Once upon a time, there was a girl named Beauty. She lived with her father and her sisters in a small village. Beauty was a beautiful girl. She was also hard-working. She always helped her father on the farm.

beauty and the beast

One day, her father set out for the city. He saw an old castle and went in. No-one was in but there was food on the table. Then he walked around the castle. He picked a rose from garden for Beauty. Suddenly an angry Beast appeared. He wanted to kill Beauty’s father unless Beauty was brought to him.

Beauty’s father told her daughters what had happened. Beauty’s sisters ordered her to see the Beast. Beauty went to see the Beast and had to stay at the castle. She felt scared, lonely and sad. She tried to run away but was stopped by the Beast. The Beast treated Beauty well. Soon, Beauty began to like the Beast.

One day, through the Beast’s magic mirror, Beauty saw that her father was sick. The Beast allowed her to go home. Her father was happy to see her.

One night, Beauty had a dream. A fairly told her that the Beast was sick.
Beauty hurried back and saw the Beast dying. She began to cry. Tears fell onto the Beast. Suddenly, the Beast changed into handsome prince.

Beauty and the Beast got married and lived happily ever after.


A brief about Beauty and the Beast:

The story of Beauty and the Beast has been around for centuries in both written and oral form, and more recently in film and video. Many experts trace similarities back to the stories of Cupid and Psyche, Oedipus and Apuleius’ The Golden Ass of the second century A.D.
The tale of Beauty and the Beast was first collected in Gianfranceso Straparola’s Le piacevolo notti (The Nights of Straparola) 1550-53. The earliest French version is an ancient Basque tale where the father was a king and the beast a serpent. Charles Perrault popularized the fairy tale with his collection Contes de ma mere l’oye (Tales of Mother Goose) in 1697. The 17th century Pentamerone is also said to include similar tales.
The first truly similar tale to the one we know today was published in 1740 by Madame Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Gallon de Villeneuve as part of a collection of stories La jeune amériquaine, et les contes marins (told by an old woman during a long sea voyage). Mme. de Villeneuve wrote fairy tale romances drawn from earlier literature and folk tales for the entertainment of her salon friends.

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