Once upon a time, as a merchant set off for market, he asked each of his three daughters what they would like as a present on his return. The first daughter wanted a brocade dress, the second a pearly necklace, but the third, whose name was Lotus, the youngest, prettiest and sweetest of them all, said to her father, “All I’d like is a rose that you’ve picked especially for me!”

When the merchant had finished his business, he set for home. However, a sudden storm blew up and his horse could hardly make headway in the blowing gale. His fingers went numb and his ears began to ring. Cold and weary, the merchant had lost all hope in finding an inn, when he suddenly notices a bright light glowing in the middle of the woods. As he drew near, he saw it was a castle bathed in light.

“I hope I’ll find shelter here for the night,” he said to himself. When he reached the door, he saw that it was opened, but though he shouted, nobody came to greet him. Plucking up courage, he went inside still calling to attract attention. On a table in the main hall, a splendid dinner lay, already served. The merchant lingered, still shouting for the owner of the castle. But no one came, so the starving merchant sat down to a hearty meal.

Overcome by curiosity, he ventured upstairs where the corridor led into magnificent rooms and halls. A fire crackled in the first room and a soft bed looked very inviting. It was now late, and the merchant could not resist. He lay down on the bed and fell fast asleep. When he awoke the next morning, an unknown hand had placed a steaming cup of coffee and some fruit by his bedside.

The merchant had breakfast and after he had tidied himself up, went downstairs to thank his generous host. But, as the evening before, there was nobody in sight. Shaking his head at the strangeness of it all, he went towards the garden to where he had tethered his horse. When he entered the garden, he gasped in amazement when he saw that there were rose bushes covering every inch of the garden. A full, lush rose caught his eye.

Remembering his promise to Lotus, he bent down to pick the rose. Instantly, out of the rose garden, sprang a horrible beast. Two bloodshot eyes gleamed angrily, glaring at him and a deep, terrifying voice growled, “Ungrateful man! I gave you shelter, you ate from my table and slept in my bed, but now all the thanks I get is the theft of my favourite flowers! I shall put you to death for this!”
Trembling with fear, the merchant fell on his knees before the beast.

“Forgive me! Forgive me! Don’t kill me! I’ll do anything you say! The rose wasn’t for me; it was for my daughter, Lotus. I promised to bring her back a rose from my journey!”
The Beast dropped the paw it had clamped on the unhappy merchant.

“Why should a man as wealthy as you, be giving presents as simple as a flower? Surely, you must be royalty from the wealth that is in your cart!”
“Yes, yes. I am a descendant of the great King Julian!” the merchant lied in hope that his life would be spared.
On hearing his father’s name, the Beast decided to strike a deal with the man.

“I shall spare your life if you bring me your youngest daughter, who, if your tale is true, will be a princess!”
The terrified merchant replied, “Yes, of course, Lotus is a beautiful princess.”
“Then,” cried the terrible Beast, “to know for sure that you are not lying to me, she shall sleep on 20 mattresses and the 20 eiderdown beds. And under the 20 mattresses and the 20 eiderdown beds, I shall place a rose petal. If she can feel the petal, because only a real princess could be that fragile, and toss and urn all night, I shall spare hers and your life. But do not talk of these conditions or great harm will come to your family.”

The terror stricken merchant, faced with certain death if he did not obey, promised that he would do so. When he returned home in tears, his three daughters ran to greet him. When he had told them of his dreadful adventure, Lotus put his mind at rest immediately.

“Dear Father, I’d do anything for you! Don’t worry, you’ll be able to keep your promise and save your life! Take me to the castle. I’ll stay there.” The merchant hugged his daughter.


“I never did doubt your love for me. For the moment I can only thank you for saving my life.” So Lotus was led to the castle. The Beast, however, had quite an unexpected greeting for the girl. Instead of menacing doom as it had done to her father, it was surprisingly pleasant.

In the beginning, Lotus was frightened of the Beast and had shuddered at the sight of him. Then she found that in spite of the monsters awful head, her horror of it was gradually fading away. She had one of the finest rooms in the castle, except that the fact there was no lights in her bedroom. She was too afraid to ask the Beast for one and she doubted that he would have any at all, so she went without.

The Beast would sit for hours on end, watching Lotus embroider and weave, only a short distance away, silently gazing at her. Eventually Lotus began to talk to the Beast. She would tell him stories of her childhood, her family, tales from books she had read, and of stories she had created, using the magnificent loom to portray a scene. At first he would not answer, just listen but soon he would say a few kind words, til in the end, Lotus was amazed that she was enjoying its conversation.

Days flew past, and Lotus and the Beast became good friends. But one day, while Lotus was telling him a story of how she had fallen into one of the creeks surrounding her home, she was hit with a pang of homesickness. Tears welled up in her eyes and she quickly wiped them away. Troubled, the Beast left and did not return for many days. Days turned to weeks and Lotus had lost interest in eating, weaving and sleep was fitful. It had been almost a year she had spent in that castle, unable to leave, or even see her family. Then, without warning, the Beast appeared to Lotus while she sat at her loom, gazing absently at the threads.

