Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there lived a little girl named Rapunzel who lived in a lovely home with two devoted and caring parents. Although Rapunzel’s home was in a beautiful neighborhood, her neighbor was an evil lady who was feared by everyone in the land. The evil lady, who remained eternally nameless, was a shriveled and scrawny old woman who always wore animal print and never smiled. She was never seen in pure daylight, but occasionally could be seen in her home through Rapunzel’s kitchen window, which looked into the evil lady’s living room.
One day, while Rapunzel’s mother was in the kitchen washing dishes, she noticed a flickering light coming from the evil lady’s living room. Squinting her eyes, Rapunzel’s mother realized that it was a diamond necklace—a very beautiful and expensive diamond necklace. For the next few days, Rapunzel’s mother became fixated having on the diamond necklace, becoming paler and more miserable every day she lived without it. Rapunzel’s father became alarmed by his wife’s melancholic complexion and asked, “What is wrong?”
“Ah, if only I could have the evil lady’s diamond necklace! I feel like I am going to die without it! It would pair perfectly with all my outfits!” his wife wailed.
Rapunzel’s father, who loved his wife very much, thought, “I shall do anything to get this necklace and make my wife happy again.”
Thus, that night, Rapunzel’s father clambered over the evil lady’s fence, opened her window, hastily grabbed the diamond necklace, and turned back to see the evil lady facing him.
“How dare you enter my house and steal my necklace? You shall suffer for this! I will call the police and have you imprisoned immediately!” the evil lady thundered.
“No! No! Please, have mercy! My wife saw your diamond necklace from the window and felt such a longing for it that she will die if I fail to bring it to her! Please!” Rapunzel’s father whimpered.
The evil lady allowed her anger to soften and offered, “If what you say is true, I will let you take my diamond necklace to your wife, but only if you give me your child, Rapunzel.” The man, paralyzed with terror, consented to the evil lady’s demand. The next morning, Rapunzel was brought to the evil lady, who shut Rapunzel into a tower that had neither stairs nor a door and was located in the middle of a forest, where no one could find her. As Rapunzel grew older, her hair golden hair grew magnificently long with all the hair extensions she had put in to hoist the evil lady up the tower when she visited on occasion.
One day, the king’s son was riding through the forest when he passed by the tower and heard the sound of sweet music. Rapunzel, who had learned to sing to pass the time in the lonely tower, sung beautiful melodies. The king’s son, finding no entrance into the tower, rode home, but made sure to return to the tower everyday to listen to Rapunzel’s music. After a few weeks, the king’s son returned to find the evil lady climbing up Rapunzel’s hair extensions. So the next day, he tried the same and climbed up the tower. As he clambered through the window, Rapunzel was petrified, as she had never seen a man before, but as the king’s son gently spoke, Rapunzel befriended him. Over the next few days, the king’s son visited Rapunzel everyday while she sang. Captivated by her sweet voice, the prince asked Rapunzel to come back with him to his castle.
The evil lady, who had been spying on Rapunzel, became aware of the prince’s plans, for which she was more than willing to thwart. That night, the evil lady climbed up Rapunzel’s hair extensions, took a pair of scissors, and chopped off all of Rapunzel’s hair amid her cries of panic.
“Serves you right, you wretched girl! Cheating on me like that and having unpermitted visitors! You shall never see you beloved prince again!” the evil lady threatened.
Rapunzel sobbed the remainder of the night while the evil lady slept with a deep smile on her face. The next afternoon, when the prince came for his daily visit, he realized that Rapunzel’s hair was gone. Alarmed, he called upon Rapunzel, who explained everything in vivid detail through the window. The prince, who was often labeled as dull, suddenly had an idea to rescue Rapunzel. He mounted his horse, galloped back to the castle, and returned to the tower with a ladder. He leaned the ladder against the tower, hoisted Rapunzel down (who was mildly upset that the prince failed to think of bringing a ladder earlier), and agreed to marry him.
Suffering from old age and hatred, the evil lady passed away in the days to come while Rapunzel and her prince lived happily ever after.