Fairytales take us to a land of hopes, dreams, and magic. Kids love listening to fairytales as bedtime stories as these stories make them experience different emotions like wonder, surprise, pity, love, affection, etc. Rapunzel’s fairytale revolves around the theme of love between a young prince and a girl, who defeated everything that came in the way of their love to be with each other. The story of Rapunzel in English is a well-known fairytale that kids love. This story is about a girl with beautiful long golden hair who was locked up in a tower by an evil witch. The tale goes on to tell us how she defeated the witch and lived a happy life with her prince.
Origin And History Of Rapunzel
Rapunzel is originally a German fairy, recorded by the Brothers Grimm, Jacob Grimm, and Wilhelm Grimm, in their collection “Children’s and Household Tales” in 1812.
Story Type Of Rapunzel
The story of Rapunzel is a classic fairy tale and has been enjoyed by kids for a long time.
Story Characters
The main characters of the fairytale are Rapunzel, the prince, and the witch.
Rapunzel: Rapunzel is a beautiful girl and is the story’s main character whose beautiful, long, blonde hairs are the most talked about. She was locked in a tower by a witch, which made her lonely and sad.
The Prince: The young and handsome prince was the only person who ever saw Rapunzel, other than the witch, and was madly in love with her. He defeated all the obstacles that came his way to be with her in the end.
The Witch: The Witch was an old lady who lived alone and made everyone’s lives miserable. She locked up Rapunzel in the lonely tower and did not allow her to meet or see anyone.
Story Of Rapunzel For Children
Once upon a time, a couple lived in a faraway land. They lived a very lonely life, and their only desire was to have a baby. The house next to theirs had a beautiful garden with lots of fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers. The garden belonged to a witch, and no one ever dared to enter that garden.
One day, the woman saw a beautiful plant called a rampion, which was used to make salads, in that garden. She thenexpressed her desire to make some salad for herself from that plant to her husband.
Later that night, her husband sneaked into the garden and got the rampions for her wife. After some time, there was a loud knock on the door. As soon as the husband opened the door, he saw the evil witch standing there.
“Oh, human! How dare you sneak into my garden and steal those rampions like a thief? No one has ever dared to do that, and I’ll make sure that you suffer for this,” said the witch angrily.
The husband, terrified, started asking for forgiveness from the witch.
“I am so sorry, but my wife wanted to have rampions, and I could not say no to her,” said the husband.
“Oh!” exclaimed the witch and continued, “Well, in that case, I’ll let you and your wife have all the rampions in my garden, but on one condition.”
“What condition?” exclaimed the couple.
“You’ll have to give me the child that your wife delivers,” said the witch and left.
The couple tried begging her for forgiveness, but the witch was gone.
A few months later, the couple gave birth to a beautiful little girl with golden hair. The same night, the witch came to their place and took away their daughter.
“Oh, my my! You are so beautiful! Let me name you Rapunzel,” said the witch, took Rapunzel to a tower with no doors, and locked her up there.
After a few years, Rapunzel grew up into the most beautiful young girl with blonde, long hair. However, she was still stuck in the tower, all lonely and miserable. She often sang sad songs by the window to curb her loneliness.
Every time the witch visited her, she said, “Rapunzel! Rapunzel! Let down your hair,” and Rapunzel used to let down her hair, and the witch used to climb up with the help of her hair.
One day, a young prince was passing through the forest nearby when he heard Rapunzel’s sweet voice singing a song.
“What a beautiful voice!” exclaimed the prince. “Who is singing this beautifully in the middle of this forest?”
Curiously, he followed the voice when he came across the tower, in which Rapunzel was locked.
“What a strange tower! Why are there no doors in this tower? How am I supposed to know who this beautiful voice belongs to?” thought the prince to himself.
Suddenly, he saw someone coming and hid behind a nearby tree.
“Rapunzel! Rapunzel! Let down your hair,” said the witch and climbed up.
Now, the prince knew what to do. As soon as the evil witch left, the prince tried repeating the same things.
“Rapunzel! Rapunzel! Let down your hair,” said the prince, and Rapunzel let down her hair. The prince climbed upstairs and was stunned by Rapunzel’s beauty.
“Who are you?” asked Rapunzel.
“Oh, my lady! You are the girl I have heard, and I have lost my heart to you. Will you marry me and live with me in my kingdom? I am a prince from the land next to the forest,” said the prince.
“Oh, my Prince! I would love to do that, but I am afraid that the witch won’t let me go out of this tower, and if she comes to know about this, she will kill you”, said Rapunzel, sadly.
“It’s okay. I’ll think of a way to let you out and come back again tomorrow,” said the prince and left.
Meanwhile, the witch was watching all this. She immediately climbed up the tower and got angry at Rapunzel.
“You are ungrateful! How could you even think of betraying me? You will have to pay for this,” said the witch angrily. She cut Rapunzel’s long beautiful hair and cast a spell on her, which left her in the middle of the desert.
The next day, when the prince came, he found the witch waiting for him at the tower. She immediately cast a spell on the prince, which made him blind and left him in a deserted forest.
After wandering and living in misery for many years, the prince finally came to a desert where he heard a similar voice singing.
“That voice!” exclaimed the prince, “I know that voice! That’s my Rapunzel’s voice. Where are you, my Rapunzel?”
He slowly approached the voice, and as soon as Rapunzel saw him, she said, “Oh my Prince! You finally found me! This is truly magical! I am so happy that I cannot stop crying.”
As she said this, she hugged the price in happiness, and a few of her tears fell into the prince’s eyes, and he got his eyesight back.
“I can see again! Oh, my Rapunzel, you have saved us! Let’s go back to our kingdom,” said the prince, and both went to the kingdom near the forest and lived happily ever after.
Story Summary
Given below is the summary of Rapunzel.
A long time ago, a girl named Rapunzel was known for her beautiful long blonde hair. Unfortunately, she was locked up in a tower with no doors by an evil witch. The witch never allowed her to go out, which made her lonely and miserable. One day, a handsome young prince heard her voice and fell in love with her. Both of them decided to flee, but somehow the witch came to know about it. She cut down Rapunzel’s long beautiful hair and cast a spell on her, which lead her to live in a lonely desert. The witch also cast a spell on the prince that made him go blind and left him to wander in the deserted forest.
After many years of wandering, the Prince and Rapunzel finally met. Rapunzel was so happy seeing her prince that she started crying, and a few of her tears fell in the prince’s eyes. This brought back his eyesight, and both lived happily ever after in their kingdom.
What Lesson Will Your Child Learn From This Story?
The main lesson that your child can learn from this story is-
If something is bound to happen, it will happen, and no power can prevent it from happening. In the story, Rapunzel and the prince were destined to live together, and in the end, they were together. Even the powerful witch could not do anything to prevent it.
How Can Children Apply The Lesson Of The Story In Their Real Life?
This short story of Rapunzel teaches children to never give up on something they love. No matter how hard things get, they should be persistent in working towards their goal, and no one can stop them from succeeding in life.
Children love stories with pictures as it helps them visualise the characters and keeps them hooked to the story. So, the next time your toddler has trouble sleeping, read this beautiful story of Rapunzel, show them the images, and watch them drift off into the world of dreams.
