E. Cobham Brewer 18101897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
From the French La Belle au Bois Dormante, by Charles Perrault (Contes du Temps). She is shut up by enchantment in a castle, where she sleeps a hundred years, during which time an impenetrable wood springs up around. Ultimately she is disenchanted by a young prince, who marries her. Epimenids, the Cretan poet, went to fetch a sheep, and after sleeping fifty-seven years continued his search, and was surprised to find when he got home that his younger brother was grown grey. (See RIP VAN WINKLE.)