Beauty and the Beast
There once was a
merchant who had been quite wealthy, but had lost his money through bad
investments. This forced his six sons and six daughters into a
life that wasn't as nice as before. Of all the children, Beauty
was the one who did not complain. One day the father set off on a
business trip. Before he left, he asked all of his children what
gifts they would like for him to bring back. They asked for all
sorts of expensive things, but Beauty was silent. When her father
asked her what she wanted, she told him that she only wanted him to
return safely. But he continued to ask her for something to bring
her until she finally asked her father to bring her a rose, an easy
task. Her father agreed and set off.
On
his way back, he became lost. He eventually found his way to a
beautiful castle that was full of all sorts of
riches. But there was no one around. He
found his way to a room where there was a fire, and thinking that
someone would find him, he lay down and fell asleep. When he woke
up there was a tray of food before him, but there was still no sign of
anyone around. He ate the food and fell asleep. He was
leaving the next morning when he saw a rose garden and picked a rose
for Beauty. But behind him was a horrible beast who was
furious. "How dare you steal from me when I have been so kind to
you and given you food and a place to rest?"
The
old man was terrified and quickly told the Beast how his daughter had
asked for only a rose. The Beast was quiet for a moment. He
then told the old man that if he could persuade any one of his
daughters to return and spend the rest of their lives with him, the
Beast would let the old man return to his family. But the old man
only had sixty days to return by himself or with one of his
daughters. The old man left knowing he could not ask one of his
daughters to return.
When
he arrived home he had to tell his family what had happened. They
were all shocked. Beauty offered to be the one to return but her
family refused to let her go. She was persistent and her father
returned to the castle with her. Beauty was horrified by the
Beast but he was actually very kind to them. He gave Beauty’s
father many treasures to take back to his family since he was leaving
Beauty behind. That night Beauty dreamed a very strange
dream. She saw a very handsome Prince who told her to find him
and to not let appearances fool her.
The
next morning Beauty had to tell her father good-bye forever.
Beauty was very sad to see him go and afraid that the Beast was going
to kill her now that she was alone. But she did not see the Beast
until dinner. He asked her how she was and she replied that she
was fine. He then asked her if she would marry him. Beauty
froze, terrified to answer. The Beast told her to answer honestly
without fear and Beauty finally answered that no, she did not want to
marry him. The Beast said good-night then and left her. The
days passed quickly like this. Every night Beauty would dream of
the handsome Prince, and every day she would spend her day wandering
through the wonderful castle. The castle had an enormous library that
Beauty loved and a garden where she made quick friends with the birds
there. The only time she saw the Beast was at dinner, when he
would join her and ask her to marry him.
Eventually, Beauty became lonely for her family. The Beast noticed her
sadness and asked her why she was so sad. Beauty told him how she
missed her family and how she desperately wanted to see them. The
Beast told her that if she promised to return to him in sixty days he
would let her visit her family. Beauty quickly agreed and the
Beast again warned her that she must return in sixty days, or that she
would return to find him dead. That night Beauty went to sleep in
the castle but the next morning awoke in her father's house.
Because of
the money the Beast had allowed her father to take, Beauty's family was
one again living a life of luxury. The days quickly passed for
Beauty with her family. Towards the end of her visit Beauty
dreamed of her handsome Prince, but he was lying in a room in the
castle and looked dead. When she woke the next morning, she knew
it was time to go back to the castle.
When
she got to the castle she immediately went to look for the Beast.
She found him in the room from her dream. Once she had splashed
water on his face the Beast woke up. Beauty told him how much she
had come to care for him and how glad she was that he was still
alive. That night the Beast joined her for dinner, and as he
usually did, he asked her to marry him. This time Beauty said
yes. Once she had said yes, the Beast transformed himself into
the handsome Prince from her dreams and they lived happily ever after.
"So,
both the Beauty's from the Disney movie and from the original story
weren't as bad as you thought they were. They were selfless and
brave, sacrificing themselves for their fathers' sakes. So do you
still think that all Princesses are shallow and worthless?”
Emily
was not willing to concede that she had been wrong as she voiced her
next argument.
Author's Note: The original story of Beauty and the Beast is very long
and detailed and I had to shorten it quite a bit. The original
story was very detailed but I was able to keep the story essentially
the same. The frame for the story finished on the intro page and
the frame is continued again at the end of the story. I was
very surprised at how similar this story was to the Disney
version. It was more similar than I would ever have expected with
the main changes being Beauty's siblings, her father's occupation, and
the importance of the rose. Well, that and there were no dancing
candlesticks or singing teapots in the original story.
Bibliography
Story Title: Beauty and the
Beast
Author: Andrew Lang
Book Title: The Blue Fairy Book
Year Published: 1889
Image Information
Image Title: Rose
Image URL
Image Title: Beauty and Beast dancing
Image URL
Image Title: Beauty finds Beast
Image URL
Image Title: The Beast's Castle
Image URL
Coverpage
Introduction
Aladdin
Cinderella
The
Little Mermaid
