Cinderella (original version)
Based on the Brothers Grimm original.
There was once a young lady who enjoyed a wonderful childhood, loved by a devoted mother, and doted upon by her wealthy, merchant father. Unfortunately her mother became ill one winter and passed away. They buried her near the gates of the estate, beneath an old hazel tree and consoled each other in their grief.
Time passed and the girl became a beautiful young woman, her father decided that she needed a mother to guide her into womanhood, and so married a widow with two daughters of her own. But the new step mother soon proved herself to be interested only in her own comfort and that of her two spoilt daughters, who though beautiful, had ugly hearts. Dissatisfied the girl’s father spent more and more time away from home. The girl was left to the tender mercy of the evil trio who forced her to become a drudge in her own home, forced to work from dawn to dusk on little food and only one change of clothes. She soon became very dirty and a sight to behold and was mockingly referred to from as Cinderella.
Whenever life became too unbearable she would go and weep over her mother’s grave. A white bird came to the tree every time, and whenever she expressed a wish, the bird would throw down to her what she had wished for.
One day the King of the land declared that there would be a three day festival, all the beautiful young girls were invited, so that the Prince could choose himself a bride. The two step-sisters were very excited.
They called Cinderella, saying, "Comb our hair for us. Brush our shoes and fasten our buckles. We are going to the festival at the king's castle."
Cinderella obeyed, but wept, because she too would have liked to go to the dance with them. She begged her stepmother to allow her to go.
"You, Cinderella?" she said. "You, all covered with dust and dirt, and you want to go to the festival?. You have neither clothes nor shoes, and yet you want to dance!"
However, because Cinderella kept asking, the stepmother finally said, "If you can complete your chores by the time your sisters are ready you may come with us.”
Cinderella moved very quickly to finish her chores, but kept being interrupted by her step-sisters demands and so only just finished as her as they were leaving.
But the stepmother said, "It's no use. You are not coming with us, for you have no clothes, and you don't know how to dance. We would be ashamed of you." With this she turned her back on Cinderella, and hurried away with her two proud daughters.
Cinderella ran to her mother’s grave and began to weep, a white bird appeared above her and called out to her:
Dear child, dear child, shake the tree,Open the first nut that you see.
So Cinderella shook the tree and the first nut that fell she took up and opened, and what do you think she saw? -- a beautiful silk dress blue as the heavens, all embroidered with stars, and two little lovely shoes made of shining copper. And when she had dressed herself the hazel tree opened and from it came a coach all made of copper with four milk-white horses, with coachman and footmen all complete. And as she drove away the little bird called out to her:
Be home, be home ere mid-o'-nightOr else again you'll be a fright.
When Cinderella entered the ballroom she was the loveliest of all the ladies, and the prince, who had been dancing with her stepsisters, would only dance with her. But as it came towards midnight Cinderella remembered what the little bird had told her and slipped away to her carriage. And when the prince missed her he went to the guards at the palace door and told them to follow the carriage. But Cinderella when she saw this, called out:
Mist behind and light before,Guide me to my father's door.
And when the prince's soldiers tried to follow her there came such a mist that they couldn't see their hands before their faces. So they couldn't find which way Cinderella went.
When her stepmother and two sisters came home after the ball they could talk of nothing but the lovely lady: "Ah, would not you have like to have been there?" said the sisters to Cinderella as she helped them to take off their fine dresses. "The was a most lovely lady with a dress like the heavens and shoes of bright copper, and the prince would dance with none but her; and when midnight came she disappeared and the prince could not find her. He is going to give a second ball in the hope that she will come again. Perhaps she will not, and then we will have our chance."
When the time of the second royal ball came round the same thing happened as before; the sisters teased Cinderella, saying "Wouldn't you like to come with us?" and drove off again as before.
And Cinderella went again to the hazel tree over her mother's grave and wept and as before the little bird on the tree called out:
Dear child, dear child, shake the tree,Open the first nut that you see.
But this time she found a dress all golden brown like the earth embroidered with flowers, and her shoon were made of silver; and when the carriage came from the tree, lo and behold, that was made of silver too, drawn by black horses with trappings all of silver, and the lace on the coachman's and footmen's liveries was also of silver; and when Cinderella went to the ball the prince would dance with none but her; and when midnight cam round she fled as before.
But the prince, hoping to prevent her running away, had ordered the soldiers at the foot of the staircase to pour out honey on the stairs so that her shoes would stick in it. But Cinderella leaped from stair to stair and got away just in time, calling out as the soldiers tried to follow her:
Mist behind and light before,Guide me to my father's door.
