Sleeping Beauty (Original Fairy Tale Version by Giambattista Basile)

Hi, girls!! (and guys)

Remember our favorite fairy tales back when we were still kids?? Well, those fairy tales told by our mother, or sister, or teacher were just the remake versions done by Disney because the original versions deemed to be unsuitable for kids. Well.. Well.. Now that we are all grown ups, I don't think there would be any problem with reading the original versions. In fact, I encourage you to read them because certainly, they should get a credit. Without them, there would not be our childhood favorite fairy tales. *wink*

So, let me present you with the original version of Sleeping Beauty titled "Sun, Moon, and Talia" by Giambattista Basile. Have fun reading, guys! You'll be surprise :D

Sun, Moon, and Talia 

Original Sleeping Beauty Fairy tale titled Sun, Mon, and Talia

THERE was once a great Lord, who, having a daughter born to him named Talia, commanded the seers and wise men of his kingdom to come and tell him her fortune; and after various counsellings they came to the conclusion, that a great peril awaited her from a piece of stalk in some flax. Thereupon he issued a command, prohibiting any flax or hemp, or such-like thing, to be brought into his house, hoping thus to avoid the danger.

When Talia was grown up, and was standing one day at the window, she saw an old woman pass by who was spinning. She had never seen a distaff or a spindle, and being vastly pleased with the twisting and twirling of the thread, her curiosity was so great that she made the old woman come upstairs. Then, taking the distaff in her hand, Talia began to draw out the thread, when, by mischance, a piece of stalk in the flax getting under her finger-nail, she fell dead upon the ground; at which sight the old woman hobbled downstairs as quickly as she could.

When the unhappy father heard of the disaster that had befallen Talia, after weeping bitterly, he placed her in that palace in the country, upon a velvet seat under a canopy of brocade; and fastening the doors, he quitted for ever the place which had been the cause of such misfortune to him, in order to drive all remembrance of it from his mind.

Now, a certain King happened to go one day to the chase, and a falcon escaping from him flew in at the window of that palace. When the King found that the bird did not return at his call, he ordered his attendants to knock at the door, thinking that the palace was inhabited; and after knocking for some time, the King ordered them to fetch a vine-dresser's ladder, wishing himself to scale the house and see what was inside. Then he mounted the ladder, and going through the whole palace, he stood aghast at not finding there any living person. At last he came to the room where Talia was lying, as if enchanted; and when the King saw her, he
called to her, thinking that she was asleep, but in vain, for she still slept on, however loud he called. So, after admiring her beauty awhile, the King returned home to his kingdom, where for a long time he forgot all that had happened.

Meanwhile, two little twins, one a boy and the other a girl, who looked like two little jewels, wandered, from I know not where, into the palace and found Talia in a trance. At first they were afraid because they tried in vain to awaken her; but, becoming bolder, the girl gently took Talia's finger into her mouth, to bite it and wake her up by this means; and so it happened that the splinter of flax came out. Thereupon she seemed to awake as from a deep sleep; and when she saw those little jewels at her side, she took them to her heart, and loved them more than her life; but she wondered greatly at seeing herself quite alone in the palace with two children, and food and refreshment brought her by unseen hands.

After a time the King, calling Talia to mind, took occasion one day when he went to the chase to go and see her; and when he found her awakened, and with two beautiful little creatures by her side, he was struck dumb with rapture. Then the King told Talia who he was, and they formed a great league and friendship, and he remained there for several days, promising, as he took leave, to return and fetch her.

When the King went back to his own kingdom he was for ever repeating the names of Talia and the little ones, insomuch that, when he was eating he had Talia in his mouth, and Sun and Moon (for so he named the children); nay, even when he went to rest he did not leave off calling on them, first one and then the other.

Now the King's stepmother had grown suspicious at his long absence at the chase, and when she heard him calling thus on Talia, Sun, and Moon, she waxed wroth, and said to the King's secretary, "Hark ye, friend, you stand in great danger, between the axe and the block; tell me who it is that my stepson is enamoured of, and I will make you rich; but if you conceal the truth from me, I'll make you rue it."

The man, moved on the one side by fear, and on the other pricked by interest, which is a bandage to the eyes of honour, the blind of justice, and an old horse-shoe to trip up good faith, told the Queen the whole truth. Whereupon she sent the secretary in the King's name to Talia, saying that he wished to see the children. Then Talia sent them with great joy, but the Queen commanded the cook to kill them, and serve them up in various ways for her wretched stepson to eat.

Now the cook, who had a tender heart, seeing the two pretty little golden pippins, took compassion on them, and gave them to his wife, bidding her keep them concealed; then he killed and dressed two little kids in a hundred different ways. When the King came, the Queen quickly ordered the dishes served up; and the King fell to eating with great delight, exclaiming, "How good this is! Oh, how excellent, by the soul of my grandfather!" And the old Queen all the while kept saying, "Eat away, for you know what you eat." At first the King paid no attention to what she said; but at last, hearing the music continue, he replied, "Ay, I know well enough what I eat, for YOU brought nothing to the house." And at last,
getting up in a rage, he went off to a villa at a little distance to cool his anger.

