The horses went to sleep in the stable; the dogs in the yard; the doves on the roof; the flies on the wall; yes, even the fire that burned in the fireplace grew still and slept.
The meat stopped roasting before the fire.
The cook in the kitchen was just going to box the ears of the kitchen boy, but her hand dropped and she sank to sleep.
Outside the castle the wind was still, and upon the trees not a leaf stirred.
In a short time there sprung up around the castle a hedge of thorn bushes.
Year by year the hedge grew higher and higher, until at last nothing of the castle could be seen above it, not even the roof, nor the chimneys, nor the flag on the tower.
BRIAR ROSE—III
As years went by the story of the sleeping beauty was told all over the kingdom.
Many kings' sons came and tried to get through the hedge of thorns, but this they could not do.
The sharp thorns seemed to have hands which held the young men fast.