And when her sisters got home they told her once more of the beautiful lady that had come in a silver coach and silver shoon and in a dress all embroidered with flowers: "Ah, wouldn't you have like to have been there?" said they.
Once again the prince gave a great ball in the hope that his unknown beauty would come to it. All happened as before; as soon as the sisters had gone Cinderella went to the hazel tree over her mother's grave and cried out and once more the little bird appeared and said:Dear child, dear child, shake the tree,Open the first nut that you see.
And when she opened the nut in it was a dress of silk green as the sea with waves upon it, and her shoes this time were made of gold; and when the coach came out of the tree it was also made of gold, with gold trappings for the horses and for the retainers. As she drove off the little bird from the tree called out:
Be home, be home ere mid-o'-night Or else again you'll be a fright.
Now this time, when Cinderella came to the ball, she was a desirous to dance only with the prince as he with her, and so, when midnight came round, she had forgotten to leave till the clock began to strike, one -- two -- three -- four -- five -- six, -- and then she began to run away down the stairs as the clock struck eight -- nine -- ten.
But the prince had told his soldier to put tar upon the lower steps of the stairs; and as the clock struck eleven her shoes stuck in the tar, and when she jumped to the foot of the stairs one of her golden shoes was left behind, and just then the clock struck TWELVE, and the golden coach with its horses and footmen, disappeared, and the beautiful dress of Cinderella changed again into her ragged clothes and she had to run home with only one golden shoe.
You can imagine how excited the sister were when they came home and told Cinderella all about it, how that the beautiful lady had come in a golden coach in a dress like the sea, with golden shoes, and how all had disappeared at midnight except the golden shoe. "Ah, wouldn't you have liked to have been there?" said they.
Now when the prince found out that he could not keep his lady-love nor trace where she had gone he spoke to his father and showed him the golden shoe, and told him that he would never marry anyone but the maiden who could wear that shoe.
The Prince went from house to house with his steward and made every girl he met try on the shoe to see if they could find his bride.
The two sisters were happy to hear this, for they had pretty feet. With her mother standing by, the older one took the shoe into her bedroom to try it on. She could not get her big toe into it, for the shoe was too small for her. Then her mother gave her a knife and said, "Cut off your toe. When you are queen you will no longer have to go on foot."
The girl cut off her toe, forced her foot into the shoe, swallowed the pain, and went out to the prince. He took her on his horse as his bride and rode away with her. However, they had to ride past the grave, and there, on the hazel tree, sat the white bird who cried out:
Rook di rick, rook di roo!There's blood in the shoe.The shoe is too tight,This bride is not right!
Then he looked at her foot and saw how the blood was running from it. He turned his horse around and took the false bride home again, saying that she was not the right one, and that the other sister should try on the shoe. She went into her bedroom, and got her toes into the shoe all right, but her heel was too large.
Then her mother gave her a knife, and said, "Cut a piece off your heel. When you are queen you will no longer have to go on foot."
The girl cut a piece off her heel, forced her foot into the shoe, swallowed the pain, and went out to the prince. He took her on his horse as his bride and rode away with her. When they passed the hazel tree, the white bird was sitting in it, and it cried out:
Rook di rick, rook di roo!There's blood in the shoe.The shoe is too tight,This bride is not right!
He looked down at her foot and saw how the blood was running out of her shoe, and how it had stained her white stocking all red. Then he turned his horse around and took the false bride home again.
"This is not the right one, either," he said. "Don't you have another daughter?"
and the sisters cried out, "No, sir."
But the father, who had just returned from his trip, said, "Yes, I have another daughter.” But the mother answered, "Oh, no, she is much too dirty. She cannot be seen."
But the prince said, "As she is of noble birth she has a right to try the shoe." So the herald went down to the kitchen and found Cinderella; and when she saw her golden shoe she took it from him and put it on her foot, which it fitted exactly; and then she took the other golden shoe from underneath the cinders where she had hidden it and put that on too.
When she came out the prince looked into her face, and he recognized the beautiful girl who had danced with him. He cried out, "She is my true bride."
The stepmother and the two sisters were horrified and turned pale with anger. The prince, however, took Cinderella onto his horse and rode away with her. As they passed by the hazel tree, the white bird cried out:
Rook di rick, rook di roo!No blood's in the shoe.The shoe's not too tight,This bride is right!!
When the wedding with the prince was to be held, the two false sisters came, wanting to gain favour with Cinderella and to share her good fortune. When their carriage passed the hazel tree, two black ravens flew down and pecked out one eye from each of them. Afterwards, as they returned from the church, they again passed the hazel tree and two ravens flew down and pecked out the other eye from each of them. And thus, for their wickedness and falsehood, they were rendered lame and blind for the rest of their lives.
