Once
upon a time there lived a kindly young girl. She grew up living in
between a forest and palace, as her father worked as a brick layer
for the kingdom and her mother a gardener. She spent her childhood
watching her mother plant in the garden when her father went to work
inside the palace grounds from sunrise to supper.
Her
mother was a gentle soul. She would let her daughter help her with
gardening; and every day the garden would grow even more beautiful.
When
the daughter was old enough, her mother let her in on a secret.
“Do
you know what makes my garden so beautiful, sweet daughter?” She
held out her hand to reveal a handful of seeds. They glittered in the
sun.
“These
are Rapunzel seeds. They are not ordinary. They are magic seeds.”
The
wide eyed girl, having no reason to not believe in magic, was so
entranced by the beauty of the seeds.
‘Within
these seeds holds magic and power.
When
you’re patient and kind, creates the most beautiful flower.”
“But
you must be cautious,” her mother warned. “These seeds create
much beauty, but they can also cause destruction. You must appreciate
the beauty in this world, my love. But do not take advantage of it.”
The
girl believed with all her heart the power and magic of these seeds.
-------
As
she grew from a humble young girl into a young woman, she inherited
her family’s household when her parents passed away. Along with her
family home, she inherited her mother’s garden and her father’s
bricks.
She
had no use for these bricks, so she took them one by one deep into
the forest and built a high, high tower, though her brick laying
skills were poor. When she finished she realized she forgot to build
a door.
She
returned to her cottage home beside the palace, and there she spent
many years tending to her garden, and with her rapunzel seeds she
kept it beautiful and every day was reminded of her mother’s
gentleness. She continued to care for her garden, which provided her
with more than enough food for herself. She found peace in her quiet
life, but she started to grow lonely.
In
order to combat this she decided to set up a cart in the palace, and
sell her vegetables and flowers. They were widely loved throughout
the kingdom instantly along with her kindness. Even the king himself
caught word of her vegetables and requested the ripest ones for his
kitchen.
One
day when she was still in her youth, the woman was tending to her
garden and collecting the freshest beans for the king. As she was
collecting, she peered threw the bushes of her garden and saw a young
man building a house next door. He was the most handsome man she had
ever seen throughout the kingdom. She set down her tools and from her
garden she picked one flower, and went to greet him. He was laying
the foundation to his home and did not look up upon her arrival.
“Good
day to you sir,
How
do you do.
Here
is a flower,
From
my garden it grew.
I
brought it over
As
a token for you.”
The
young man looked up, and finding the girl most ordinary, took the
flower out of politeness and returned to his work.
The
woman was distraught at the lack of attention from the young man, but
she returned home and went to sleep. That night she dreamt of her
mother. “Be patient and kind,” she told her. “Or your flowers
won’t bloom.”
When
she woke up, the woman felt calmed by her dream. She returned to her
garden and forgot all about the man. She watered her flowers, she
trimmed her hedges, and she pulled her weeds.
At
lunch time, she set her tools down, and saw once again the man
through the bushes. She once again was taken aback by his
handsomeness.
This
time she picked two flowers and brought them over to greet him. When
she came to him he was laying bricks for the walls of his home.
“Good
day to you sir,
How
do you do.
Here
are two flowers,
From
my garden they grew.
I
brought them over
As
a token for you.”
The
gentleman, feeling rather annoyed by the distraction, once again took
the flowers out of politeness, and then continued to his work.
Distraught,
the woman returned to her cottage and cried. She found no comfort in
the beauty of her garden. She only thought to weep. She did not
realize how truly lonely she felt until she gazed upon his face.
She
cried throughout the night. In the morning, she felt hungry, so she
went out into her garden to pick fresh vegetables to eat.
She
peered through the bushes and saw once more the young man, and he was
laying the final tiles down onto his roof. She told herself that she
would try one more time, but if she was again rejected she would
never again look through her bushes.
However,
as she was about to leave the garden and was taking off her apron,
she looked into her pocket and saw the rapunzel seeds.
Within
these seeds holds magic and power.
When
you’re patient and kind, creates the most beautiful flower.
'If
I eat these seeds,” she said to herself, “I then will become the
most beautiful power and then no one will be able to resist me.”
In
this moment of selfishness, the woman forgot her mother's warning and
swallowed three seeds whole.
She
felt her hair growing longer, her eyes becoming wider. She went
inside to look in the mirror and reflecting back to her a girl far
more beautiful than she ever had seen before.
