Beauty and the Beast

This is the classic fairy tale of Beauty and the Beast Story. Beauty and the Beast original story
was written by Charles Perrault.
Once upon a time there was a very rich man who lived with his three
daughters. The two older daughters laughed at anyone who did not dress as well
as they did. If the two of them were not resting at home, they were out shopping
for as many fine dresses and hats as they could carry home.
The youngest daughter, Beauty, loved to read. “Your nose is always in a book,"
her two older sisters said. They laughed. "No one will want you! Look at your
hair. You look like a servant girl!” Beauty did not know why they were so
mean. But she said nothing.
One day, the father got some bad news. He had spent all of his money on a ship
that he sent out to sea for trade. Now he learned the ship was gone! Everything
on it was lost. All at once, the rich father became as poor as poor could be.
The family could no longer stay in their big house. The fine house, its fine tables
and chairs, and all of their fine things, had to be sold.
One day, the father got some very bad news.
All the father had left was a little hut, deep in the woods. So that is where he and
his three daughters had to move.
Living in the hut in the woods was hard work. Each day a fire had to be started,
meals cooked, the place cleaned up, the garden tended, and things needed fixing
when they broke. Now that the family was poor, you might think the two older
sisters would help out. Think again.
“She looks like such a mess,” they said, turning up their noses at Beauty. “She
might as well serve us.” And so Beauty did all the hard work. The sisters slept
late, took naps, and showed up for meals.
“She looks such a mess,” they said, turning up their noses.
Then – good news! – the father’s ship came to shore!

“My daughters!” said the happy father. “I am going to town. Tell me what fine
gift I can bring back for you.”
“Bring me the best dress from the best shop in town,” said the oldest sister.
“I want one just like it,” said the middle sister.
“And you, Beauty?” he said.
“All I want, Father,” she said, “is a rose.”
“Can you believe her?” said the eldest sister.
“What a fool!” said the middle sister. And they both laughed.
“Girls!” said the father. “If that is what Beauty wants, that is what I will bring for
her.”
“All I want, Father,” said she, “is a rose."

The father was on his way home when he thought, “Oh my! I forgot all about the
rose for Beauty!” All at once, the sky turned black. “Dear, me! A storm is
coming!”

A moment later, heavy dark rains fell down hard from the sky. Soaking wet, the
father saw a blink of light far away. He went closer to the light. Maybe it was a
place he could stay for the night. When he got up close, he saw that it was a large
palace with candles in all its windows. Very odd, but the front door was open.
So, the father stepped inside.
“Hello?” he said. No answer.
There, before him, was a great feast on a long table.
“Hello?” he said again. Still no answer. He dared not touch any food on the
table. The father sat down in front of the fire to warm himself. He waited. But
no one came.
“I suppose it would be all right if I stayed the night,” said the father. "And maybe
just one bite." He took a quick bite from the feast. Then he found a bedroom and
fell fast asleep.
“Hello?” he said. No answer.
The next morning the table was laid again, but this time with breakfast. Again -
most odd! - no one was there. “I suppose I should leave now,” said the father.

On the way out, he passed a rose garden. “Ah, I was to bring Beauty a rose!" he
remembered. "I will take just one.” And he picked a rose for Beauty.
Just then, a loud stomp came up from behind.
Roared a voice - “You took my rose!”
The father spun around. There before him was an awful, huge monster. “I… I’m
sorry!” he said. “I didn’t know.”
"How could you not know?" roared the Beast. “You will pay for this! You will
die!”
The father fell on his knees. “Please!” he begged. “Do not kill me! I only picked
the rose for one of my daughters.”
“You will pay for this!” the Beast yelled. “You will die!”
"You have daughters?” said the Beast. “Well. If one of them will come stay here
in your place, I will let you go free. She must stay here forever. In three months,
if none of them will come in your place, you must return yourself and take your
punishment.”
When the father got home, Beauty could tell something was wrong. “What is it,
Father?” she said.
“Oh, nothing,” he said. But she knew that was not true.
At last, the father told his girls what the Beast had said. “This all happened
because I asked you to bring home a rose for me!” said Beauty. “I will go there in
your place. Or else, you will die there.”
“No, I cannot allow that!” said the father. “I am old. I do not have much more
time to live. You are young. You must not do this for me!”
But Beauty would not change her mind. And so two days later, the father took
Beauty to the castle where the Beast lived.
“I will go there in your place. Or else, you will die there."

“This is your daughter?” said the Beast, looking at Beauty.

