The
wife
of a rich man fell sick, and as she felt that her end was drawing near,
she called her only daughter to her bedside and said, "Dear child, be
good and pious, and then the good God will always protect thee, and I
will look down on thee from heaven and be near thee."
Thereupon she closed her eyes and departed.
Every day the maiden went out to her mother's grave and wept, and she
remained pious and good.
When winter came the snow spread a white sheet over the grave, and when
the spring sun had drawn it off again, the man had taken another wife.
The
woman had brought two daughters into the
house with her, who were beautiful and fair of face, but vile and black
of heart.
Now began a bad time for the poor step-child. "Is the stupid goose to
sit in the parlour with us?" said they.
"He who wants to eat bread must earn it; out with the
kitchen-wench."
They took her pretty clothes away from her, put an old grey bedgown on
her, and gave her wooden shoes.
"Just look at the proud princess, how decked out she is!" they cried,
and laughed, and led her into the kitchen.
There
she had to do hard work from morning till
night, get up before daybreak, carry water, light fires, cook and
wash.
Besides this, the sisters did her every imaginable injury they mocked
her and emptied her peas and lentils into the ashes, so that she was
forced to sit and pick them out again. In the evening when she had
worked till she was weary she had no bed to go to, but had to sleep by
the fireside in the ashes.
And as on that account she always looked dusty and dirty, they called
her Cinderella. It happened that the father was once going to the fair,
and he asked his two step-daughters what he should bring back for them.
"Beautiful
dresses," said one, "Pearls and
jewels," said the second.
"And thou, Cinderella," said he, "what wilt thou have?"
"Father, break off for me the first branch which knocks against your
hat on your way home."
So he bought beautiful dresses, pearls and jewels for his two
step-daughters, and on his way home, as he was riding through a green
thicket, a hazel twig brushed against him and knocked off his
hat.
Then he broke off the branch and took it with him.
When he reached home he gave his step-daughters the things which they
had wished for, and to Cinderella he gave the branch from the
hazel-bush.
Cinderella thanked him, went to her mother's grave and planted the
branch on it, and wept so much that the tears fell down on it and
watered it. It grew, however, and became a handsome tree.
Thrice a day Cinderella went and sat beneath it, and wept and prayed,
and a little white bird always came on the tree, and if Cinderella
expressed a wish, the bird threw down to her what she had wished for.
It
happened, however, that the King appointed a
festival which was to last three days, and to which all the beautiful
young girls in the country were invited, in order that his son might
choose himself a bride.
When the two step-sisters heard that they too were to appear among the
number, they were delighted, called Cinderella and said, "Comb our hair
for us, brush our shoes and fasten our buckles, for we are going to the
festival at the King's palace."
Cinderella
obeyed, but wept, because she too
would have liked to go with them to the dance, and begged her
step-mother to allow her to do so.
"Thou go, Cinderella!" said she; "Thou art dusty and dirty, and wouldst
go to the festival? Thou hast no clothes and shoes, and yet wouldst
dance!"
As, however, Cinderella went on asking, the step-mother at last said,
"I have emptied a dish of lentils into the ashes for thee, if thou hast
picked them out again in two hours, thou shalt go with us."
The maiden went through the back-door into the garden, and called, "You
tame pigeons, you turtle-doves, and all you birds beneath the sky, come
and help me to pick
"The
good into the pot,
The bad into the crop."
Then
two white pigeons came in by the
kitchen-window, and afterwards the turtle-doves, and at last all the
birds beneath the sky, came whirring and crowding in, and alighted
amongst the ashes.
And the pigeons nodded with their heads and began pick, pick, pick,
pick, and the rest began also pick, pick, pick, pick, and gathered all
the good grains into the dish.
Hardly had one hour passed before they had finished, and all flew out
again.
Then the girl took the dish to her step-mother, and was glad, and
believed that now she would be allowed to go with them to the festival.
But the step-mother said, "No, Cinderella, thou hast no clothes and
thou canst not dance; thou wouldst only be laughed at."
