A rich man's wife fell sick, and as she felt that her end was 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 you, and I will look down on you from heaven and be near you." Thereupon she closed her eyes and passed away.
Every day the maiden went out to her mother's grave, and wept, and remained pious and good. When winter came the snow laid a white covering on the grave, and when the spring sun had melted it away, the man had taken another wife.
She had two daughters, who were beautiful and fair of face, but vile and black of heart. Now began a bad time for the poor stepchild. "Is the stupid goose to sit in the parlor with us?" said they. "He who wants to eat bread must earn it. Out with the kitchen-maid!" They took her clothes from her, and put on her an old grey frock, 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, make the fire, 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 obliged to remain sitting there 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 lie by the hearth in the cinders. And as this, of course, made her look dusty and dirty, they called her Aschenputtel (Cinderella).
It happened that the father was going to the fair, and asked his two step-daughters what he should bring for them. "Beautiful dresses," said the one, "Pearls and jewels," said the other. "And you, Aschenputtel," said he, "what do you want?" "Father, the first twig that knocks against your hat on your way home, break off for me."
So he bought beautiful dresses, pearls, and jewels for the two stepsisters, and on his way home, as he rode through a green thicket, a hazel twig brushed against him and knocked off his hat. Then he broke off the twig and took it with him. When he reached home he gave the stepdaughters what they had wished for, and to Aschenputtel he gave the twig from the hazel-bush. She thanked him, and went to her mother's grave, and planted the twig on it, and wept so much that the tears fell upon it and watered it. It grew, however, and became a handsome tree. Three times a day Aschenputtel went to it, and wept and prayed, and each time a little white bird sat on the tree, and if she expressed a wish, the bird threw down to her what she had wished for.
It happened that the King gave a feast, 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 a bride. When the two stepsisters heard that they were to appear, they were in high spirits. They called Aschenputtel and said, "Comb our hair, brush our shoes, and tie our buckles, for we are going to the feast at the King's palace."
Aschenputtel obeyed, but wept, because she too would have liked to go to the dance, and she begged her stepmother to allow her. "You, Aschenputtel!" said she, "you are covered with dust and dirt, and want to go to the feast? You have no clothes and shoes, and want to dance?"
As, however, Aschenputtel still begged, she said at last, "If you can clear me up half a bushel of lentils out of the ashes in two hours, you shall go." The maiden went out at the back-door and called, "You tame pigeons, you turtle-doves, and all you birds beneath the sky, come and help me to pick the lentils:
"'The good ones in the pot,
The bad ones 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 settled in the ashes. And the pigeons nodded with their heads and began pick, pick, pick, and the others began also pick, pick, pick, and gathered all the good peas into the dish. Before two hours had passed, they were ready, and had finished, and all flew out again.
Then the maiden took the dish to the stepmother, and was happy, and thought she would now be allowed to go with them to the feast. But the stepmother said, "No, Aschenputtel, you have no clothes and shoes, and cannot go to the dance." But as Aschenputtel begged, she said, "If you can pick me up a whole bushel of lentils out of the ashes in one hour, you shall go." And she thought, "That she will certainly not be able to do."
The maiden went out at the back-door and called as before, "You tame pigeons, you turtle-doves, and all you birds beneath the sky, come and help me to pick the lentils:
"'The good ones in the pot,
The bad ones 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 settled in the ashes. And the pigeons nodded with their heads and began pick, pick, pick, and the others began also pick, pick, pick, and gathered all the good peas into the dish. And before one hour had passed, they were ready and had finished, and all flew out again.
Then the maiden took the dish to the stepmother, and was happy and thought she would now be allowed to go with them to the feast. But the stepmother said, "It is of no use; you cannot come with us, for you have no clothes and shoes, and cannot dance. We should be ashamed of you." She turned her back on poor Aschenputtel, and hurried away with her two proud daughters.
As soon as no one was left at home, Aschenputtel went to her mother's grave beneath the hazel-tree, and cried, "Little tree, little tree, shake over me, that silver and gold may come showering down on me." Then the bird on the tree threw down a silver and gold dress and silken slippers embroidered with silver. She put the dress on, and went to the feast. Her stepsisters and the stepmother 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 Aschenputtel, and imagined that she was sitting at home in the dirt and picking lentils out of the ashes.
The King's son came to her, and took her by the hand and danced with her. He would dance with no other maiden, and never let go of her hand, and if anyone else came to ask her to dance, he said, "She is my partner."
