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Readability:Flesch–Kincaid Level: 4.6 听读级
Word Count: 62,411
Fairy Tales and Other Traditional Stories
“SLEEPING BEAUTY”
Once upon a time there lived a king and queen who were very unhappy because they had no children. But at last a little daughter was born, and their sorrow was turned to joy. All the bells in the land were rung to tell the glad tidings.
The king gave a christening feast so grand that the like of it had never been known. He invited all the fairies he could find in the kingdom—there were seven of them—to come to the christening as godmothers. He hoped that each would give the princess a good gift.
When the christening was over, the feast came. Before each of the fairies was placed a plate with a spoon, a knife, and a fork—all pure gold. But alas! As the fairies were about to seat themselves at the table, there came into the hall a very old fairy who had not been invited. She had left the kingdom fifty years before and had not been seen or heard of until this day.
The king at once ordered that a plate should be brought for her, but he could not furnish a gold one such as the others had. This made the old fairy angry, and she sat there muttering to herself.
A young fairy who sat near overheard her angry threats. This good godmother, fearing the old fairy might give the child an unlucky gift, hid herself behind a curtain. She did this because she wished to speak last and perhaps be able to change the old fairy’s gift.
At the end of the feast, the youngest fairy stepped forward and said, “The princess shall be the most beautiful woman in the world.”
The second said,
“She shall have a temper as sweet as an angel.”
The third said,
“She shall have a wonderful grace in all she does or says.”
The fourth said,
“She shall sing like a nightingale.”
The fifth said,
“She shall dance like a flower in the wind.”
The sixth said,