And as Cinderella wept at this, the step-mother said, "If thou canst
pick two dishes of lentils out of the ashes for me in one hour, thou
shalt go with us."
And she thought to herself, "That she most certainly cannot
do."
When the step-mother had emptied the two dishes of lentils amongst the
ashes, the maiden went through the back-door into the garden and cried,
"You tame pigeons, you turtle-doves, and all you birds under heaven,
come and help me to pick
"The
good into the pot,
The bad into the crop."
Then two white
pigeons came in by the
kitchen-window, and afterwards the turtle-doves, and at length all the
birds beneath the sky, came whirring and crowding in, and alighted
amongst the ashes.
And the doves nodded with their heads and began pick, pick, pick, pick,
and the others began also pick, pick, pick, pick, and gathered all the
good seeds into the dishes, and before half an hour was over they had
already finished, and all flew out again.
Then the maiden carried the dishes to the step-mother and was
delighted, and believed that she might now go with them to the
festival. But the step-mother said, "All this will not help thee; thou
goest not with us, for thou hast no clothes and canst not dance; we
should be ashamed of thee!"
On this she turned her back on Cinderella, and hurried away with her
two proud daughters.
As
no one was now at home, Cinderella went to her
mother's grave beneath the hazel-tree, and cried,
"Shiver
and quiver, little tree,
Silver and gold throw down over me."
Then the bird
threw a gold and silver dress down to
her, and slippers embroidered with silk and silver.
She put on the dress with all speed, and went to the festival.
Her step-sisters and the step-mother however did not know her, and
thought she must be a foreign princess, for she looked so beautiful in
the golden dress.
They never once thought of Cinderella, and believed that she was
sitting at home in the dirt, picking lentils out of the ashes.
The prince went to meet her, took her by the hand and danced with her.
He would dance with no other maiden, and never left loose of her hand,
and if any one else came to invite her, he said, "This is my partner."
She
danced till it was evening, and then she
wanted to go home.
But the King's son said, "I will go with thee and bear thee company,"
for he wished to see to whom the beautiful maiden belonged.
She escaped from him, however, and sprang into the
pigeon-house.
The King's son waited until her father came, and then he told him that
the stranger maiden had leapt into the pigeon-house.
The old man thought, "Can it be Cinderella?" and they had to bring him
an axe and a pickaxe that he might hew the pigeon-house to pieces, but
no one was inside it.
And when they got home Cinderella lay in her dirty clothes among the
ashes, and a dim little oil-lamp was burning on the mantle-piece, for
Cinderella had jumped quickly down from the back of the pigeon-house
and had run to the little hazel-tree, and there she had taken off her
beautiful clothes and laid them on the grave, and the bird had taken
them away again, and then she had placed herself in the kitchen amongst
the ashes in her grey gown.
Next
day when the festival began afresh, and her
parents and the step-sisters had gone once more, Cinderella went to the
hazel-tree and said
"Shiver
and quiver, my little tree,
Silver and gold throw down over me."
Then the bird
threw down a much more beautiful dress
than on the preceding day.
And when Cinderella appeared at the festival in this dress, every one
was astonished at her beauty.
The King's son had waited until she came, and instantly took her by the
hand and danced with no one but her.
When others came and invited her, he said, "She is my partner."
When evening came she wished to leave, and the King's son followed her
and wanted to see into which house she went.
But she sprang away from him, and into the garden behind the house.
Therein stood a beautiful tall tree on which hung the most magnificent
pears.
She clambered so nimbly between the branches like a squirrel, that the
King's son did not know where she was gone.
He waited until her father came, and said to him, "The stranger- maiden
has escaped from me, and I believe she has climbed up the pear-tree."
The father thought, "Can it be Cinderella?" and had an axe brought and
cut the tree down, but no one was on it.
And when they got into the kitchen, Cinderella lay there amongst the
ashes, as usual, for she had jumped down on the other side of the tree,
had taken the beautiful dress to the bird on the little hazel-tree, and
put on her grey gown.
