Once upon a time there was a young girl. Her father was a thief, and abused both her mother and herself. One day the father stole some of the rare and valuable rapunzel plant from the next door neighbor.
The neighbor was known as a witch because she was plain, lived alone, and never married or had children. The witch (Dame Gothel) saw him steal her plant and followed him to his home. When she found out that he abused his wife and child, she quickly took the child away so that she wouldn't get hurt. Dame Gothel warned the girl's father that if she ever found out that he stole something again, she would turn him over to the sheriff. After being threatened by Dame Gothel, the girl's parents moved away that night and were never seen again.
Dame Gothel took the little girl home and renamed her Rapunzel after her favorite and precious plant. Rapunzel became the daughter Dame Gothel never had.
As the years wore on, Dame Gothel taught Rapunzel everything that she needed to know to become a fine lady. She wanted her to have a wonderful life, one with a good husband and children. One day Dame Gothel found out that Rapunzel had killed a suitor. After making sure that nobody else knew what Rapunzel had done, she confronted her daughter.
"Rapunzel, why did you kill that man?" asked Dame Gothel
"All men are cruel," replied Rapunzel angrily. They hurt women and children and they all should die! I am never going to get married, and any man who tries to woo me, I will kill!
Dame Gothel tried to convince Rapunzel that not all men were like her father. However, Rapunzel didn't believe one word of what Dame Gothel had stated.
Finally, Dame Gothel was forced to lock Rapunzel in a tower with door nor stairway, and only one room at the top, to make sure that she couldn't hurt anyone else. Dame Gothel made Rapunzel grow her hair very long so she could use it to climb up to the top of the tower.
"Why can't you just use a rope to get up and down?" asked Rapunzel
"Rapunzel, I know you. You'll try to escape if I used a rope" explained Dame Gothel. Rapunzel just glared and walked away.
Unfortunately locking Rapunzel away didn't work. She found a way of luring men to her tower with her beautiful voice. All she had to do was sing and men would be drawn by her voice. She would then let down her hair so the men could climb up. All of the men immediately fell in love with the beautiful girl, and she would murder them.
What Rapunzel didn't know was Dame Gothel had purchased a spell to alert her when something bad happened at Rapunzel's tower. Every day Dame Gothel went to check on Rapunzel and bring her food. Though she knew that Rapunzel was up to something, she could never catch her in the act.
One day Rapunzel lured a powerful king to her tower and instantly fell in love.
"Hello, My Lady," says the King.
"Hello?" Rapunzel replies nervously
"Why is such a beautiful women like yourself locked in a tower?" asks the King
"My stepmother is a witch; she built this tower with magic. Then she locked me up here because she was jealous of my beauty," lies Rapunzel.
"You can come with me to my kingdom," says the King. "I'll make you my Queen, and we'll have beautiful children together."
So the King and Rapunzel make a plan to escape. The King came up with a plan to cut Rapunzel's hair off and tie it to the bedpost, so they escape together. After the king cut Rapunzel's hair off, he hands Rapunzel his dagger to hold. She hides the king's dagger the pocket of her dress, while the king is tying her hair to the bedpost.
As Rapunzel gathers her things, she asks, "Do you have any children"
"I have a son a little younger then you." he replies. "My wife died when he was 4."
"How did she die?"
"Well," the King said hesitantly, "She had a hard time when my son was born. The Dr.'s told her she could die if she had another child. I was afraid that something would happen to our son, so I forced her to have another child."
When Rapunzel heard that she was so ticked she didn't hear him when he said, "I'm so sorry I made her have another child. I would never do that to a woman again. I have one son, and that is enough for me"
"Calm down Rapunzel," she thought to herself.
In her mind Rapunzel made a plan to kill the King once they escaped the tower. Little did she know that, at that moment, Dame Gothel was on her way to the tower to check up on Rapunzel.
After they escape, and when the Kings back is turned, Rapunzel draws the dagger from her pocket. Just then Dame Gothel comes up to the tower and shouts "No!" She rushes to Rapunzel and tries to take the dagger away from her. The King is so shocked he does nothing but look on in horror.
"Get away from me you witch!" Shouts Rapunzel. "I'm going to kill him. I loved him, I thought he was different, but he killed his first wife, and he's just like other men."
"Sweetheart" said Dame Gothel, "I am your mother, and I love you. You cannot go around killing men. Just stop and listen to him, I'm sure you heard him wrong."
Rapunzel wouldn't listen, she just kept fighting Dame Gothel for the knife. As they fell to the ground, the knife stabbed Rapunzel in the heart, and killed her. With her death, the King was released from the spell of her voice. He looked in horror at what had happened to him.
As Dame Gothel holds Rapunzel's dead body, sobbing out her grief, the King comes up to her and says, "Madam, I am so sorry this happened. I heard her voice and immediately fell in love with her. I told her how my first wife died, and how guilty I felt about it, but she must not have heard me right. Is there anything I can do to help you?"
"Please help me take her body to my house so she can be buried, and tell no one what has happened here," says Dame Gothel with a sob.
The King does as she asks, and stays on longer to help Dame Gothel get over her grief. As the days pass, Dame Gothel and the King fall in love. The King takes Dame Gothel to his kingdom where they wed, and they all live happily ever after.