“Yes, I am,” she said. “I will stay here for my father. And that means he is free to
go. That is what you said.”
“Yes,” said the Beast.
At the Beast's palace, the days were long. There was no one for Beauty to talk to,
and no books to read. Every night at nine, the Beast would come for dinner. She
would say nothing. After all, it is not easy to be a prisoner, even if you are at a
palace. The Beast would only grunt.
Then one time at dinner the Beast made a little joke, and she smiled. Another
time, he said something clever, and she looked him in the eye. After that, he
would ask her about her day, and she would tell him.

The days were long and there was no one for Beauty to talk to.

One day, Beauty came to a part of the palace she had not seen before. Over a
door was a sign, “Beauty’s Room.” The door was open. Inside the room were
shelves of books from the floor to the ceiling. There was a piano, and a cabinet of
fine dresses just her size.
Now there was much to talk about at dinner! The Beast was glad that Beauty
found the room and liked her surprise. One night, at the end of dinner, Beast
said, “Beauty, I love you. Will you marry me?”

Beauty did not know what to say. “Beast, I have come to like it better here," she
said. "Talking to you can be the best part of the day. But please understand. I
don't want you to marry you.”
Many times, the Beast asked her the same question. And each time Beauty shook
her head and said the same thing. One night, the Beast said, “Beauty, if you will
not marry me, what can I do to make you happy?”
“If you must know,” she said, “it would be to see my father. I miss him so much!”

"Beast, I have come to like it better here," she said. "Talking to you can be the best
part of the day. But please understand. I don't want to marry you."

The next night, the Beast gave Beauty two magical gifts - a mirror and a ring. “If
you want to see your father,” he said, “just ask the magic mirror to take you to
him. When you are ready to come back, turn the ring on your finger three
times. Ask the mirror to bring you back here. But please do not be gone for more
than one week. For I will die of grief!”

Beauty was glad to agree. When she got back to her room, she looked in the
magic mirror. She asked the mirror to take her to him. And there he was in bed
right before her. Yet he looked so sick, it was as if he may die!

“But do not be gone for more than one week. Or I will die of grief!”

Such joy her father felt when he looked up and saw Beauty! For much of what
made him sick was knowing that Beauty was stuck in the palace, all because of
him.
Beauty stayed by her father’s bed for many hours. She told him that things were
not quite so bad at the Beast's palace. She had all the books she could want to
read. She had music to play, and many fine dresses to wear.
“The Beast is really not so bad,” she said, “when you get to know him. He can be
good to talk to.”
Beauty looked around. “Where are my sisters?”
“Married,” said her father.
“Did they marry good men?” she said.
“They had money,” said the father. “But I do not know if your sisters are
happy.” For the eldest sister had married a handsome man who thought of no
one but himself. And the middle sister had married a man who was very
clever. But he used his sharp wit to hurt everyone around him, and most of all his
wife.
Beauty looked around. “Where are my sisters?” she said.

When the sisters came to the house and saw Beauty dressed so well and talking
about how kind and good the Beast was to her, they burned with anger. Beauty
told them she must stay no more than one week.
And the two sisters came up with a plan.
The sisters petted Beauty and said such nice things to her they had never said
before. When she told them she must go soon, they cried. They said she must
not leave! There was still so much left they wanted to do with her. And what did
it matter anyway, just a few more days? So Beauty stayed.
One night she had a dream about the Beast. In her dream, the Beast lay sick and
dying. When Beauty woke up, she asked the magic mirror to show her the
Beast. And there he was in the mirror, lying in the rose garden, looking so sick he
would die. At once, she turned the magic ring three times. “Take me back to the
Beast!” she said. In a moment she was sitting next to the poor, sick Beast, who
could only gasp for air.
In her dream, the Beast lay sick and dying.
"You came back!” said the Beast in a thick voice.

“I am sorry that I am late!” said Beauty.

“I could not bear it that you may not come back to me. And now, I fear it is too
late.” His eyes closed.
“No!” cried Beauty. “Do not leave me!” Just then, she knew in her heart what
was true. “I love you!” she cried out. “Please come back! Come back and I will
be your wife. I will!” Tears rolled down her cheeks.
Just then, the Beast opened his eyes. “Beauty!” he said. “You did it!”
In a flash, the Beast was changed to a handsome prince! Beauty did not know
what to think.
“Ah, Beauty!” he said. And the Beast told her his story. Years ago when he was a
prince, an evil fairy had put a spell on him. He must stay a beast forever, until a
maiden grew to love him when he still looked like a Beast. Now she had been the
one to break the spell!
And so Beauty and her prince, formerly the Beast, were married. And they lived
happily ever after.
A Night to Remember
By: Douglas R. Johnson
© 2006 by Douglas R. Johnson.

