Welcome to Story Quest, a weekly podcast where we bring your stories to life!
In this episode we bring Zuri’s story – Rapunzel Rapunzel Let Down Your Pears! – to life.
Zuri got in touch and suggested a story about Rapunzel, because she wanted to add her own modern twist to the traditional story!
If you have a story idea, you could be like Zuri and have it turned into a Story Quest. All you have to do is send us your story idea here. We know you have the best imaginations and together we can create the most brilliant stories!
That’s just what Zuri did. You can watch the story she suggested come to life below, plus she tells us all about the inspiration behind the story at the end.
Listen out for brand new Story Quest episodes every Thursday!
Stories for kids and families from Fun Kids β the UKβs childrenβs radio station. Perfect for all ages β listen in the car, when chilling at home and before bedtimes.
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Read along to Rapunzel Rapunzel Let Down Your Pears!
You can read along to the story while you listen. Just follow the text below. Don’t worry if you find a word tricky – you can pause the video whenever to give yourself more time.
Rapunzel Rapunzel Let Down Your Pears!
This is not the story of Rapunzel that you’re familiar with. There is no tower. There is no prince. There’s no need to chant silly rhymes. And there’s certainly no need to try scale a building by climbing up somebody else’s hair.
Absolutely not.
How silly…
This Rapunzel…
She worked at a fruit market.
It was early in the morning and Rapunzel was setting up stall. She wasn’t the only fruit seller in the market but she was one of the best. Rapunzel took great pride in the fruits she sourced and would often spend her evenings polishing them, making them as attractive as ever for would-be buyers.
The market was covered with an elaborate glass and iron roof with support beams flying off in all directions. It was domed and looked a little like a football. It was also loud.
Sellers would try and out-yell each other to get attention and due to the domed roof, that sound travelled throughout the whole market.
“BANANAS! FRESH BANANAS!”
“GET YER FLOWERS ERE, FLOWERS, FRESH FLOWERS!”
“FRESH MEAT, FRESH VEG, LOW PRICES”
The yelling went on from the opening of the market to dusk and, if you weren’t used to it, could be quite a sensory overload.
Rapunzel’s voice wasn’t the strongest and she didn’t stand a hope competing with the booming voices of the other market sellers. Instead, she relied on good presentation and polite service…
Rapunzel’s stall looked like a rainbow with rows of neat green and red apples, bananas, grapes, berries and even some more exotic fruits like mangos and pineapples.
It had a fancy black and white stripped awning which served only to highlight further the pretty, glistening colours of the fruits below it.
Most of this produce was native to the kingdom Rapunzel was resident of. Orchards full of apples were common place, plantations full of bananas were plentiful, and even the pineapples and mangos grew there too.
But, this week, Rapunzel had a surprise…
It was something new.
Something that she was sure would shock the entire market.
Something that nobody else had…
Something that would shout all on its own.
Something that might bag her enough cash to retire to a nice tall tower in Germany, grow her hair long β and find a prince…She had to keep her hair short for hygiene reasons.
For months, she had been working on acquiring an exclusive supply of a very special type of fruit, a type of fruit she knew that nobody here had ever come across before…
They were incredibly rare and didn’t grow natively in the kingdom. The fruit was short and squat; like an apple that somebody had elongated from the stalk. It wasn’t the most appealing to look at, especially when compared to glistening grapes and pristine yellow bananas but its flesh was soft, sweet and full of juice.
They had set Rapunzel back a pretty penny and she was determined, in the hustle and bustle of the market, that not a single fruit get a single bruise.
Quietly loading them into a tray, organising them into near little rows, Rapunzel hoisted the box onto the awning and out of the way of feet and elbows…
And just in time too β because the market was opening. It was Sunday and Sundays were always the busiest. As soon as the gates opened, the noise level went through the roof.
“APPLES!” “BANANAS!” “MEAT! VEG! LOW PRICES!”
Rapunzel stood behind her stand, a small smile on her face, waiting for the trick that always worked β a nicely presented stall.
It was lunch time now and the market was heaving. Hundreds of people weaved in and out of each other to try and get the best pick of the produce and it was time for Rapunzel to put on a show.
“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!” She said, leaping up on to the stall she had so lovingly prepared and knocking almost every fruit on it on the floor.
Everyone’s jaws dropped. This was Rapunzel! The sweet girl that stood behind the stall and barely said a word, not the person that stands on it and yells like everyone else!
“IT GIVES ME GREAT PLEASURE TO BRING TO YOU A BRAND NEW FRUIT!”
There were gasps in the market now β everyone else had fallen quiet β and people were abandoning other stalls to join the spectacle
“ALL THE WAY FROM THE KINGDOM OF AMERICA, A BRAND NEW, DELICIOUS, DELECTABLE…” β and under her breath β “and devastatingly expensive” β “FRUIT!”
A ripple of ‘ooooh’s filtered through the crowd.
Rapunzel dropped the awning and caught the box she had placed there earlier.
“INTRODUCING… THE PEAR!”
A massive round of applause broke out among the customers. Every single person in the market was now at her stall. She took a pear from the box and triumphantly bit into it, juice flying from the sides of her mouth.
The next few minutes were sheer pandemonium as money began flying from all directions. Some coins even hit her on the head! Before long, all of the pears were gone and with the rest of her stall decimated after her slightly embarrassing tablejumping, she counted up, packed up, and went home.
Pears were the talk of the town.
“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, any more pears?” Asked a stranger as she walked on
Monday…
“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, any more pears?” Asked another on Tuesday…
“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, any more pears?” Asked another on Wednesday!
Each time, she smirked her familiar smirk and said quite simply, “See you on Sunday”
By the time Sunday rolled around, news of the fruit had travelled far and wide and the gates to the market were even more busy than usual.
Rapunzel set up stall β except this time, she didn’t place a single fruit on the counter in front of it.
The second the gates opened, the entire mass of people rushed to her stall…
“Where are the pears?” Asked one customer.
“We want pears!” Said another.
Rapunzel smirked, lept up on the table once more β she quite liked the attention β and pointed to the black and white awning above her stall, now sagging under the weight of thousands of pears, adorned entirely in green.
“We want pears! We want pears!” The whole market began shouting.
“Pears! Pears!”
Things were getting a bit chaotic now β and the volume had never reached this level inside the market before!
“Give us pears! Give us pears!
“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your pears!”
She jumped, pushing the bottom of the sagging awning, sending pears flying into the crowd.
“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your pears!” They yelled again and she did the same.
“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your pears!”
For years, Rapunzel had spent time trying to fit in. Trying to sell shiny fruit and doing so with a smirk instead of a yell.
Finally, it was her time to shine.
Do you have a story you want to hear made into a Story Quest?
We’d love to hear from you, submit your idea here and maybe we’ll be hearing you on Story Quest soon.
