Beauty and the Beast

Deep in a forest in old France stood a castle that made people shudder at the very mention of it. Rumor said its master was a monster with a hideous face, whose roar rang through the whole forest. And yet there was one strange thing that few would have guessed. Behind that gate, a table was always laid and a fire always warm, as if someone were waiting for a guest.

A longer version of this story already existed in France. In 1756, a woman named Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont retold it more briefly and gently and wrote it down in a book, so that children everywhere could hear it.

The story goes that long ago there lived a rich merchant with six children, three sons and three daughters. Then one day disaster struck without warning, and nearly all his fortune was gone. The family had to leave the town and move to a small house in the countryside, where they worked the land with their own hands to get by. The two elder sisters complained all the time, missing the parties and silk gowns of the old days. The youngest daughter was quite different. She rose before dawn to clean the house and get the meals ready for the family, without a word of complaint. When she was little, everyone who saw her admired her and called her the little Beauty. As she grew up, the name stayed with her.

Not long after, good news arrived. A ship carrying the merchant's goods had come safely into port. The father happily got ready to go and see to it, and before leaving he asked his children what gifts they would like him to bring back. The two elder sisters clamored for fine gowns and jewels. Beauty only said softly, "Father, all I ask for is a single rose."

But when he arrived, he was dragged into a lawsuit over the cargo. After much trouble it all came to nothing, and the father had to turn back empty-handed, as poor as before. On the way home he got lost in a thick forest, and suddenly a heavy storm of wind and rain broke out. Just as he was losing hope, he saw a bright light in the distance. It was the frightful castle of the rumors. He turned in and called out again and again, but no one answered. A table was already laid, a fire was warm in the hearth, and a soft bed was made up, but there was no sign of anyone serving. He ate, and he slept a peaceful night, glad and uneasy at the same time.

The next morning, before leaving, the father suddenly remembered his promise to his youngest daughter. He stepped out into a garden full of roses in bloom and picked one. At that very moment, a terrible roar rang out behind him. A huge beast stood right there, so frightful that he jumped. The Beast thundered that the merchant had eaten his food and slept under his roof, and now dared to steal the most precious flower in the garden. For that, he deserved to die.

Trembling, the father begged for mercy and explained that the rose was only a present for his youngest daughter at home. Hearing this, the Beast lowered his voice. He said the father could be spared, but one of his daughters had to come to this castle of her own free will and take his place. He gave him exactly three months to return with an answer. Then he told the father to fill a great empty chest in his room with gold, and promised to send it to his home, though the father had never asked for anything.

Back home, the father told them everything, his eyes brimming with tears. The two elder sisters scolded their younger sister for bringing ruin on their father by asking for a useless flower. But Beauty said calmly, "The fault is not the rose's. It is mine, for asking for it. So I will go to that castle in my father's place." Her father tried every argument to stop her, and her brothers wanted to take up their swords and hunt down the monster, but she would not change her mind. Then she set out with her father into the forest. She walked through the castle gate without the slightest hesitation.

Contrary to what she had feared, the castle welcomed her as an honored guest, not a prisoner. Her room had windows looking out on the rose garden and shelves full of books. It even had a harpsichord and several books of music. At every meal, fine dishes appeared on the table by themselves, with no one there to carry them. She also found a strange mirror. When she looked into it, she could clearly see what her father, brothers and sisters were doing at home.

On the first night, the Beast came to the supper table and asked her a question, in a voice that was deep and a little shy. "Will you be my wife?" Beauty gently answered no. The Beast bowed his head and quietly left, without any anger and without pressing her any further.

From then on, the Beast came every evening and asked the very same question, and every evening she said no. But apart from that question, he talked to her gently and kindly. He told her about the wonders of the world and listened to her play and sing. Little by little, Beauty began to look forward to supper time. She longed to hear those heavy footsteps in the corridor, which had grown so familiar. She came to see that beneath that hideous form lay a rare and gentle heart.

One day, in the magic mirror, she saw that her father was gravely ill, sick in bed from missing her. She asked the Beast to let her go home to visit him. The Beast sadly agreed, only asking her to come back in exactly one week. Then he gave her a ring. Whenever she wished to return to the castle, he told her, she only had to place the ring on the table before going to sleep. In the morning she would find herself there at once.

When Beauty got home, her father was overjoyed and held her tight in his arms for a long time. The two elder sisters saw her fine clothes and heard about her happy life at the castle, and jealousy grew in their hearts. They plotted to keep her there past the deadline, secretly hoping the monster would fly into a rage and harm her. They wept, they pleaded, they pretended they could not bear to let her go. Beauty's heart softened, and she lingered on.

On the tenth night, Beauty dreamed that the Beast lay dying all alone in the castle garden, with no one by his side. She woke with a start, her heart burning with worry, and quickly set the ring on the table. The next morning, she found herself standing in the familiar castle. But the castle was utterly silent. There was not a sound, and the Beast did not come out to greet her as he always had.

She ran all over the castle searching for him. At last she found the Beast lying motionless beside a small canal in the garden, just as in her dream. She knelt beside him, tears streaming down her face, and leaned close to whisper in his ear. "I never knew I loved you so much. Please don't leave me. I will be your wife, forever."

The moment she finished speaking, a dazzling light filled the whole garden. When Beauty opened her eyes, the hideous form was gone. In its place stood a handsome prince, his eyes as gentle as on all the evenings she had met him at supper. He told her that he had been born a prince, but a wicked fairy had cursed him to wear the shape of a monster. The curse would last until a beautiful girl agreed to marry him in that form.

Soon after, a fairy appeared in the castle hall. She brought Beauty's father, brothers and sisters all the way there to share the happy day. Then, with a stroke of her wand, the fairy carried everyone in the hall to the prince's own kingdom. His people welcomed him home with joy, and the prince married Beauty.

As for the castle deep in the forest, whose very name had once made people shudder, it kept the memory of one very different day. It was the day the whole family gathered in its great hall, and laughter rang through the corridors that had once been so silent.