Beauty: A Retelling of Beauty and the Beast

Beauty convinces her father to part with her at the castle’s gate. She brings Greatheart to the magic stable her father had first encountered and sees to all Greatheart’s needs before finally daring to go into the castle. Scenes and images of a king and his court riding into a forest adorned the arched frame of the front doors. The second half of the scene shows the court emerging from the forest in terror, their horses and other animals attempting to flee. Before she can assess the meaning of the scenes, the doors swing open and a breeze that seems to contain singing voices coaxes her inside. Beauty enters an enormous dining hall, where the breeze urges her to sit at a table covered from end to end with a banquet of exquisite dishes. After eating, she explores the castle, admiring its splendid paintings, tapestries, statues, and more. Eventually she finds a door marked “Beauty’s Room.” On the other side she finds a room fit for a princess, filled with valuables and every comfort and luxury. Best of all, it’s full of books—hundreds of leather-bound volumes.

Beauty is distracted from the books when she sees a bathtub being filled with steaming water by floating china jugs.