Not a spindle was to be used, anywhere in the country, until after the princess had passed her fifteenth birthday.
The gifts of the fairies proved true. The princess was so beautiful and so good that she was loved by all. She was witty and wise and her voice was like a silver bell.
One day, when the princess was nearly fifteen years old, she wandered through the palace and up the winding stairs to an old tower.
There, in a little room, sat an old woman, busily twisting thread upon a spinning wheel. The old woman had never heard the king's command.
"How merrily the wheel goes round! Let me see if I can spin!" said the princess.
Scarcely had the princess touched the spindle when she cut her finger.
The girl fell at once into a deep sleep. She lay upon the floor beside the spinning wheel, fast asleep.
In the castle below, the king, the queen, and all the servants fell asleep, too. The horses slept in their stalls. The dogs slept in their kennels.
The pigeons on the roof, and the birds in their nests, all went sound asleep. Even the fire flaming on the hearth became still.
Deep shadows darkened the sunny rooms of the palace, and the garden round about.