Once upon（ 在…上面） a time, there was a girl named Rapunzel. Rapunzel lived in a tall tower in the middle of a forest. The tower had no ladder（梯子）, no stairs, and definitely no elevator. There was no way to get up or down. So, why did Rapunzel live in a tower? Well, it all started with a witch（巫婆）.

  As you know, witches can be very jealous（妒忌的）. They especially hate people stealing herbs（ 草药） from their gardens. Unfortunately, Rapunzel's mother didn't know this about witches. Many years ago, when she was pregnant（怀孕的） with Rapunzel, she snuck（溜走） over the fence（栅栏） and stole some parsley from the witch（巫婆） next door. The witch saw her stealing parsley. She was furious（狂怒的）.

  She gave Rapunzel's mother two choices. Option one, the witch would curse（诅咒） her unborn baby girl. The girl would always be unlucky（倒霉的）. She would meet the wrong people and say the wrong things and wear the wrong clothes for every occasion（时机）. She would never live happily ever after. Option two, on the girl's tenth（十分之一的） birthday, she would go to live with the witch.

  She would be the witch's apprentice（ 学徒）. The witch promised that, eventually（终于）, the girl would live happily ever after. Rapunzel's mother was heartbroken. She chose option two. And on the evening of Rapunzel's tenth birthday, the witch came to take her away. She put Rapunzel in the tall tower in the woods.

  After that, every day was the same for Rapunzel. She cleaned her room at the top of the tower. She braided her long, long hair. And every day at lunchtime, the witch came to the tower. She stood under the window and shouted, "Rapunzel! Rapunzel! Let down your hair!"

  Rapunzel threw her braid out of the window. The witch climbed up Rapunzel's hair like a rope（绳） and crawled（爬） in through the window. The witch taught Rapunzel how to make medicines with herbs, and Rapunzel loved the witch. She was Rapunzel's only friend. One night, Rapunzel was reading a book beside（在…旁边） the window when she heard someone below. "Rapunzel!

  Rapunzel! Let down your hair!" "That's strange," she thought. "The witch never comes this late." She threw her braid out of the window, and the person climbed up, up, up. But when this person reached the top, Rapunzel saw that it wasn't the witch. It was a man!

  Rapunzel quickly grabbed（攫取） her book and smacked the man in the head. "Get out! Get out! You're not the witch!" The strange man fell to the floor. "Ow! Stop hurting me!"

  he begged（ 请求）.