Rapunzel had magnificent long hair, fine as spun gold, and when she heard the voice of the Witch, she unfastened her braided tresses and wound them round one of the hooks of the window above. And then the hair fell twenty ells down, and the Witch climbed up by it.
After a year or two, it came to pass that the King’s Son rode through the forest and went by the tower. Then he heard a song, which was so charming that he stood still and listened. This was Rapunzel, who in her solitude passed her time in letting her sweet voice resound.
The King’s Son wanted to climb up to her, and looked for the door of the tower, but none was to be found. He rode home, but the singing had so deeply touched his heart, that every day he went out into the forest and listened to it.
Once when he was thus standing behind a tree, he saw that a Witch came there, and he heard how she cried:
“Rapunzel, Rapunzel,
Let down thy hair.”
Then Rapunzel let down the braids of her hair, and the Witch climbed up to her.
“If that is the ladder by which one mounts, I will for once try my fortune,” said he.
The next day when it began to grow dark, he went to the tower and cried:
“Rapunzel, Rapunzel,
Let down thy hair.”
Immediately the hair fell down, and the King’s Son climbed up.