She
went once more to the man and this time brought three flowers to him.
As she opened her mouth she found that her voice had become more
beautiful and they floated out of her like a song.
“Good
day to you sir,
How
do you do.
Here
are three flowers,
From
my garden they grew.
I
brought them over
As
a token for you.”
This
time, hearing such a beautiful voice, he looked down from his work on
the roof and saw the beautiful woman. He came down and she invited
him over and showed him her garden. They spent the entire evening
together, and that evening when they parted, the woman felt content.
“Perhaps I will not be lonely any longer.” She thought to herself
before going to bed with a smile on her face.
The
next morning, she awoke. She stretched, and saw a hand that did not
look like her own. It was wrinkly and grey. Confused, she ran to the
mirror and saw that her entire face had the same wrinkly skin, and
she no longer was as beautiful as she was the day before. The seeds,
when used in selfish ways, had cursed her.
These
seeds create much beauty, but they can also cause destruction.
Distraught
at her own actions, the woman felt so hideous she did not dare to let
the man, or anyone see her like this. She quickly went out and built
a wall around her garden, higher than her roof top, so that no one
would see her or her beautiful garden again for many years.
---------
The
woman lived in isolation behind her walls for ten years. She had no
contact with the outside world as no one dared to breach her walls.
She continued to tend to her garden, in hopes for retribution for
what she had done. Her garden grew as beautiful as ever.
The
man who had moved in next door was distraught that he never saw this
beautiful woman again, but he eventually wed another and they were
soon expecting a child. In order to make room for a growing family,
the father-to-be expanded their house one story higher.
From
the window of their new nursery, the woman peered out and for the
first time could see over the walls and into their estranged
neighbor's gardens. Her eyes caught site of the greenest, most lush
vegetables that she had ever seen. She saw flowers that glittered in
the sun. She saw the freshness of the greens. Instantly her pregnancy
cravings kicked in and her mouth began to water.
She
called to her husband, and begged him to go next door and collect her
greens and flowers.
He
was successful the first time in taking the greens, making no noise,
and only taking a small amount for his wife.
The
next day the wife's hunger grew stronger. This time she asked her
husband to take all of the greens, and she pointed to the flowers in
the garden as well and asked for a bouquet. Her husband agreed, as he
wanted the best food to nurture his wife and unborn child, and he
went once again over the wall. This time he lingered, collecting one
of each flower in the garden; and began to collect every green there
was.
In
her bed, the woman could not sleep. She thought she heard something
in the garden, and she peered out her window to see the very man that
caused her to act so recklessly only a few years prior.
She
saw him stealing all of her rapunzel plants.
She
had not yet harvested any seeds from the only remaining repunzel
plants that she had, and fearing that he not only would steal all the
beauty from her garden, but he would too become cursed,
she
ran outside before he could leave.
As
she called out to him as he was about to scale back over the wall,
she saw that his face was stuck with fear on site of her wretched
condition. He dropped the plants and fell to his knees.
“Be
merciful to me!” he cried. He then explained that he had a wife
and was expecting child, and this frightened the woman even more.
She
was saddened that he was unable to recognize her. She was angered and
jealous that he had taken a new wife. She was angry at herself for
she could have been the mother to his child. She felt the same
impulsive nature coming back to her that had gotten her to the state
that she currently was in. For a moment she was furious at this man;
but she also had a conflicting desire for his happiness.
Upon
hearing that he was to have a child; she was afraid.
She
knew that the child had already been affected by the magic, and upon
her birth, she feared that it would be cursed.
The
woman thought for a moment. She wanted the rapunzel seeds to keep her
garden flourishing, and she also knew that if she let him have the
plants, he would leave her site for good and she would be left alone
with no garden at all. But she did take pity on the man and came to a
compromise.
“Very
well,
“take
these plants, as they have been grown with patience and kindness.
You're wife will be happy and healthy. But know that there is a price
to pay.
Upon
the birth of your child, you must give her to me.
It
is the only way.
The
agreement was set, and the woman was given a beautiful child with
beautiful golden hair as gifted from the magic of the rapunzel
plants. She promised to teach the child patience and kindness just as
her mother taught her, and she promised to keep her safe, so that her
daughter's beauty would never be taken advantage of.
Rapunzel,
she called her.
Mother
Gothel, is what she would be called.
The
woman was now a mother.
