The Swoon
. . . the spindle immediately ran into her hand, and she directly fell down upon the ground in a swoon. Thereupon the old woman cried out for help, and people came in from every quarter in great numbers: some threw water upon the princess’s face, unlaced her, struck her on the palm of her hands, and rubbed her temples with Hungary water; but all they could do did not bring her to herself.
From the story “The Sleeping Beauty”
MOTHER FAIRY-TALES
Henry Altemus Company: Philadelphia. 1908.
Elephant's Picture Book 
“Unlaced her”? I’m shocked! 🙂
Yes! Spicy stuff for a fairy tale! I do think you can rely on this advice even today, go ahead and unlace strangers in a swoon and let me know how it works out!
Elephant
“I learned everything I need to know in Kindergarten”
So basically they formed a queue and tortured an unconscious princess?
Well, yes I guess that’s right (depending on what you consider torture)! I wouldn’t want all that done to me!
Elephant
What do you suppose Hungary water is?
Elephant
Google will have the answer… It usually does.
So perfume! Makes sense to me!
Elephant
Wikipedia seems to think Hungary water is perfume. Inquiring minds wanted to know… Great illustrations.
Thank you! I was lazy!! You are very nice to look this up. Yes, that makes sense – perfume! Her swoon is so complete!
Elephant
You weren’t lazy, you left a tantalizing question and let a commenter participate, you generous person, you! And thanks for visiting my site and liking my fairy tales. It always gives me a buzz!
Your fairy tales are very good! It takes a very creative mind to write a fairy tale that “works.” Seems as if it would be easy to write anything and call it a fairy tale – but it is just the opposite. Fairy tales are a very special form of writing and not so simple! You are very talented!
Thank you for your kind words and for your lovely writing!
Elephant
Thank you!
Wow… What a gorgeous illustration! Personally, I wouldn’t mind having my temples (or whatever, really!) massaged with Hungary Water. It’s made with lemon peel, rose petals, chamomile, rosemary, and other good smelling things. And if I had to wear those corsets, then… Yes! Please, unlace me if I should fall into a swoon. I could do without the palm slapping, though.
Reblogged this on Wabi Slobby and commented:
A beautiful illustration of Charles Perrault’s version of the Sleeping Beauty Fairy Tale, La Belle au Bois Dormant, when Beauty / Aurora / whatever her name was falls into a swoon from pricking her finger on a spindle. A spindle, by the way, is a device used for spinning fiber into thread. It is shaped like a long spike, often with a portion that looks much like an old-fashioned wooden spinning toy top. None of the ones that I have seen has been particularly sharp. Certainly not sharp enough to draw blood. Unless, I guess, you really stabbed at yourself with it. But maybe they were made differently back then, or its a type I’ve never seen.
I suppose that, if I can suspend my disbelief to accommodate fairies, curses, 100 years of sleep, thorny woods that cover over a castle in a few minutes, and finding a prince worth a damn, I can allow for a particularly sharp spindle.