Cinderella

The original Cinderella story written by the Grimm Brothers, is quite different from the Disney film. Ok, so some of the story is the same as the Disney version. Only the home-by-midnight rule, clock, and the golden shoe. Except there is no fairy godmother. It starts out with Cinderella weeping at her mothers grave because she has been forbidden to go to the royal ball. She cries:

Shake and quiver, little tree,

Throw gold and silver down to me!!

The pigeons perched in the Hazel tree, throw down a silver dress and golden slippers. This continued for the next two days of the ball. So the story proceeds as normal; Cinderella and the prince fall in love and runs away at midnight. On the 3rd, and last, night she leaves a shoe, and the prince resolves to find the girl to whom the shoe belongs. When the prince comes to her stepmothers home, the prince is told that the stepmother has two daughters, while Cinderella is told to scrub the upstairs floor. One stepsister goes into the other room with her mother to try on the shoe. Her mother convinces her to chop off her toes so the shoe will fit. She does, and the prince rides off with the first stepsister. On the ride to the castle, they must pass the Cinderella's mothers grave and the little Hazel tree with the pigeons perched in it. As they pass the tree, the pigeons sing:

Rook di goo, rook di goo!

There's blood in the shoe.

The shoe is too tight,

This bride is not right!

The prince looked down, and sure enough, there was a trail of blood dripping from the girl's shoe. He returned to the house, where the other stepsister did the same thing - only with her heel. Again the birds sing to tell the prince that he has the wrong girl. He returns to the home and demands to know if their are any more girls living that home. The stepmother replies that there is only a poor, deaf, scullery maid. The prince demands to see her. Cinderella cleans herself up, bows to the prince and puts on the golden shoe, which fits her perfectly. She stands up and as the prince looks at her face, he realizes that she is the girl he had been so entranced with at the balls. He sweeps Cinderella off her feet, and they ride off together towards the royal castle. As Cinderella and the prince ride past her mother's grave, the pigeons in the Hazel tree sing :
Rook di goo, rook di goo!

No blood's in the shoe.

The shoe's not too tight,

This bride is right!!





I love how the Grimm Brothers make the story come alive to the reader. They did an excellent job with the composition and the story line.