindle when she cut her finger.

The girl fell at once into a deep sleep. She lay upon the floor beside
the spinning wheel, fast asleep.

In the castle below, the king, the queen, and all the servants fell
asleep, too. The horses slept in their stalls. The dogs slept in their
kennels.

The pigeons on the roof, and the birds in their nests, all went sound
asleep. Even the fire flaming on the hearth became still.

Deep shadows darkened the sunny rooms of the palace, and the garden
round about.

A hedge of thorns at once began to grow around the palace.

The hedge became thicker and higher as the days went by, until at last
it was so tall that not even the palace towers could be seen.

The story of the princess, the beautiful Thorn Rose, was told far and
wide.

At last a hundred years had passed. Prince Courageous was traveling
through the land. He heard from an old man the story of the thorn hedge,
and of the princess who lay in the palace behind the hedge, fast asleep.

The old man told the prince that the time had come when the long