The man in his terror consented to everything, and when the woman at last had a little daughter, the Witch appeared at once, gave the child the name of Rapunzel, and took it away with her. It shall be well treated, and I will care for it like a mother." Then the Witch let her anger be softened, and said to him, "if the case be as you say, I will allow you to take away with you as much rampion as you will, only I make one condition, you must give me the child which your wife will bring into the world. My wife saw your rampion from the window, and felt such a longing for it that she would have died, if she had not got some to eat." "Ah," answered he, "let mercy take the place of justice! I had to do it out of necessity. "How dare you," said she with angry look, "descend into my garden and steal my rampion like a thief? You shall suffer for it!" But when he had clambered down the wall he was terribly afraid, for he saw the Witch standing before him. In the gloom of evening, therefore, he let himself down again. If he was to have any rest, her husband must once more descend into the garden. She, however, liked it so much so very much that the next day she longed for it three times as much as before. She at once made herself a salad of it, and ate it with much relish. In the twilight of evening, he clambered over the wall into the garden of the Witch, hastily clutched a handful of rampion, and took it to his wife. The man, who loved her, thought, "Sooner than let your wife die, bring her some of the rampion yourself, let it cost you what it will!" "Ala," she replied, "if I can't get some of the rampion to eat, which is in the garden behind our house, I shall die." Then her husband was alarmed, and asked, "What ails you, dear Wife?" This desire increased every day, and as she knew that she could not get any of it, she quite pined away, and looked pale and miserable.
One day, the woman was standing by this window and looking down into the garden, when she saw a bed which was planted with the most beautiful rampion (rapunzel), and it looked so fresh and green that she longed for it, and had the greatest desire to eat some. It was, however, surrounded by a high wall, and no one dared to go into it because it belonged to a Witch, who had great power and was dreaded by all the world. It was full of the most beautiful flowers and herbs. These people had a little window at the back of their house from which a splendid garden could be seen. At length, the woman hoped that God was about to grant her desire. There was once a man and a woman, who had long in vain wished for a child.
From Grimm's Fairy Tales by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, edited by Frances Olcott, 1922.
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