CHICAGO—Once upon a time, on a dark and bitterly cold winter night, an old woman shows up at the door of a prince’s castle. She is willing to give him a beautiful red rose if he’ll let her stay and shelter for the night. The prince takes one look at her tattered and poor appearance and turns her down.
The woman tells him that he shouldn’t be fooled by someone’s outwardly appearance because the inner person is where beauty lives. The prince isn’t persuaded and rejects her entreaty. It was an unkind and not very smart move since the old woman is really an enchantress. She transforms the prince into an ugly beast and his servants into a variety of household objects. She leaves the red rose behind to act as an hourglass. The only way the prince can break the spell is to learn to love and to earn the love of another before the last petals on the rose fall off.