Meanwhile the Queen, not satisfied with what she had done, called the secretary again, and sent him to fetch Talia, pretending that the King wished to see her. At this summons Talia went that very instant, longing to see the light of her eyes, and not knowing that only the smoke awaited her. But when she came before the Queen, the latter said to her, with the face of a Nero, and full of poison as a viper, "Welcome, Madam Sly-cheat! Are you indeed the pretty mischief-maker? Are you the weed that has caught my son's eye and given me all this trouble."

When Talia heard this she began to excuse herself; but the Queen would not listen to a word; and having a large fire lighted in the courtyard, she commanded that Talia should be thrown into the flames. Poor Talia, seeing matters come to a bad pass, fell on her knees before the Queen, and besought her at least to grant her time to take the clothes from off her back. Whereupon the Queen, not so much out of pity for the unhappy girl, as to get possession of her dress, which was embroidered all over with gold and pearls, said to her, "Undress yourself--I allow you." Then Talia began to undress, and as she took off each garment she uttered an exclamation of grief; and when she had stripped off her cloak, her gown, and her jacket, and was proceeding to take off her petticoat, they seized her and were dragging her away. At that moment the King came up, and seeing the spectacle he demanded to know the whole truth;
and when he asked also for the children, and heard that his stepmother had ordered them to be killed, the unhappy King gave himself up to despair.

He then ordered her to be thrown into the same fire which had been lighted for Talia, and the secretary with her, who was the handle of this cruel game and the weaver of this wicked web. Then he was going to do the same with the cook, thinking that he had killed the children; but the cook threw himself at the King's feet and said, "Truly, sir King, I would desire no other sinecure in return for the service I have done you than to be thrown into a furnace full of live coals; I would ask no other gratuity than the thrust of a spike; I would wish for no other amusement than to be roasted in the fire; I would desire no other privilege than to have
the ashes of the cook mingled with those of a Queen. But I look for no such great reward for having saved the children, and brought them back to you in spite of that wicked creature who wished to kill them"

When the King heard these words he was quite beside himself; he appeared to dream, and could not believe what his ears had heard. Then he said to the cook, "If it is true that you have saved the children, be assured I will take you from turning the spit, and reward you so that you shall call yourself the happiest man in the world."

As the King was speaking these words, the wife of the cook, seeing the dilemma her husband was in, brought Sun and Moon before the King, who, playing at the game of three with Talia and the other children, went round and round kissing first one and then another. Then giving the cook a large reward, he made him his chamberlain; and he took Talia to wife, who enjoyed a long life with her husband and the children, acknowledging that--

"He who has luck may go to bed,
And bliss will rain upon his head."

Reference:

Basile, Giambattista. Stories from the Pentamerone. E. F. Strange, editor. Warwick Goble, illustrator. London: Macmillan & Co., 1911. The text of this book is based on John Edward Taylor's translation from 1847.
(cited in: http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/pentamerone/29sunmoontalia1911.html)



I found this story to be the most interesting among all the originals that I've read. But if you want to, I can post the original version of your favorite fairy tales as well. Just put a comment down below :D

Thanks for reading and have a good day!
Ciao!

XoXo,
Jyunilie

[Short Story] Arthur Hirsch

This story is inspired by this portrait or Heechul in
Magolpy's MV that I watched back in early 2007 :D 

I am half-awake. It is almost eight o'clock from what I can tell, but Gosh, I am too lazy to open my eyes until a nurse comes into my room and pulls open the curtains. The sunshine blinds my already-closed eyes and forces me to wake up defiantly.

"Good morning, Ms. Sherman. How are you feeling?” she asks while examining me. Her name is Stella, a young strawberry-blonde nurse who always looks timid around me. Well, maybe she feels intimidated because I am the only daughter of the head chief of this hospital. I don't know.

"Good." I pluck the damn needle out of my vein and jump down from the bed, "I just need some fresh air." Her blue eyes are begging me to stay so I won't cause any problem for her. "I will tell father that it is my call." I walk to the door and turn my head right before I step out of the room, "and you can do me a courtesy of making a medical certificate saying that I won't be going for classes in a week." I walk out of the room.

***

I decide to take a walk around the hospital yard, just to escape the hell out of that boring-to-death room. It is such a beautiful Sunday morning, just that I woke up at the wrong place. I should be at home getting ready for my contemporary dance practice. But the fatigue has gotten me at last. My mother insists that I stop dancing and focus on my doctoral study instead. She wants me to be like my father, but I just want to be more like me.