Tonight is Sunday evening, the first day of daylight savings time. My wife is in bed
sleeping now, but what I am relating was what I felt earlier this evening. We were
watching Jewel of the Nile together, me on the floor and Peg on the couch. She never
made it to the end but I was wide awake.

Next was Criminal Intent on one station and A Night to Remember on another. I kept
going back and forth while Peg continued to cut z's.

But I really could not watch them sink again. It is just too emotional for me. I have
already come up with two or three ways to have saved the souls that were lost.

They could have steamed back to the iceberg rather than just stopping. That way they
could ferry survivors to the berg as it was big enough to support many.

They could have steamed towards the Californian which was just some ten miles away
but could not tell they were in trouble.

They could have flashed the total lights on the ship from the main switch in to code to
contact the Californian as they could see the signal lantern nor understand the flares.

But what could have happened did not happen and so many perished. I guess that
started me thinking in a misty way. I have seen the program a number of times so I
know what happens and when.

But then when I was back at Criminal Intent, even though it was just a made-up story,
something stirred me. There was a couple of children at risk from a deranged parent and
the cops had to speed across northern New Jersey to rescue them.

But now I have to back up some or you won't understand what I felt.

Here I am in my 60's living in the woods of Central Virginia for the past seven or so
years. But I grew up in northern New Jersey, Kearny to be exact. When they said a motel
in Newark, that was just a half hour or so from Kearny.

When I was a teenager, before I drove, I lived on Kearny Avenue, 504 to be exact. I
remember an incident where an ambulance from North Arlington ran into a milk truck on
the corner of Kearny and Oakwood Avenues. This happened because the ambulance was
running with just the emergency lights going slowly through a red light. The milk truck
had the green so it just pulled across. Obviously neither saw each other and thus a minor
fender bender. Not really a big deal because each was proceeding cautiously.

I remember another experience when I was in grade school. A UPS truck overturned on
a corner and the driver was pinned inside. I ran to the next corner and pulled the fire
alarm. I was really nervous about it because in my mind I was not sure about it because
it was actually not a fire. Kids think that way sometimes. When the trucks came, I
directed them to the fire. I realized then that what I did was appropriate.

I guess that is enough set up. Let me get to this "Night to Remember". I was living with
my mom and dad at the time at 216 Laurel Avenue, Kearny. It was warm so it must have
been summer. I had a new 1965 black Mustang convertible with a white top and black
interior. It had a 260 engine with a 3 on the floor manual transmission. But I cannot
figure out if it was 1964 or 1965.

We lived on the second floor, My sister and brother were both living on their own. Dad, I
believe was asleep. I was asleep in my room. Mom was up late. She normally read her
Bible late at night and prayed then when no one was around. It must have been about
2:00 AM, most likely some time between 1:00 AM and 3:00 AM.

What I remember is that my mother came in my room and woke me saying she heard
glass breaking outside. I was a little groggy trying to grasp what she was saying. Then I
heard it too. It was like a window breaking and the glass falling to the ground. It was
real obvious that something was very wrong.

I quickly dressed; jeans, tee shirt, and tennis sneakers with no socks. I hurried down
stairs. There was already a cop car down the street and lots of smoke in the air. The fire
trucks were still coming.

The cops were all by the fire, along with the firemen and fire trucks. Traffic was getting
confused at the corner of Chestnut and Laurel, so I jumped in and directed traffic. There
were no police available for that duty at the time. I could see fire trucks coming down
Laurel so I held up traffic on Chestnut from pulling out. My house was between Chestnut
and Devon Streets. The fire was just about five houses down just on the other side of
Devon on the same side as my house.

From what I understood, there were kids in the house and they got trapped behind the
door somehow. The fireman got them out and the ambulance raced up the street. First
one, then another.

Each one had their sirens on full force as they went about as fast as they could. You
could only see them as they raced up Laurel Avenue past Devon, past Chestnut, past
Argyle right to Kearny Avenue. They then turned left and sped over the railroad tracks
bridge, past Midland Avenue, past Oakwood Avenue, all the way to Bergen Avenue. Then
left on Bergen and just a couple of blocks to the hospital.

What I remember most vividly is the sound of those sirens all the way. They were
screaming as they passed me. But they kept screaming all the way. They don't really get
softer but just obviously distant. These were more of an old type siren rather than the
computerized sounds of today. You could tell if they were being turned off or down.
These were screaming all the way.

I am proud of the way the Kearny police, firemen, and ambulance staff performed. (They
were not called EMT's back then.) They did every thing that could have been done.
I wish my remembrance had a happy ending but it did not go well all the way around.
We can just ask for God's mercy.