Once upon a time there lived a wealthy merchant and his three daughters.
One
day, the father was to go to a far-off place and he asked his daughters
what they wanted on his return. The first and the second daughter asked
for lovely dresses. But the third daughter, whose name was Beauty,
said, “Father, I only need a rose plucked by your hand.” The merchant,
on his way back, had to cross through the deep forest. It was dark and
the merchant tried to find a place to sleep.
He suddenly found a huge
castle and went inside to find nobody. There was a huge table with
delicious food and he ate it all. Then the merchant went into the
bedroom and slept on a soft and fluffy bed. The next day, too, the
merchant did not find anyone in the castle. He saw a beautiful rose bush
growing in the lawn and remembered Beauty’s gift. He plucked a red rose
from the bush.
Suddenly, a ferocious looking beast sprang out of
the bush. He was wearing fine silk clothes and roared, “I gave you food
and a bed to sleep in! And now, you are stealing my roses!” The merchant
was frightened and told the Beast about Beauty’s gift. The Beast
decided to let him go only if he promised to send Beauty to this castle.
The merchant agreed and ran back home. He cried and told his daughters
about the Beast. But Beauty loved her father a lot and agreed to go stay
with the Beast.
The Beast treated Beauty with a lot of kindness.
He was never rude to her. He let her stay in the biggest room and let
her roam in the beautiful garden. Beauty would sit near the fireplace
and sew while the Beast kept her company. At first, Beauty was afraid of
the Beast but slowly, she began to like him.
One day, the Beast
asked Beauty to marry him, but she refused. She was still afraid of his
fearful-looking face. The Beast still treated her kindly and with a lot
of love. Beauty missed her father a lot. The Beast gave her a magic
mirror and said, “Look at the mirror and you can see your family. Now
you won’t feel lonely anymore.
One day, Beauty looked in the
mirror and saw that father was very ill and dying. She went to the Beast
and pleaded and cried, “Please let me go home! I only want to see my
father before he dies!” But the Beast roared, “No! You promised you
would never leave this castle!” Saying this, he stormed out of the room.
But after some time, he came to Beauty and said, “You may go to stay
with your father for seven days. But you must promise to return after
that.” Beauty was very happy and agreed. Then she left and went to stay
with her father. Her father, on seeing Beauty, felt very happy and soon
recovered. Beauty stayed with her family for seven days and more. She
forgot the Beast and his castle. But one night, she had a terrible
nightmare in which she saw the Beast was very ill and about to die. He
was crying, “Beauty, please come back!”
Beauty woke up and went
back to the castle because she did not mean to hurt the Beast. She cried
and said, “Please don’t die, Beast! I will live with you forever!” The
Beast miraculously changed into a handsome prince. He said, “I was under
a curse all these years and could only be relieved when someone fell in
love with me. I am now cured of the curse because you truly love me.”
And then, Beauty and the Beast were married and together they lived
happily ever after.
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