She danced until the evening, and then she wanted to go home. But the King's son said, "I will go with you and escort you," for he wished to see to whom the beautiful maiden belonged. But she escaped from him and sprang into the pigeon-house. The King's son waited until the father came, and told him that the stranger maiden had leapt into the pigeon-house. The old man thought, "Can it be Aschenputtel?" and he had an axe and a pickaxe brought to him, and he broke the pigeon-house to pieces, but no one was inside. When they got home, Aschenputtel was lying in the ashes in her dirty clothes, and a dim oil-lamp was burning on the chimney-piece, for Aschenputtel had crept quickly out of the pigeon-house at the back and run to the hazel-tree, and there taken off her beautiful clothes and laid them on the grave, and the bird had taken them away again, and then she had sat down in the kitchen amongst the ashes in her little grey frock.
Next day when the feast began afresh, and her parents and the stepsisters had gone again, Aschenputtel went to the hazel-tree and said, "Little tree, little tree, shake over me, that silver and gold may come showering down on me."
Then the bird threw down a much more magnificent dress than on the preceding day, and when Aschenputtel appeared at the feast in this dress, everyone was astonished at her beauty. The King's son had waited until she came, and at once took her by the hand and danced with her. When others came and wished to dance with her, he said, "She is my partner."
When evening came she wished to go home, 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. There stood a beautiful large pear-tree with the most magnificent pears on it. She clambered up into the tree, and the King's son did not know what had become of her. He waited for her father, and said to him, "The stranger maiden has escaped from me, and I think she has climbed into the pear-tree." The father thought, "Can it be Aschenputtel?" and ordered an axe to be brought and cut down the tree, but no one was on it. When they got into the kitchen, Aschenputtel was lying there amongst the ashes, as before, for she had jumped down from the other side of the tree, and had taken the beautiful dress back to the bird on the hazel-tree, and then had put on her little grey frock.
On the third day, when the parents and sisters had gone to the feast, Aschenputtel went once more to her mother's grave, and said to the tree, "Little tree, little tree, shake over me, that silver and gold may come showering down on me."
Then the bird threw down a dress which was more splendid and magnificent than any she had yet worn, and the slippers were of pure gold. When she appeared at the feast in this dress, the people were so astonished that they did not know what to say; the King's son danced with her alone, and if anyone else asked her to dance, he said, "She is my partner."
When evening came, Aschenputtel wished to go home, and the King's son was about to accompany her, but she slipped away from him so quickly that he could not follow her. The King's son had, however, used a trick and had had the whole staircase smeared with pitch, and when she ran down it, the maiden's left slipper remained sticking in it. The King's son picked it up, and it was small and graceful, and of pure gold.
Next morning, he went with it to the father and said, "No other shall be my wife but she whose foot this golden slipper fits." The two sisters were glad, for they had beautiful feet. The elder went with the slipper into the room and wanted to try it on, and her mother stood by. But she could not get her great 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 you are Queen you will no longer have to go on foot." The girl cut off her great toe, and squeezed her foot into the shoe, and forced back the pain. Then she went out to the King's son, and he looked at her foot and saw how the blood was streaming from it. He drew his horse nearer to the father and said, "This is not the right one; she has blood on her foot."
Then the other sister went into the room and tried the shoe on. She got her toes into it, 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, and squeezed her foot into the shoe, and forced back the pain. Then she went out to the King's son, and he looked at her foot and saw how the blood was streaming from it and filling the shoe. He drew his horse nearer to the father and said, "This is not the right one; she has blood on her foot."
Then he said, "Is there no other daughter here?" "No," said the father, "there is only a little stunted kitchen-maid, Aschenputtel; she cannot possibly be the bride." The King's son ordered her to be sent for, but the stepmother said, "Oh, no, she is much too dirty; we cannot let her be seen." But the King's son insisted, and Aschenputtel had to be called.
First she washed her hands and face clean, and then went and bowed down before the King's son, who held out the golden slipper to her. She seated herself on a stool, pulled her foot out of the heavy wooden shoe, and put it into the slipper, which fitted her perfectly, 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, "This is the right one!"
The stepmother and the two sisters were terrified and became pale with rage; but he took Aschenputtel on his horse and rode away with her. As they passed the hazel-tree, the two white doves sat on it and cried:
"Look back, look back,
The blood's in the shoe,
The shoe is too small,
The right bride waits for you."
And when they had passed it, they cried:
"Look forward, look forward,
No blood's in the shoe,
The shoe is not small,
The right bride rides with you."
After they had passed, the doves came flying after them and perched upon Aschenputtel's shoulders, one upon the right, and the other upon the left, and remained sitting there.
When the wedding with the King's son was to be celebrated, the two false sisters came, and wanted to make their way into favor, and to share her good fortune. When the bridal procession went to the church, the elder was on the right side and the younger on the left, and the doves perched on the shoulders of Aschenputtel picked out one eye of each of them. Afterwards as they came back, the elder was on the left, and the younger on the right, and the doves picked out the other eye of each of them. And thus they were punished with blindness as long as they lived for their wickedness and malice.
