A long time ago, a couple living next to a high-walled garden owned by a powerful witch, Mother Gothel, longed for a child. When the wife became pregnant, she fell ill with a desperate craving for rampion (a leafy green vegetable) growing in the witch's garden. Her husband climbed the wall to steal some, but on his second trip, Gothel caught him. Terrified, he agreed to give the witch their firstborn in exchange for his life.
The Tower and the Long Hair
When the baby was born, the witch took her and named her Rapunzel. When the girl turned twelve, Gothel locked her in a doorless tower deep in the forest, accessible only through a high window. Rapunzel’s golden hair grew until it was seventy feet long. Whenever the witch visited, she would call:
"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair, that I might climb thy golden stair."
The Prince's Discovery
Years later, a wandering prince heard Rapunzel singing and was enchanted by her voice. After watching the witch enter, he used the same call to climb the tower. Though startled at first, Rapunzel grew to love the prince, and they secretly planned her escape. He brought her silk threads each evening, which she began weaving into a ladder.
Betrayal and Banishment
Rapunzel accidentally revealed her secret to Gothel, either by mentioning the prince was lighter to pull up or asking why her clothes were becoming tight (indicating she was pregnant with twins). In a rage, the witch chopped off Rapunzel’s hair and banished her to a barren wasteland.
When the prince returned, Gothel lowered the severed hair to lure him up. Seeing the witch instead of his love, he fell from the tower in despair, landing in thorns that blinded him.
The Reunion
The prince wandered the wilderness for years until he heard a familiar, beautiful voice singing. He followed it to find Rapunzel living with their twin children. When they embraced, Rapunzel’s tears of joy fell into the prince’s eyes, miraculously restoring his sight. He led her back to his kingdom, where they lived happily ever after.
Modern Adaptations
- Disney's Tangled (2010): Reimagines Rapunzel as a spirited princess with magical healing hair, stolen to keep Mother Gothel young. She escapes with a thief named Flynn Rider and eventually returns to her royal family.
- Petrosinella: An earlier Italian version where the heroine is named after parsley and uses "magic arts" to defeat an ogress.
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