Grimm's Fairy Tales

Author: Brothers Grimm
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-05-01
Features: "Look at this proud princess and her entire outfit!" they cried, they laughed, and led her into the kitchen. There she had to do heavy chores from morning till night—getting up before dawn, carrying water, starting fires, cooking meals, and washing clothes. In addition, the two younger sisters devised various tricks to tease and mock her, deliberately scattering peas and beans in the ashes, asking her to sit down and pick them out one by one. At night, when she grew tired from her work, there was no bed for her to sleep in; she could only lie down in the ashes by the stove. Because of her appearance—always dusty and extremely dirty—they called her Cinderella.
Now, the father once wanted to go to mass and asked his two stepdaughters what he should bring back for them. "Beautiful clothes," one said; "pearls and jewels," the other replied. "But you, Cinderella," he said, "what do you want?" "Father, what I want is a branch that hit your hat on the way home," she said. "Please break it off for me." So he bought beautiful clothes, pearls, and jewels for his two stepdaughters; on his way home, riding through a green forest on horseback, a hazel branch gently brushed past him, knocking his hat to the ground. That way, he broke off the branch and brought it home. When he arrived, he gave the things his stepdaughters had hoped for to them and also gave the hazel branch to Cinderella.
Cinderella expressed her gratitude to her father and went to her mother's grave, planting the branch there. She wept bitterly, tears falling onto the grave and wetting the branch. As a result, the branch took root and grew into a beautiful tree. Cinderella came to the tree three times a day, weeping and praying to God, and each time a small white bird flew to the tree. As long as she made a wish, the bird would throw her the thing she desired.
Once, the king held a grand wedding banquet that lasted for three days, inviting all young and beautiful ladies in the country, intending to find a bride for his son. The two stepsisters, also considered noble young women, heard they had been invited to the banquet and called Cinderella over. "You must comb our hair for us, brush our shoes, and tighten the buttons on our belts," they said, "so we can attend the grand banquet at the palace." Cinderella had no choice but to comply, but she cried because she too wanted to attend the dance at the banquet. She begged her stepmother for permission.
"You, Cinderella," the stepmother said, "covered in dust and filth, and you want to attend the dance? You don’t even have proper clothes or shoes to dance in?" But after Cinderella’s persistent pleading, the stepmother finally agreed: "I have a bowl of broad beans scattered in the ashes. If you can pick them all out within two hours, you can come too."
So Cinderella went through the back door and into the garden, shouting, "You clever little doves, you little turtledoves, all the little birds in the sky, come here and help me pick the broad beans: good ones into the bowl, bad ones down your throats." At that moment, two small white doves came to the kitchen window...