On
the third day, when the parents and sisters
had gone away, Cinderella went once more to her mother's grave and said
to the little tree
"Shiver
and quiver, my little tree,
Silver and gold throw down over me."
And now the
bird threw down to her a dress which was
more splendid and magnificent than any she had yet had, and the
slippers were golden.
And when she went to the festival in the dress, no one knew how to
speak for astonishment.
The King's son danced with her only, and if any one invited her to
dance, he said, "She is my partner."
When
evening came, Cinderella wished to leave,
and the King's son was anxious to go with her, but she escaped from him
so quickly that he could not follow her.
The King's son had, however, used a stratagem, and had caused the whole
staircase to be smeared with pitch, and there, when she ran down, had
the maiden's left slipper remained sticking.
The King's son picked it up, and it was small and dainty, and all
golden.
Next morning, he went with it to the father, and said to him, "No one
shall be my wife but she whose foot this golden slipper fits."
Then
were the two sisters glad, for they had
pretty feet.
The eldest went with the shoe into her room and wanted to try it on,
and her mother stood by.
But she could not get her big toe into it, and the shoe was too small
for her.
Then her mother gave her a knife and said, "Cut the toe off; when thou
art Queen thou wilt have no more need to go on foot."
The maiden cut the toe off, forced the foot into the shoe, swallowed
the pain, and went out to the King's son.
Then he took her on his horse as his bride and rode away with
her.
They were, however, obliged to pass the grave, and there, on the
hazel-tree, sat the two pigeons and cried,
"Turn
and peep, turn and peep,
There's blood within the shoe,
The shoe it is too small for her,
The true bride waits for you."
Then he looked
at her foot and saw how the blood was
streaming from it.
He turned his horse round and took the false bride home again, and said
she was not the true one, and that the other sister was to put the shoe
on.
Then this one went into her chamber and got her toes safely into the
shoe, but her heel was too large.
So her mother gave her a knife and said, "Cut a bit off thy heel; when
thou art Queen thou wilt have no more need to go on foot."
The maiden cut a bit off her heel, forced her foot into the shoe,
swallowed the pain, and went out to the King's son.
He took her on his horse as his bride, and rode away with her, but when
they passed by the hazel-tree, two little pigeons sat on it and cried,
"Turn
and peep, turn and peep,
There's blood within the shoe,
The shoe it is too small for her,
The true bride waits for you."
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.
Then he turned his horse and took the false bride home again. "This
also is not the right one," said he, "have you no other daughter?"
"No," said the man, "There is still a little stunted kitchen-wench
which my late wife left behind her, but she cannot possibly be the
bride." The King's son said he was to send her up to him; but the
mother answered, "Oh no, she is much too dirty, she cannot show
herself!"
He absolutely insisted on it, and Cinderella had to be called.
She first washed her hands and face clean, and then went and bowed down
before the King's son, who gave her the golden shoe.
Then she seated herself on a stool, drew her foot out of the heavy
wooden shoe, and put it into the slipper, which fitted like a glove.
And when she rose up and the King's son looked at her face he
recognized the beautiful maiden who had danced with him and cried,
"That is the true bride!" The step-mother and the two sisters were
terrified and became pale with rage; he, however, took Cinderella on
his horse and rode away with her.
As they passed by the hazel-tree, the two white doves cried,
"Turn
and peep, turn and peep,
No blood is in the shoe,
The shoe is not too small for her,
The true bride rides with you,"
and when they
had cried that, the two came flying
down and placed themselves on Cinderella's shoulders, one on the right,
the other on the left, and remained sitting there.
When
the wedding with the King's son had to be
celebrated, the two false sisters came and wanted to get into favour
with Cinderella and share her good fortune.
When the betrothed couple went to church, the elder was at the right
side and the younger at the left, and the pigeons pecked out one eye of
each of them.
Afterwards as they came back, the elder was at the left, and the
younger at the right, and then the pigeons pecked out the other eye of
each.
And thus, for their wickedness and falsehood, they were punished with
blindness as long as they lived.
From
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household
Tales, trans. Margaret Hunt
(London: George Bell, 1884), 1:93-100.
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