tailieunhanh - The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty

In the traditional folktale of "Sleeping Beauty," the spell cast upon the lovely young princess and everyone in her castle can only be broken by the kiss of a Prince. It is an ancient story, one that originally emerged from and still deeply disturbs the mind's unconscious. Now Anne Rice, writing as . Roquelaure, retells the Beauty story and probes the unspoken implications of this lush, suggestive tale by exploring its undeniable connection to sexual desire. Here the Prince awakens Beauty, not with a kiss, but with sexual initiation | The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty Anne Rice Writing as A. N. Roquelaure The First of the Classic Erotic Trilogy of Sleeping Beauty an erotic novel of tenderness and cruelty for men and women CONTENTS THE CLAIMING OF SLEEPING BEAUTY THE JOURNEY AND THE PUNISHMENT AT THE INN BEAUTY THE CASTLE AND THE GREAT HALL THE PRINCE S BED CHAMBER PRINCE ALEXI PRINCE ALEXI AND FELIX THE SLAVE S HALL THE TRAINING HALL THE HALL OF PUNISHMENTS DUTIES IN THE PRINCE S CHAMBER SERVING MAID THE BRIDLE PATH THE QUEEN S CHAMBER LADY JULIANA IN THE QUEEN S CHAMBER WITH PRINCE ALEXI PRINCE ALEXI TELLS OF HIS CAPTURE AND ENSLAVEMENT PRINCE ALEXI S EDUCATION CONTINUES THE VILLAGE THE CLAIMING OF SLEEPING BEAUTY THE PRINCE had all his young life known the story of Sleeping Beauty cursed to sleep for a hundred years with her parents the King and Queen and all of the Court after pricking her finger on a spindle. But he did not believe it until he was inside the castle. Even the bodies of those other Princes caught in the thorns of the rose vines that covered the walls had not made him believe it. They had come believing it true enough but he must see for himself inside the castle. Careless with grief for the death of his father and too powerful under his mother s rule for his own good he cut these awesome vines at their roots and immediately prevented them from ensnaring him. It was not his desire to die so much as to conquer. And picking his way through the bones of those who had failed to solve the mystery he stepped alone into the great banquet hall. The sun was high in the sky and those vines had fallen away so the light fell in dusty shafts from the lofty windows. And all along the banquet table the Prince saw the men and women of the old Court sleeping under layers of dust their ruddy and slack faces spun over with spider webs. He gasped to see the servants dozing against the walls their clothing rotted to tatters. But it was true this old tale. And fearless as before he went in search of .