Sleeping Beauty

Lubin summary: The Baptism of the Princess. There once lived a powerful king in Germany who was very much loved by his subjects, and who, to complete his happiness, longed to have a child. His wish was finally satisfied, for a princess was born to him. That day the king gave a great feast to which all the great dignitaries of his kingdom were invited, as well as the fairies. But unfortunately the king forgot one, which was the most wicked of them all. She appeared, however, uninvited, and approaching the cradle, she predicted that when she was fifteen years of age, the young girl would prick her finger at the spinning-wheel and would fall in a trance for a hundred years. Fifteen years after--The fatal Spinning-Wheel. In order to prevent the accomplishment of the bad prophecy made by the fairy, the king sent out a proclamation forbidding the use of the spinning-wheel throughout his kingdom. But the proclamation was not to reach an old peasant who inhabited an isolated farmhouse. So it happened that the princess was walking one day to the farmhouse to get a glass of milk. Seeing the wheel, she could not resist the wish to make it work. She had no sooner touched it then the point of the spindle went into her finger. Soon after this the king, queen, the princess and the princesses stretch themselves, gape, and fall gently to the ground in a sleep. The Prince is smitten with the Princess. The lords and princesses are awaiting the arrival of the prince. The prince comes out of his apartments accompanied by his jester, and looking annoyed. Suddenly at the end of the room the young enchanted princess can be seen asleep. The prince is delighted and runs towards her, but the vision has disappeared. The prince is simply delighted and calls together the Court to tell them of his voyage to find the sleeping princess. The Three Cross-roads. The prince and Bettinet have gone. The bad fairy, as is natural, is going to exercise her wicked genius to lay all the snares it is possible in their way to prevent them from reaching the end of their journey. She tries to frighten them by ... [text missing] ... ground, which the prince fights and utterly annihilates. The prince then uses his talisman, and calls the good fairy. The Haunted Inn. The two travelers, tired out with walking, reach the inn and ask for something to eat whilst they are preparing two rooms for them. The inn-keeper and his waiters, who are none other than the emissaries of the bad fairy, cause them to undergo all sorts of misadventures. Fairy Palace. Our two heroes are descending the grand staircase of a splendid marble palace with a magnificent hall surrounded with galleries and terraces. The fairies then come in, while the prince and Bettinet watch a lascivious dance by a pleiad of young fairies. The Mysterious Oak. The prince and Bettinet find themselves lost again in the forest. The prince sits down at the trunk of a tree, tired out, and Bettinet lies down at the foot of an old oak tree, when both of them soon fall asleep ... [text missing] ... benefactor. She causes a flowery sword to appear, which she hands to the prince, telling him, that with this weapon, he will vanquish the greatest enemies. The Fairy Grotto. Guided by his new talisman, the prince reaches the grotto which protects the entrance to the castle. Proceeding, they find themselves in the presence of two enormous winged dragons, which spit fire. The prince attacks them courageously with his enchanted sword, and immediately they vanish in smoke. The cave opens and they go in. The Princess Awakes. We find the castle and those who inhabit it asleep, just as we left them at the third scene. They have all kept the same positions and have been asleep for one hundred years. Our two heroes arrive. The prince goes to kneel beside the young princess, who raises herself, and all the Court get up at the same time, as if they had only waited for this signal to awake out of their sleep. The queen of the fairies comes in and blesses the union of the young lovers, whom she has never ceased to protect.