In a land far away, lived a poor farmer and his wife. One day, they tried to pluck fruits from their neighbour’s garden. But their neighbour was actually an old, wicked witch.
She screamed, “How dare you steal from my garden! I’ll turn you both into rats!” The couple trembled with fear. Finally the witch said, “Very well, I’ll let you go. But you have to give me your first child.” They were so scared, that they immediately agreed and fled.
A few years later, a beautiful baby girl was born to the farmer and his wife. Immediately, the old witch came and snatched the girl away from them. She named her Rapunzel, and kept her locked up in a tall tower.
The only person she ever saw was the old witch. Every day, the witch used to come to the foot of the tower and call, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!” Rapunzel the used to let her long plait fall out the window, and the witch used to hold onto it and climb up.
One day, a prince who was passing by, hid behind the trees and watched the witch. As soon as she left, he too decided to try. “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!” he cried, and climbed up in to her room.
Rapunzel was stunned to see the prince. She had never before seen anybody so handsome. The prince too fell in love with her. They began to secretly meet everyday after the witch left.
One day however, by mistake, Rapunzel said to the witch, “My, you are so much heavier than my price!” The witch realized what had been going on. She screamed and shouted in anger. She cut off Rapunzel’s hair and sent her off deep into the forest.
That day, when the prince came, he found the witch waiting for him at the top of the tower. She cursed and screamed some more, before casting a spell on him, that made the prince lose his sight.
The prince, now blind and broken hearted, wandered through the forest. Many days later, Rapunzel found him wounded among the trees.
Rapunzel began to cry at the sorry sight of her prince. But as soon as her tears fell on him, his wounds healed, and his eyesight returned!
The first thing the prince saw was his beloved Rapunzel. They were overjoyed to find each other again. They went away to his kingdom, and lived happily ever after, far away from the wicked witch.