Tired of walking, I sit on an empty bench under the tree, closing my eyes, just enjoying the sun, the wind, and the silence. To my surprise, I hear an instrumental sound not far from where I sit. I open my eyes and look around. I see some children, a couple of elderly on their wheelchairs, and a man in suit playing his violin under a tree not far from mine. The song is so intense. There is a lot of emotion in it that I cannot quite tell. I close my eyes and imagining myself dancing to it. It is full of passion. So sad. So dramatic. So…..alive. I am so drawn into my imagination that I don't realize the music has stopped. I open my eyes and scan through my surrounding. There is no trace of him.

***

The next day, I find myself walking to the bench again and thank God that he is there. It is the same song as yesterday. I quickly sit and close my eyes, try to memorize the dance moves that I can make out of this song. But then again, he is gone while I open my eyes. This is weird.

***

The third day, I get there earlier, but he is already there, not yet playing the song. He glances at me, and I don't know but why he looks a little bit surprise. I close my eyes waiting, a little bit excited to rewind all the moves that I manage to memorize yesterday. "I should ask him for the title of this song once he finishes," I thought to myself. He is finally reaching the end of the song, the climax. I danced passionately in my imagination. Then I struck, but he has disappeared. "Tomorrow," I got up "tomorrow I won't close my eyes." This is getting annoying!

***

The fourth day, I come a bit late, been having a stomachache since dawn. I am sitting on a beach closer to him. He hasn't play his jam yet, probably waiting for his loyal listener - me. Today he pulls his black hair up, leaving just the side fringe down. He looks so...artistic. I keep my eyes open, watching him finally engrossed in his own play. "Ms. Sherman!!" I hear Stella screaming from afar. She is out of breath, probably has been running around to find me. I go after her, do not want her to disturb the performance. "Someone named Mr. Koon is waiting for you. He said that it's very urgent." She suddenly grabs my hand and drags me. I battle, but damn she has a lot of strength stored in that tiny body. “And your father just called to check on you. You are 30 minutes late to take your medicine, and I’m not backing off today.” Shoot!

"Estelle!" Mr. Koon looks very excited to see me. It's weird because I never saw him showing any kind of emotion, including smiling. Well, unless while he’s dancing, he becomes a whole different person. "Remember the contemporary dance audition I told you last time?" he grabs my shoulder "I sent your practice video, and you are accepted!!" He shakes my body excitedly. Oh my God! It is my dream to perform in that show. I know that if I win, I’ll gain my parents’ acknowledgement and they will finally let me do what I love the most. To my excitement, I blurt out about the violin guy, and my A-plan to use his song for my performance. I’m just so sure that I’ll nail it. 

***

The fifth day, I sit on a bench right in front of him, waiting him to finish. It is strange because it seems only me that is enjoying the performances. Those kids and elderly clearly do not understand about art. Poor them.

"Hey!" I jump out of the bench nervously right after he finishes the song, "I am Estelle Sherman. Do you mind telling me where I can get the song that you just played?" 

He just stares at me in disbelief.

“Why? Well, can you PLEASE at least tell me what the title of the song is?” I beg him a bit.

“It’s secret” He answers shortly and starts packing his stuffs in hurry.

I am dumbfounded, in a major disbelief on how unfriendly this guy can be. “So, here’s the thing…” I try to press my annoyance as he keeps ignoring me “I am a dancer and there is this really important competition coming up. Well, maybe you don’t have any idea on how important this is for me or maybe you just don’t care, but I really need…”

“It Secret” he cuts off my talk, looking straight to my eyes as he finishes up his packing. Some parts of my words earlier definitely caught him. “The title is Secret.” I can see him smiling inside through his eyes.

“Oh” I blush “Then, would you mind telling me who is the composer? Just so I can get the right song.”

“Arthur Hirsch.” Now he does smile “but you won’t find it anywhere. It’s not yet published.”

It takes me about 7 seconds to go straight from a deep confusion to an extreme awe.  “Are you Arthur?”

“Nice to meet you, Estelle” He smiles, showing off this white teeth. And it takes less than a minute for him to go straight from a super annoying stranger to this charming mysterious man.

My heart skips a beat. My body freezes, but my eyes are exploring his pale face. I can see some fading scars on his face. Not from acne or break-out, but more like incisions from sharp objects, like glass shards. Haven’t I come back from heaven, a soft voice from a sick young boy suddenly surprised me “what are you looking at?”

A little bit pissed because he disturbs my moment, I ask him back “what are YOU looking at?”

“Why are you talking to yourself?” He wonders.

I wonder back. I am just about to point at Arthur, but then I realize that he is gone. Like a wind. Leave me looking like some kind of patient from a mental hospital.

***

The sixth day, I find out that walking to the bench has become a habit of mine. I really can’t wait to see him today. I have been thinking about him since yesterday, I even saw him in my dream; sitting beside my bed, watching me sleeping.

