Long ago, a woman awaiting the birth of her child yearned for the taste of a special kind of lettuce, called rapunzel. She persuaded her husband to steal some of this precious lettuce from their neighbor's garden. When their neighbor, Dame Gothel, caught the man taking her food, he agreed to trade his child for the rapunzel. When the infant girl was born, Dame Gothel named her after the lettuce her mother had desired.

Dame Gothel was a good and loving mother to Rapunzel, who grew into a young girl with long, flowing blonde hair. When Rapunzel was twelve, Mother Gothel (as Rapunzel called her) took her to the top of a tower in the middle of a forest. She wanted to keep her beloved child safe from all danger and evil. To reach Rapunzel's chamber she would stand at the bottom of the tower and call, "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair." Rapunzel's long braids would tumble down from her window at the top of the tower, and Mother Gothel would climb up.

One day a prince riding in the woods was drawn to the tower by Rapunzel's sweet singing. As he watched, Mother Gothel arrived and climbed up Rapunzel's golden tresses. After Mother Gothel left, the Prince called up to Rapunzel, using the secret words. When the braids came down, he climbed up.

Rapunzel soon grew to love this young man and his stories of life and adventure beyond the tower. She asked him to bring her skeins of silk with which she could make a ladder and escape her confinement.

When the ladder was almost finished, Mother Gothel discovered their deception. In her fury she cut off Rapunzel's long braids and sent her to a desolate place to live in sorrow. Then, when the Prince arrived at the tower, Mother Gothel let down the braids. The Prince climbed up and found Mother Gothel, full of vengeance. Despairing of ever seeing Rapunzel again, the Prince fell from the tower into the brambles below. The thorns pierced his eyes and blinded him.

The Prince wandered for a year in misery. One day he heard a sweet voice singing a familiar song. As he stumbled toward her, Rapunzel joyfully recognized him. When they embraced, her happy tears fell upon his eyes and restored his sight.