There was once a young lady who enjoyed a wonderful childhood, loved by a devoted mother, and doted upon by her wealthy, merchant father. Unfortunately her mother became ill one winter and passed away. They buried her near the gates of the estate, beneath an old hazel tree and consoled each other in their grief.
Time passed and the girl became a beautiful young woman, her father decided that she needed a mother to guide her into womanhood, and so married a widow with two daughters of her own. But the new step mother soon proved herself to be interested only in her own comfort and that of her two spoilt daughters, who though beautiful, had ugly hearts. Dissatisfied the girl’s father spent more and more time away from home. The girl was left to the tender mercy of the evil trio who forced her to become a drudge in her own home, forced to work from dawn to dusk on little food and only one change of clothes. She soon became very dirty and a sight to behold and was mockingly referred to from as Cinderella.
Whenever life became too unbearable she would go and weep over her mother’s grave. A white bird came to the tree every time, and whenever she expressed a wish, the bird would throw down to her what she had wished for.
One day the King of the land declared that there would be a three day festival, all the beautiful young girls were invited, so that the Prince could choose himself a bride. The two step-sisters were very excited.
They called Cinderella, saying, "Comb our hair for us. Brush our shoes and fasten our buckles. We are going to the festival at the king's castle."
Cinderella obeyed, but wept, because she too would have liked to go to the dance with them. She begged her stepmother to allow her to go.
"You, Cinderella?" she said. "You, all covered with dust and dirt, and you want to go to the festival?. You have neither clothes nor shoes, and yet you want to dance!"
However, because Cinderella kept asking, the stepmother finally said, "If you can complete your chores by the time your sisters are ready you may come with us.”
Cinderella moved very quickly to finish her chores, but kept being interrupted by her step-sisters demands and so only just finished as her as they were leaving.
But the stepmother said, "It's no use. You are not coming with us, for you have no clothes, and you don't know how to dance. We would be ashamed of you." With this she turned her back on Cinderella, and hurried away with her two proud daughters.
Cinderella ran to her mother’s grave and began to weep, a white bird appeared above her and called out to her:
Dear child, dear child, shake the tree,Open the first nut that you see.
So Cinderella shook the tree and the first nut that fell she took up and opened, and what do you think she saw? -- a beautiful silk dress blue as the heavens, all embroidered with stars, and two little lovely shoes made of shining copper. And when she had dressed herself the hazel tree opened and from it came a coach all made of copper with four milk-white horses, with coachman and footmen all complete. And as she drove away the little bird called out to her:
Be home, be home ere mid-o'-nightOr else again you'll be a fright.
When Cinderella entered the ballroom she was the loveliest of all the ladies, and the prince, who had been dancing with her stepsisters, would only dance with her. But as it came towards midnight Cinderella remembered what the little bird had told her and slipped away to her carriage. And when the prince missed her he went to the guards at the palace door and told them to follow the carriage. But Cinderella when she saw this, called out:
Mist behind and light before,Guide me to my father's door.
And when the prince's soldiers tried to follow her there came such a mist that they couldn't see their hands before their faces. So they couldn't find which way Cinderella went.
When her stepmother and two sisters came home after the ball they could talk of nothing but the lovely lady: "Ah, would not you have like to have been there?" said the sisters to Cinderella as she helped them to take off their fine dresses. "The was a most lovely lady with a dress like the heavens and shoes of bright copper, and the prince would dance with none but her; and when midnight came she disappeared and the prince could not find her. He is going to give a second ball in the hope that she will come again. Perhaps she will not, and then we will have our chance."
When the time of the second royal ball came round the same thing happened as before; the sisters teased Cinderella, saying "Wouldn't you like to come with us?" and drove off again as before.
And Cinderella went again to the hazel tree over her mother's grave and wept and as before the little bird on the tree called out:
Dear child, dear child, shake the tree,Open the first nut that you see.
But this time she found a dress all golden brown like the earth embroidered with flowers, and her shoon were made of silver; and when the carriage came from the tree, lo and behold, that was made of silver too, drawn by black horses with trappings all of silver, and the lace on the coachman's and footmen's liveries was also of silver; and when Cinderella went to the ball the prince would dance with none but her; and when midnight cam round she fled as before.
But the prince, hoping to prevent her running away, had ordered the soldiers at the foot of the staircase to pour out honey on the stairs so that her shoes would stick in it. But Cinderella leaped from stair to stair and got away just in time, calling out as the soldiers tried to follow her:
Mist behind and light before,Guide me to my father's door.
And when her sisters got home they told her once more of the beautiful lady that had come in a silver coach and silver shoon and in a dress all embroidered with flowers: "Ah, wouldn't you have like to have been there?" said they.
