a brief overture contrasts the themes of the malicious carabosse and the benevolent lilac fairy. when the curtain rises, the court assembles for princess aurora's christening. six fairies present their gifts. carabosse, a fairy overlooked by the master of ceremonies, enters. she curses aurora. the princess shall die on her 16th birthday, she says, after pricking her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel. the remaining seventh fairy the lilac fairy comes forward. she cannot put the curse to rest, but she can soften it. the princess shall not die, she commands, but sleep one hundred years. at the end of that term, a prince will awaken her with true love's kiss.