A rich man's wife became sick, and when she felt that her end was drawing near, she called her only daughter to her bedside and said, "Dear child, our dear God will always protect you, and I will look down on you from heaven and be near you." With this she closed her eyes and died. Every day, I miss my mother and wish how my life could have been different if she were still here. The girl went out to her mother's grave every day and wept, and she remained pious and good. When the spring sun had removed it again, the man took himself another wife. This wife brought two daughters into the house with her. They were beautiful, with fair faces, but evil and dark hearts. Times soon grew very bad for the poor stepchild. They took her beautiful clothes away from her, dressed her in an old gray smock, and gave her wooden shoes. At first, I was sad that my father was remarrying. I knew no one could replace my mother in my heart. Then, I was excited at the possibility of sisters. Since my mother had died, I had been so lonely. But my new stepsisters turned out to be worse than anything I could have ever imagined. And my father, who was supposed to take care of me, let them treat me that way and simply turned a blind eye. She had to do hard work from morning until evening. Besides this, the sisters did everything imaginable to hurt her. In the evening when she had worked herself weary, there was no bed for her. Instead she had to sleep by the hearth in the ashes. And because she always looked dusty and dirty, they called her Cinderella. I’ve been called Cinderella so long that I don’t remember my own name. One day it happened that the father was going to the fair, and he asked his two stepdaughters what he should bring back for them. "Beautiful dresses," said the one. "Pearls and jewels," said the other. "And you, Cinderella," he said, "what do you want?" "Father, break off for me the first twig that brushes against your hat on your way home." I knew that asking for any more would have made them upset with me. Even if he did bring me something worth more, I knew they would take it away. Arriving home, he gave his stepdaughters the things that they had asked for, and he gave Cinderella the twig from a hazel bush. Cinderella planted the branch on her mother’s grave, and she wept so much that her tears fell upon it and watered it. It grew and became a beautiful tree. Cinderella went to this tree three times every day, and beneath it she wept and prayed. 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. Every day I still miss my mother. I’ve always thought the little bird was her way of taking care of me Now it happened that the king proclaimed a festival that was to last three days. All the beautiful young girls in the land were invited, so that his son could select a bride for himself. When the two stepsisters heard, 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. Being upset over a dance seems silly, but I had never wanted something so much in my life. If I could have had one night of happiness and excitement, it would have made all the other years of suffering worth it. "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, "I have scattered a bowl of lentils into the ashes for you. If you can pick them out again in two hours, then you may go with us." The girl went through the back door into the garden, and called out, "You tame pigeons, you turtledoves, and all you birds beneath the sky, come and help me to gather." Two white pigeons came in through the kitchen window, and then the turtledoves, and finally all the birds beneath the sky came whirring and swarming in, and lit around the ashes. They gathered all the good grains into the bowl. Hardly one hour had passed before they were finished, and they all flew out again. The girl took the bowl to her stepmother, and was happy, thinking that now she would be allowed to go to the festival with them. But the stepmother said, "No, Cinderella, you have no clothes, and you don't know how to dance. Everyone would only laugh at you." Cinderella began to cry, and then the stepmother said, "You may go if you are able to pick two bowls of lentils out of the ashes for me in one hour," thinking to herself, "She will never be able to do that." The girl went through the back door into the garden, and called out, "You tame pigeons, you turtledoves, and all you birds beneath the sky, come and help me to gather." Before a half hour had passed they were finished, and they all flew out again. The girl took the bowls to her stepmother, and was happy, thinking that now she would be allowed to go to the festival with them. 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. Hope is most terrible when it’s taken away. Now that no one else was at home, Cinderella went to her mother's grave beneath the hazel tree, and cried out: Shake and quiver, little tree, Throw gold and silver down to me. Then the bird threw a gold and silver dress down to her, and slippers embroidered with silk and silver. She quickly put on the dress and went to the festival. Her stepsisters and her stepmother did not recognize her. They thought she must be a foreign princess, for she looked so beautiful in the golden dress. I was terrified that they would see me, but also sad that not a single one of them recognized me. It meant that even my father didn’t care enough to look at me. The prince approached her, took her by the hand, and danced with her. Furthermore, he would dance with no one else. She danced until evening, and then she wanted to go home. But the prince said, "I will go along and escort you," for he wanted to see to whom the beautiful girl belonged. However, she eluded him. I knew that I needed to head back to my own reality When her family got home Cinderella was lying in the ashes, dressed in her dirty clothes. She had taken off her beautiful clothes and laid them on the grave, and the bird had taken them away again. Then, dressed in her gray smock, she had returned to the ashes in the kitchen. The next day when the festival began anew, Cinderella went to the hazel tree and said: Shake and quiver, little tree, Throw gold and silver down to me. Then the bird threw down an even more magnificent dress than on the preceding day. When Cinderella appeared at the festival in this dress, everyone was astonished at her beauty. The prince had waited until she came, then immediately took her by the hand, and danced only with her. When evening came she wanted to leave, and the prince followed her, wanting to see into which house she went. But she ran away from him. When her family came to the kitchen, Cinderella was lying there in the ashes as usual, for she had taken the beautiful dress back to the bird in the hazel tree, and had put on her gray smock. Part of me wishes he would get the hint that I don’t want him following. He’s fun to dance with but that’s as far as it goes On the third day, Cinderella went again to her mother's grave and said to the tree: Shake and quiver, little tree, Throw gold and silver down to me. This time the bird threw down to her a dress that was more splendid and magnificent than any she had yet had, and the slippers were of pure gold. When she arrived at the festival in this dress, everyone did not know what to say. The prince danced only with her. When evening came Cinderella wanted to leave, and the prince tried to escort her, but she ran away from him so quickly that he could not follow her. The prince, however, had set a trap. He had had the entire stairway smeared with pitch. When she ran down the stairs, her left slipper stuck in the pitch. The prince picked it up. It was small and dainty, and of pure gold. You’d think he’d get the hint already but now I’m missing a shoe. The next morning, he went with it to the man, and said to him, "No one shall be my wife except for the one whose foot fits this golden shoe." The two sisters were happy to hear this, for they had pretty feet. The older one took the shoe into her bedroom to try it on. She could not get her big toe into it, so 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, and went out to the prince. He took her on his horse as his bride and rode away with her. Even if I did want the prince to find me, it’s not very comforting that he wouldn’t even recognize me anyways. My stepsister and I look nothing alike. However, they had to ride past the grave, and there, on the hazel tree, sat the two pigeons, crying out: 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, 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, and went out to the prince. He took her on his horse as his bride and rode away with her. And once again, we look nothing alike. It’s silly that he was fooled by the same trick twice. When they passed the hazel tree, the two pigeons were sitting in it, and they cried out: 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?" "No," said the man. "There is only a deformed little Cinderella from my first wife, but she cannot possibly be the bride." The prince told him to send her to him, but the mother answered, "Oh, no, she is much too dirty. She cannot be seen." But the prince insisted on it, and they had to call Cinderella. She went and bowed down before the prince, who gave her the golden shoe. She sat down on a stool, and it fitted her perfectly. When she stood up 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." I’m shocked that he never looked into either of their faces and realized it wasn’t me in the first place. 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. No one ever asked me if I wanted to go, but anything was better than the life I was living at that house. Escaping was almost worth knowing I likely wouldn’t visit my mother’s grave again.