The King and Queen plan an opulent feast to celebrate the birth of their long-awaited child, Dornröschen. They invite not only the members of the court, but also the fairies, so that they may bestow wealth and virtue on the Princess. But there are thirteen fairies, and only twelve golden plates - so the king instructs his messenger to leave one fairy out, the Fairy of Industry. Furious, she arrives at the celebration and wishes death upon the child: on her fifteenth birthday, the child will prick her finger on a spindle and die. Luckily the curse can be made milder, and one of the fairies prevents the death of Dornröschen. However, to punish the King for his obsession with wealth and his rude treatment of the 13th fairy, she proclaims that when Dornröschen pricks her finger, she and the entire court will sleep for 100 years. In an attempt to prevent this curse from taking effect, the King orders that all spindles in the kingdom be burned. But nothing can stop the fairy's curse; on her...