CINDERELLA

Once upon a time there was a little girl called Cinderella. Her mother was dead, and she lived with her father and two elder sisters.

Cinderella's elder sisters were beautiful and fair of face but, because they were bad tempered and unkind, their faces grew to look ugly. They were jealous of Cinderella because she was a lovely child, and so they were often unkind to her.

The ugly sisters made Cinderella do all the work in the house. She carried coal for the fire, cooked the meals, washed the dishes, scrubbed and mended the clothes, swept the floor and dusted the furniture. She worked from morning till night, without stopping.

Cinderella not only did all the housework but she also helped her sisters to dress. She cleaned their shoes, brushed their hair, tied their ribbons and fastened their buckles. The elder sisters had many fine clothes, but they were so bad tempered that they still looked ugly.

Cinderella had no fine clothes. All she had was an old grey dress and a pair of wooden shoes.

In the evening, when she had worked until she was weary, Cinderella had no bed to go to. She had to sleep by the hearth in the cinders. That was why her sisters called her Cinderella and that was why she always looked dusty and dirty.

Now it happened that the King arranged a great feast for his son. The feast was to last three days and on each evening there was to be a grand ball. All the beautiful young girls in the country were invited, in order that the Prince might choose himself a bride.

Cinderella's sisters were invited to the feast and they were so excited that they could talk of nothing else. Cinderella was not invited. As she was only seen in rags, working in the kitchen, everyone thought that she was her sisters' maid.

On the evening of the first ball, Cinderella had to help her sisters to put on their new dresses and arrange their hair.

Cinderella thought of how she would like to have a ball-gown and go to the ball and see the prince. Tears began to run down her face.

"What are you crying for?" asked the ugly sisters, crossly.

"I would like to wear a beautiful dress and go to the ball," replied Cinderella.

"You, go to the ball!" laughed the sisters, "a fine sight you would be, at the ball!" And they pointed to her ragged dress and wooden shoes.

When her sisters had left for the ball, poor Cinderella sat down and cried as if her heart would break.

Suddenly, Cinderella heard a kind voice saying, "What is the matter, my dear?" She jumped up from her stool and turned to see who it could be. There stood her fairy godmother, smiling kindly at her.

"I would like to have a beautiful dress and be able to go to the ball," said Cinderella. "I have never been to a ball and I have never had a ball-gown," she went on, "and I would love to see the prince."

"And so you shall, my dear," said her fairy godmother. "Dry your eyes and then do exactly as I tell you."