“There will be lights in your room. You will have to sleep in a spare room whilst it is being done,” he stated simply. Lotus nodded robotically and did as she was told that night. In the spare room, there were 20 mattresses and 20 eiderdown beds neatly stacked upon each other. A large ladder was used to reach the top of the bed. Earlier that day, the Beast had put a single rose petal under the great stack of mattresses as to complete the test.

In the morning, Lotus walked into the dining room and sat down to stare at the food. The Beast came into the room and sat in the doorway and began to ask her how she was.

“Oh, I cannot sleep! I have scarcely closed my eyes all night!” Lotus said to the Beast, “I tossed and turned all night.” The Beast, without another word to her, left the room.

Life went on as usual, and nothing further was said. One day, the Beast presented Lotus with a magnificent magic mirror. When Lotus peeped into it, she could see her family far, far away.

“You wont feel so lonely now,” were the words that accompanied the gift. Lotus stared for hours on end at her distant family. Her appetite slowly returned and soon the colour began to come back to her cheeks. But, again, Lotus still could not sleep and dark circles appeared beneath her eyes. One day, the Beast found Lotus weeping beside the magic mirror.

“What is wrong?” he asked, as kindly as always.
“My father is gravely ill, and close to dying! Oh, how I wish I could see him again, before it is too late!” Lotus sobbed. But the Beast only shook its head.

“No! You cannot leave this castle!” As he stalked off in a rage, Lotus could hear the words whispered, “A promise,” with a painful agony like an arrow pulled from his chest.

Lotus continued to stare into her magic mirror, and anger began to build up inside of her. “Who was he, to think he can take me from everyone I loved, not to see them ever again?” she thought angrily. Rage consumed Lotus and one day, while she was looking into her mirror, she could not take it anymore. She ran over to the mirror, raised her fist and brought it down, shattering the glass.

Blood streaked down her hand and glass was lodged into her fingers and wrist. Sobbing, she ran into her bedroom and found and item of clothing she had brought. She brought it to her mouth and ripped a thin strap from it. Pulling out the larger piece of glass, she wrapped the make-shift bandage around her hand and wrist, making her grimace in pain.

She turned to leave the room, when she saw the Beast standing in her doorway with a pain in his eyes as if he was the one who was injured. He shut his eyes and spoke to her.

“If you swear that you return here in one cycle of the moon, I’ll let you go and visit your father.” Lotus stood there unable to believe what she had heard.
“W-w-when?” She stammered.
“Tomorrow.” And the Beast left the room.

In reality, the merchant had fallen ill from a broken heart at knowing his daughter may not have passed the Beast’s test. When he embraced her again, he was soon on the road to recovery. Lotus stayed by his bed for hours on end, describing her life at the castle, and explaining that the Beast was good and kind.

Once, he pointed out her hand and she dismissed it as a small wound from a slip of a needle point. The days flashed past, and at last, the merchant was able to leave his bed. He was completely well again. Lotus was happy at last. However, she had failed to notice that the moon was completely new again. Her wound on Lotus’s arm was paining her much one night after a terrible nightmare. She had been back at the castle, out in the rose garden, smelling the roses. But the lush, vibrant colour began to turn black and then dropped off the rose stem, one by one. She could hear a sound, like an animal in great pain. The Beast was calling out to her, twisting in agony.

“Come back! Come back to me!” It was pleading. Lotus had woken sweating and confused.

She unwrapped her bandage to examine her hand and was sick with fear when the healed cut burst open and blood bubbled to the surface, making her shout with pain. Then, black pieces of glass came through and dropped to the floor, making clinking noises against the rock. Terrified, Lotus ran out of her house.

“Hurry! Hurry good horse!” she said, whipping her steed onward towards the castle, her solemn promise making her leave home immediately. She reached the castle and rushed up the stairs, calling, but with no reply. Her heart in her mouth, she ran out into the garden she had dreamt of, and there crouched the Beast, surrounded by black roses, his eyes shut as if dead. Lotus threw herself at the Beast and hugged it tightly.

“Don’t die! Don’t die!” she screamed as the black rose bushes crept closer, wrapping their thorny stems around his feet. Lotus continued to hold the dying Beast closer as the black roses wrapped around his middle, trapping Lotus to him. The prickly stems stabbed into her pale skin, bringing crimson blood to the surface.

The thorns reached his throat and Lotus’s head was trapped. With her dying breath, she whispered coarsely, “I…love you.”

The roses seemed to start making a high pitched screeching sound, like screaming. They retracted and the Beasts bloody eyes opened to look at Lotus.

“You…came back,” he said.
“Yes, yes. I am so sorry,” she wept. He stood up, bringing her with him. He put his finger under her chin and lifted her face up to his. Lotus opened her wet eyes and stared at him in wonder. There was no longer a beast, but a young man with dark brown hair that fell in small curls above his amber eyes.

“How I have been longing this moment!” His breath was the sweet smell of wet earth. “I was suffering in silence and could not tell of my frightful secret. A sorceress turned me into a monster for my arrogance and only the love of a princess, willing to accept me as I was, could transform me back to my real self. My dearest,” he added, sounding like a crooning mother to her newborn child.

Before Lotus could tell him that she was actually not as he thought she was, he brought his face to hers and they kissed as thunder cracked and rain began to pour down, just as it had when the prince was cursed.