The Witch had made an offer too good to refuse. Released from her terrible curse, Wife got well, and she stayed well. As time went on, Wife and Husband had 26 children, so many they almost had to go live in a shoe. However, in his spare time Husband finally managed to finish inventing the yo-yo, so they had enough croutons to buy a really huge beachfront hovel.

In the meantime, because she had planned it all along, The Witch took possession of their firstborn, and named her "Rapunzel." Today, of course, "Rapunzel" is an old-fashioned name; but back in the olden days (when they were still the present days), all the hip witches were naming their stolen or otherwise ill-gotten stepdaughters "Rapunzel." Anyway, as soon as Rapunzel was in her clutches, The Witch raised her fence one foot, to 52 feet tall, which made it impossible for anyone to see the baby. It was also impossible for the baby to see anyone other than The Witch. And by the time Rapunzel was 15 years old, she still hadn’t seen anyone else.

Nonetheless, young Rapunzel had a pretty good life—or as good a life as one can expect to have when one’s stepmother is an absolute witch. But nobody’s perfect, and in certain ways The Witch was better than your typical fairy tale stepmother. For one thing, she made darn certain Rapunzel stayed off the satabun. For another thing, The Witch not only gave the girl many good books, she encouraged her to sit down and actually read them. Obviously, then, Rapunzel was becoming one smart biscuit!

Here it gets a little hairy again.

Actually, very hairy again, but in a different way.

Rapunzel had the most beautiful—and longest—hair in the entire kingdom. And the girl’s hair, like the knowledge she gained from reading, continued to grow and grow. Eventually all those book smarts, plus all that beautiful and especially well-conditioned hair, made Rapunzel quite a prize on the open marriage market. And that fact caused some very big trouble.