A rich merchant had three good-looking daughters, particularly the youngest who was known as Little Beauty. The older sisters were vain, and they became jealous of Beauty, who was, in contrast, modest and charming. The family lost all its money and was forced into a poor lifestyle.
The father took a trip hoping to regain his wealth, and the older sisters demanded that he bring them back expensive garments, while Beauty asked simply for a rose.
In his desperate search for fortune, the father was trapped in a snowstorm. While wandering through the forest, he came across an abandoned palace where he found food and shelter for the night. In the morning, he walked into the garden where he saw the perfect rose for Beauty. On plucking it, a hideous Beast appeared and said that for this thievery, the father must die. The father begged for his life, and the Beast agreed to let him go if one of his daughters would take his place. However, if no daughter would come, the father must return to die. The Beast gave him a chest filled with gold and sent him home. This treasure pleased the older daughters. On giving Beauty the rose, her father sadly told her what happened at the Beast's palace. Beauty insisted on taking her father's place, and so she returned with him to the palace, where the father reluctantly left her.
The Beast treated Beauty well and granted her all her wishes. He visited her every evening for supper, and gradually, Beauty looked forward to these meetings as a break in the monotony of her life. At the end of each visit, the Beast asked Beauty to be his wife, which she always refused although she agreed never to leave the palace. Beauty missed her father greatly and asked permission to visit him. The Beast consented on the condition that she return in seven days.
Beauty's father was overjoyed to see her, but the sisters were jealous of Beauty's newly found happiness and material comfort with the Beast. So they persuaded Beauty to stay longer, which she did. But on the tenth night, Beauty dreamed of the Beast, who was dying. She hastily returned to the castle, where she found the Beast dying of a broken heart. She realized that she was desperately in love with the Beast and said that she would gladly marry him. At that moment, the Beast was transformed into a handsome prince. The father joined them at the palace, and the sisters were turned into statues as punishment. The Prince and Beauty lived happily ever after because their happiness was founded on goodness.