PERSINETTE,
THE MAIDEN IN THE TOWER
The Classic French ‘Rapunzel’ Fairytale
Story by Mademoiselle de la Force
Translated and adapted by Rachel Louise Lawrence
BlackdownPublications
This new translation of Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de la Force’s “Persinette”
from ‘Les Contes des Contes’ (1698) first published in 2014 by Blackdown
Publications
BlackdownPublications
Address 83 Blackdown View, Ilminster, Somerset TA19 0BD
Email [email protected]
Copyright © Rachel Louise Lawrence 2014
Illustration on front cover by Johnny Guelle (1914)
The rights of Rachel Louise Lawrence to be identified as the author of this work
has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or
introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form, or by any means
(electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior
permission of the author. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation
to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for
damages.
Folklore Type: ATU-310 (The Maiden in the Tower)
Other Titles Available
East of the Sun and West of the Moon – A Norwegian Folktale
Irish Cinder Lad Tales – ‘Billy Beg and his Bull’ and ‘The Bracket
Bull’
Madame de Villeneuve’s The Story of the Beauty and the Beast –
The Original Classic French Fairytale (Unabridged)
Snow White – A Brothers Grimm Fairytale
Talia, The Sleeping Beauty – A European Fairytale
The Story of Tom Tit Tot – The Classic English ‘Rumpelstiltskin’
Folktale
Zezolla, The Cat Cinderella – An Italian Fairytale
CONTENTS
Chapter I – The Enchanted Garden
Chapter II – The Silver Tower
Chapter III – In The Wilderness
Chapter IV – A Family Reunited
Author’s Note
CHAPTER I – THE ENCHANTED GARDEN
There was once upon a time two young lovers who, after a
lengthy courtship, married. Nothing was equal to their love for
each other and they lived a happy life, one that was only further
blessed when the young wife found herself with child.
The news brought great joy to the little household, but as
the couple prepared for the birth of their child the young wife
developed such a powerful longing for parsley that she was on
the point of fainting.
At that time, parsley was very rare in those parts; however,
in their neighbourhood, there lived a fairy, and she had a
beautiful garden abundant with all kinds of fruits and vegetables,
flowers and herbs, including a bed of parsley. The young wife
could see this bed of lush greens from their house, through a
small window that overlooked the splendid but enchanted
garden.
From one day to the next, her appetite for the aromatic
plant grew and, because no one dared enter the garden of the
fairy - who was so feared - she knew well how difficult it was to
satisfy such a craving and so she fell into such a grief that she
became unrecognisable, even to the eyes of her husband.
Tormented to know the cause of the remarkable change in
his wife, the doting husband asked, “What is troubling you,
dearest one?”
She resisted, but he pressed her until she confessed her
desire for the bitter herb. “If I do not get some parsley, dear
husband, I am afraid that I may die,” she said.
The husband sighed, greatly perturbed about how to satisfy
so difficult a desire.
“There is some in the garden behind our house,” she told
him. “See how fresh and green it looks!”
Though reluctant to enter the fairy’s walled garden, the
husband lived his wife dearly and could not bear to see her so
pale and wretched, and, as nothing seems truly difficult when in
love, he spent day and night circling the walls of the garden,
attempting to scale it, but they were of a height that made such a
feat impossible.
Finally, one evening, he saw that the gate to the garden
stood open. Seizing the opportunity, he crept forward softly and
hastily took a handful of parsley. So happy to have succeeded, he
exited as he had entered and returned with all speed to his wife,
who ravenously ate his stolen offering of parsley.
Nevertheless, two days later, the young wife found herself
pressed more than ever by the desire to eat parsley again, and
the only way the poor husband could settle his wife down was to
go back inside the garden for more.
The husband returned several times and was unsuccessful
in his endeavour, but eventually his persistence was rewarded
when he once again found the gate to the garden open. He
sneaked inside and was surprised when he came face to face with
the fairy, who scolded him strongly for his boldness in coming to
a place where entrance was allowed to no one whatsoever.
Contrite, the poor husband knelt before the fairy and said,
“Please, forgive me. My wife is dying and will do so if she does
not eat a little parsley. She is in the family way. Surely, ma’am,
such a desire is pardonable?”
The fairy relented in her anger at his trespass and theft, and
said to the husband, “Well, if what you say is true, then I will give
you as much parsley as you so desire, but only if you give me the
child your wife will give birth to.”
Frightened for himself and his wife, the husband agreed to
the fairy’s demand, after a short deliberation, and took all the
parsley he desired from the herb beds.
When the time of childbirth arrived, the fairy appeared at
the wife’s side as she gave birth to a daughter, to whom the fairy
gave the name of Persinette. The fairy received the baby in
swaddling cloth of gold and she watered her face with previous
water, which she had in a crystal vase and which rendered
Persinette the most beautiful creature in the world (at that time).
After the ceremony, the fairy took young Persinette, carried
her home and raised her with all imaginable care.