Beauty and the Beast

By Madame de Villeneuve

Abridged and Translated by David Carter

(published by Hesperus Press)

Translator’s Note: The original work was in two parts. For this abridgment one continuous text has been produced. The last part of the story, after the Beast’s retransformation, and which deals with the background story of Beauty’s real father, has been the most extensively abridged.

In a country very far away from here there was a large town, which counted among its citizens a merchant who was lucky in his enterprises and whom fortune had always showered with its finest favours. His family consisted of six boys and six daughters, none of whom had yet set up a home of their own. The boys were too young to be in much of a hurry, and the girls too proud to make up their minds quickly. But an unexpected reversal in the merchant’s fortunes upset their pleasant life. Their house caught fire destroying all the merchant’s goods except for a very few things. This first disaster was but the first of many. The father lost all of his ships at the same time, either by their being sunk or attacked by corsairs, and his business partners let him down. Thus he fell suddenly into a state of terrible poverty.

            The only thing left for him to do was to live with his family in a remote country place, more than hundred leagues from the town. His daughters contemplated the prospect with horror. For a long time they had believed that they would be able to choose any husband they wanted. But when their father lost all his fortune their attentive crowd of admirers disappeared. So they found themselves isolated in a house in the middle of a forest. And as they could not afford to pay for any servants, the daughters had to do all the domestic chores.

            Only the youngest of the daughters proved herself to be more steadfast and resolute. She also tried to cheer everyone up by playing music and singing, but her sisters were inconsolable, and regarded her efforts as petty.

            This youngest daughter was also extremely beautiful, with a generous heart and she came to be known by the name Beauty. She did everything she could to alleviate her father’s sufferings.

            Two years had passed and the family had started to get used to their rural life, when news came that one of the merchant’s ships that he believed to be lost had returned loaded with goods. On hearing the news his daughters wanted to abandon everything and set off at once, but he persuaded them to stay and take care of the harvest, while he undertook the long journey himself.

            All the daughters, except for the youngest, were now in no doubt that they would at least be able to live a comfortable life again in another town. Living in the country had not deprived them of their taste for luxury and they made their father promise to buy for them jewellery, necklaces and hairpieces. Noticing Beauty’s silence the father asked her if there was something she wanted. She replied that she wanted something more precious than all the things her sisters had asked for, and that was the happiness of seeing him return safely. He insisted however that she ask for something else. Finally she agreed and asked him to bring her back a rose, which she had not been able to enjoy in their isolated situation.

            And so he set off for the city, but his hopes were not to be fulfilled. The ship had arrived but his associates thought he was dead and had disposed of the goods. Finally he had to set off for home again, but at a time when the weather was so bad, that he almost died of fatigue during the journey.

It took him several hours to get through the forest, and as everything was now covered in snow it was difficult to find his way. By chance he found himself at an avenue leading to a fine mansion. It seemed that the snow had left the avenue untouched. There were four lines of very high orange trees, loaded with both flowers and fruit, and many statues in various poses and placed in no particular arrangement, some on the pathway and others among the trees. Arriving in a courtyard he saw many other statues too.

            A staircase made of agate with a rail of chased gold presented itself to his view. He passed through several magnificently furnished rooms. He was feeling hungry but there was no one for him to turn to except the statues. All the rooms were open but there was no living being to be seen. He stopped in one room where a huge fire had been lit. He sat down near the fire and was overcome by tiredness. When he woke up he was agreeably surprised to find a table full of inviting delicacies. After eating he wanted to thank his hosts but the food had made him tired again and he fell asleep again for at least four hours. On waking again he found another table of porphyry with a selection of cakes, dried fruits and liqueur wines.

            Still no person appeared in the mansion and he began to feel afraid. He began to think that, for reasons he could not fathom, some kind of Intelligent Being was making him a gift of this house with all its riches. He started to imagine how he would distribute its treasures among his children. He went into the garden, where, despite the harshness of winter, he could see, as though it were the middle of spring, the rarest of flowers. Birdsong was blended with the sound of fountains in a pleasant harmony.

            On his arrival at the mansion he had noticed a path lined with flowering rose trees. He had never seen such beautiful roses and their scent reminded him of his promise to Beauty. He picked one and was about to make six bouquets, when a terrible noise made him turn his head. He was terrified to see nearby a horrible beast, which touched him on the collar with a kind of trunk similar to that of an elephant, and said to him in a dreadful voice “Who gave you the right to pick my roses? Wasn’t it enough that I treated you with so much kindness in my palace? Your insolence will not go unpunished.” The old man was terrified at the appearance of this monster and begged him to have pity on him. The monster was angered by the way the old man addressed him and said to him “I am the Beast, and you will not escape the death you deserve.” The old man tried to explain that the rose he had picked was for one of his daughters called Beauty. He told him about his problems, his journey and his daughters’ requests.

            The Beast thought for a moment and then continued in a less angry tone: “I would like to pardon you but only on condition that you give me one of your daughters.” The old man asked the Beast how he could possibly make one of his daughters come there, to which the Beast replied that the daughter he brought would have to come voluntarily or not at all. “Choose one of them who is willing to do it to save your life, and then return with her to me in one month’s time. If you can’t choose one then you must promise me, as a man of honour, that you will return alone,. I warn you that if you agree just to get away from here, I will find you and destroy you and your family.” The old man finally agreed to the terms and the Beast told him to stay for one more night and enjoy his hospitality before departing on a horse which he would provide for him. The Beast also told him that he could take one rose for Beauty, and that the same horse which he would ride the next day would come for him and his daughter at the appointed time.

            The next morning after taking breakfast the old man found the horse, and as soon as he had mounted it, it departed at an incredible speed.

The horse took the old man at an unimaginable speed back towards his home. When he considered turning the horse round and going back he found that it would not let him. As he neared his house he resolved not to tell his daughters about the threat to his life. When the daughters saw him arrive on a superb horse and in fine clothes they were at first full of joy, but then they became anxious on seeing the sadness on his face and the tears in his eyes.