Finally I arrive at our secret rendezvous, excitedly, but he is nowhere to be found. I wait and wait until the sun reaches its peak and wait again until it nearly sets. Stella has to come and drag me back for the second time because I haven’t had anything since morning. I am so disappointed, confused, and worried.

I am lying on my bed, dazing at my terrace. I don’t know since when it becomes so seductive. I go there, just to clear up my mind. The view from this 15^th floor is so beautiful, why haven’t I just once come to this terrace during my stay in this hospital? Satisfied looking at the sunset, I throw my vision to the park nearby. People are getting ready to get back in as the darkness approaches; except for this familiar figure who just standing beside the swing, waving at me. It’s my violin guy! I ran towards him.

“Why didn't you come this morning?” I ask

“I am sorry” He looks sad “my family visited me today. They haven’t visited me for quite some time.”

“How long have you been here?” I am curious “And why are you even here in the first place?”

He doesn't answer my question. Instead, he talks about other things, many other things. About his childhood, about his stubbornness, about his dream, about Secret. I always know that we both have a connection, but never expected that it would be our dream. He is just like me, trying to prove to our parents that our dreams are worth living for.

“You will, you know” I assure him “be a great violist”

He smile bitterly, “Maybe I would, but I couldn't”

“What do you mean?” I am confused “don’t give up on your dream just because anyone else does not support you” My tone raises.

“It’s really great to finally meet you, Estelle” He smiles “you should win the competition then; for the sake of both of us” He walks back to the building.

I run after him. “Why do I feel like a goodbye right here?” The thought suddenly makes me very sad “Are you leaving? Have you recharged from this hospital? Is there any way we can still keep in touch?”

He just smiles, ignoring my questions attack “I’ll pay you a visit tomorrow. Now have some good sleep, Estelle.” He stops at 13^th floor. I just stand there looking at his back before the elevator doors close down.

***

“Estelle” a familiar voice wakes me up, “Come on, it’s already ten o’clock. We’re leaving after you have your breakfast. Have you been studying for your test?”

“Mom?” Suddenly I realize that this is my last day here “Was there anyone coming when I was sleeping?”

“No. Why?” She looks curious, but that doesn't stop her for packing my clothes up.

I quickly go to the 13^th floor, hoping that Arthur hasn't left yet. I force Stella to find out in which room he is staying and start running there. Stella is chasing me, trying to prevent me to get in the room. “What’s the big deal, Stella?” I am annoyed.

To my surprise, there are lots of people in that room. Everyone looks so sad, some are even crying. A lady beside the bed whom I assume to be Mrs. Hirsch can’t even stand on her own feet because she is so weak from all her crying. I step inside the room and there he is, sleeping on the bed peacefully in spite of all the screaming and crying. I just stand there, not knowing what to do. Then Stella pulls me out.

“You can’t get in there, Miss” She holds both of my hands which have turned pale and cold “You are not supposed to interfere, unless you are a relative which I am sure that you are not.”

I whisper “what happened to him?”

"He had a fatal car crash six months ago. Ever since, he has been in comma, struggling for his life. A couple times the doctor said that he wouldn't make it, but he miraculously lived yet another night as if he was still meant to do something. But last night he finally let go, peacefully. Well, I guess his business is over at last.”

It creeps me out. I go back to my room, shaken. Well, how can I not?? I talked to him every day for the past six days. I talked to a spirit for crying out loud!

“Estelle, where did you go?” My mom asks “A guy came and left you these things. You bought a violin, Estelle? For real?”

“No” I almost lost my voice in fear “what guy, Mom?”

“This tall and skinny guy, dressed in suit. Is he some kind of ball dance refugee?” She joked around before realizing that her daughter is in fright “Why? You don’t know this guy? I thought he is a friend of yours.”

I reach for the envelope on top of the violin case and open it. There is a CD and a note saying: The Secret is yours. I believe in you, Estelle. Good luck. -Arthur Hirsch I become so overwhelmed. The fright was nonsense. He was once a friend, physically or spiritually, and now I  might have lost him forever. The sadness suddenly clouded me, and I can’t hold my tears anymore.

“Estelle? What’s going on? Do you want me to return it to him, or just throw it away?” My Mom starts to worry.

“It’s okay, Mom” I smile behind my tears “It’s a gift”

***

Couple months have passed and everything is going really well. Even though Arthur is gone, but his masterpiece lives on. The Secret has gone viral and people start to wonder about Arthur Hirsch. However, what people know of him is only as far as the Secret goes. As in for our little secret, it will stay hidden. 

Sometimes, I would hear the sound of his violin in the middle of night from where I keep it, and I know that he is there. I am just waiting for the time when he would finally come to me. Then we will talk until the dawn.