Sleeping Beauty

Although I could not remember the source, someone wrote that daughters believed in every word from their fathers before they reached ten years old. It does not seem to apply to my girl. One of her favorite questions is “Daddy, are you lying?”

I regard myself an honest person. It must be because I made up too many bedtime stories.

Angelina is lately thrilled with ballet. Apart from practicing, she also watches DVDs about ballet.

Last week, we watched Sleeping Beauty together. This is the longest ballet by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. It contains a prologue and three acts. My wife left before the fairies came to the party. In contrast, knowing the story very well from books and the Disney movie, Angelina and I continued to watch happily.

Later, it came to the scene where the Lilac Fairy persuaded the Prince to save Princess Aurora, who was put to sleep by a magical curse one hundred years ago. Only the true love’s kiss could wake her.

After around twenty minutes, the Lilac Fairy was still dancing around the Prince. “Why doesn’t he go inside the castle?” Angelina finally asked.

Like most fathers, I provide an answer for her every question.

“He is worried. Aurora fell into sleep on her sixteenth birthday. Now one hundred years have passed. The Prince does not want to marry a woman one hundred and sixteen years old.”

“Daddy, are you lying?”