Once again the prince gave a great ball in the hope that his unknown beauty would come to it. All happened as before; as soon as the sisters had gone Cinderella went to the hazel tree over her mother's grave and cried out and once more the little bird appeared and said:Dear child, dear child, shake the tree,Open the first nut that you see.
And when she opened the nut in it was a dress of silk green as the sea with waves upon it, and her shoes this time were made of gold; and when the coach came out of the tree it was also made of gold, with gold trappings for the horses and for the retainers. As she drove off the little bird from the tree called out:
Be home, be home ere mid-o'-night Or else again you'll be a fright.
Now this time, when Cinderella came to the ball, she was a desirous to dance only with the prince as he with her, and so, when midnight came round, she had forgotten to leave till the clock began to strike, one -- two -- three -- four -- five -- six, -- and then she began to run away down the stairs as the clock struck eight -- nine -- ten.
But the prince had told his soldier to put tar upon the lower steps of the stairs; and as the clock struck eleven her shoes stuck in the tar, and when she jumped to the foot of the stairs one of her golden shoes was left behind, and just then the clock struck TWELVE, and the golden coach with its horses and footmen, disappeared, and the beautiful dress of Cinderella changed again into her ragged clothes and she had to run home with only one golden shoe.
You can imagine how excited the sister were when they came home and told Cinderella all about it, how that the beautiful lady had come in a golden coach in a dress like the sea, with golden shoes, and how all had disappeared at midnight except the golden shoe. "Ah, wouldn't you have liked to have been there?" said they.
Now when the prince found out that he could not keep his lady-love nor trace where she had gone he spoke to his father and showed him the golden shoe, and told him that he would never marry anyone but the maiden who could wear that shoe.
The Prince went from house to house with his steward and made every girl he met try on the shoe to see if they could find his bride.
The two sisters were happy to hear this, for they had pretty feet. With her mother standing by, the older one took the shoe into her bedroom to try it on. She could not get her big toe into it, for the shoe was too small for her. Then her mother gave her a knife and said, "Cut off your toe. When you are queen you will no longer have to go on foot."
The girl cut off her toe, forced her foot into the shoe, swallowed the pain, and went out to the prince. He took her on his horse as his bride and rode away with her. However, they had to ride past the grave, and there, on the hazel tree, sat the white bird who cried out:
Rook di rick, rook di roo!There's blood in the shoe.The shoe is too tight,This bride is not right!
Then he looked at her foot and saw how the blood was running from it. He turned his horse around and took the false bride home again, saying that she was not the right one, and that the other sister should try on the shoe. She went into her bedroom, and got her toes into the shoe all right, but her heel was too large.
Then her mother gave her a knife, and said, "Cut a piece off your heel. When you are queen you will no longer have to go on foot."
The girl cut a piece off her heel, forced her foot into the shoe, swallowed the pain, and went out to the prince. He took her on his horse as his bride and rode away with her. When they passed the hazel tree, the white bird was sitting in it, and it cried out:
Rook di rick, rook di roo!There's blood in the shoe.The shoe is too tight,This bride is not right!
He looked down at her foot and saw how the blood was running out of her shoe, and how it had stained her white stocking all red. Then he turned his horse around and took the false bride home again.
"This is not the right one, either," he said. "Don't you have another daughter?"
and the sisters cried out, "No, sir."
But the father, who had just returned from his trip, said, "Yes, I have another daughter.” But the mother answered, "Oh, no, she is much too dirty. She cannot be seen."
But the prince said, "As she is of noble birth she has a right to try the shoe." So the herald went down to the kitchen and found Cinderella; and when she saw her golden shoe she took it from him and put it on her foot, which it fitted exactly; and then she took the other golden shoe from underneath the cinders where she had hidden it and put that on too.
When she came out the prince looked into her face, and he recognized the beautiful girl who had danced with him. He cried out, "She is my true bride."
The stepmother and the two sisters were horrified and turned pale with anger. The prince, however, took Cinderella onto his horse and rode away with her. As they passed by the hazel tree, the white bird cried out:
Rook di rick, rook di roo!No blood's in the shoe.The shoe's not too tight,This bride is right!!
When the wedding with the prince was to be held, the two false sisters came, wanting to gain favour with Cinderella and to share her good fortune. When their carriage passed the hazel tree, two black ravens flew down and pecked out one eye from each of them. Afterwards, as they returned from the church, they again passed the hazel tree and two ravens flew down and pecked out the other eye from each of them. And thus, for their wickedness and falsehood, they were rendered lame and blind for the rest of their lives.
posted by Sarah Johnstone | 2:44 PM
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