ASCHENPUTTEL

THERE was once a rich man whose wife lay sick, and when she felt her end

drawing near she called to her only daughter to come near her bed, and

said,

"Dear child, be pious and good, and God will always take care of you,

and I will look down upon you from heaven, and will be with you."

And then she closed her eyes and expired. The maiden went every day to

her mother's grave and wept, and was always pious and good. When the

winter came the snow covered the grave with a white covering, and when

the sun came in the early spring and melted it away, the man took to

himself another wife.

The new wife brought two daughters home with her, and they were

beautiful and fair in appearance, but at heart were black and ugly. And

then began very evil times for the poor step-daughter.

"Is the stupid creature to sit in the same room with us?" said they;

"those who eat food must earn it. Out upon her for a kitchen-maid!"

They took away her pretty dresses, and put on her an old gray kirtle,

and gave her wooden shoes to wear.

"Just look now at the proud princess, how she is decked out!" cried they

laughing, and then they sent her into the kitchen. There she was obliged

to do heavy work from morning to night, get up early in the morning,

draw water, make the fires, cook, and wash. Besides that, the sisters

did their utmost to torment her,--mocking her, and strewing peas and

lentils among the ashes, and setting her to pick them up. In the

evenings, when she was quite tired out with her hard day's work, she had

no bed to lie on, but was obliged to rest on the hearth among the

cinders. And as she always looked dusty and dirty, they named her

Aschenputtel.

It happened one day that the father went to the fair, and he asked his

two step-daughters what he should bring back for them.

"Fine clothes!" said one.

"Pearls and jewels!" said the other.

"But what will you have, Aschenputtel?" said he.

"The first twig, father, that strikes against your hat on the way home;

that is what I should like you to bring me."

So he bought for the two step-daughters fine clothes, pearls, and

jewels, and on his way back, as he rode through a green lane, a

hazel-twig struck against his hat; and he broke it off and carried it

home with him. And when he reached home he gave to the step-daughters

what they had wished for, and to Aschenputtel he gave the hazel-twig.

She thanked him, and went to her mother's grave, and planted this twig

there, weeping so bitterly that the tears fell upon it and watered it,

and it flourished and became a fine tree. Aschenputtel went to see it

three times a day, and wept and prayed, and each time a white bird rose

up from the tree, and if she uttered any wish the bird brought her

whatever she had wished for.

Now if came to pass that the king ordained a festival that should last

for three days, and to which all the beautiful young women of that

country were bidden, so that the king's son might choose a bride from

among them. When the two step-daughters heard that they too were bidden

to appear, they felt very pleased, and they called Aschenputtel, and

said,

"Comb our hair, brush our shoes, and make our buckles fast, we are going

to the wedding feast at the king's castle."

Aschenputtel, when she heard this, could not help crying, for she too

would have liked to go to the dance, and she begged her step-mother to

allow her.

"What, you Aschenputtel!" said she, "in all your dust and dirt, you

want to go to the festival! you that have no dress and no shoes! you

want to dance!"

But as she persisted in asking, at last the step-mother said,

"I have strewed a dish-full of lentils in the ashes, and if you can pick

them all up again in two hours you may go with us."

Then the maiden went to the back-door that led into the garden, and

called out,

"O gentle doves, O turtle-doves,

And all the birds that be,

The lentils that in ashes lie

Come and pick up for me!

The good must be put in the dish,

The bad you may eat if you wish."

Then there came to the kitchen-window two white doves, and after them

some turtle-doves, and at last a crowd of all the birds under heaven,

chirping and fluttering, and they alighted among the ashes; and the

doves nodded with their heads, and began to pick, peck, pick, peck, and

then all the others began to pick, peck, pick, peck, and put all the

good grains into the dish. Before an hour was over all was done, and

they flew away. Then the maiden brought the dish to her step-mother,

feeling joyful, and thinking that now she should go to the feast; but

the step-mother said,

"No, Aschenputtel, you have no proper clothes, and you do not know how

to dance, and you would be laughed at!"

And when Aschenputtel cried for disappointment, she added,

"If you can pick two dishes full of lentils out of the ashes, nice and

clean, you shall go with us," thinking to herself, "for that is not

possible." When she had strewed two dishes full of lentils among the

ashes the maiden went through the back-door into the garden, and cried,

"O gentle doves, O turtle-doves,

And all the birds that be,

The lentils that in ashes lie

Come and pick up for me!

The good must be put in the dish,

The bad you may eat if you wish."

So there came to the kitchen-window two white doves, and then some

turtle-doves, and at last a crowd of all the other birds under heaven,

chirping and fluttering, and they alighted among the ashes, and the

doves nodded with their heads and began to pick, peck, pick, peck, and

then all the others began to pick, peck, pick, peck, and put all the

good grains into the dish. And before half-an-hour was over it was all

done, and they flew away. Then the maiden took the dishes to the

step-mother, feeling joyful, and thinking that now she should go with

them to the feast; but she said "All this is of no good to you; you

cannot come with us, for you have no proper clothes, and cannot dance;

you would put us to shame."

Then she turned her back on poor Aschenputtel, and made haste to set out

with her two proud daughters.

And as there was no one left in the house, Aschenputtel went to her

mother's grave, under the hazel bush, and cried,

"Little tree, little tree, shake over me,

That silver and gold may come down and cover me."

Then the bird threw down a dress of gold and silver, and a pair of

slippers embroidered with silk and silver. And in all haste she put on

the dress and went to the festival. But her step-mother and sisters did

not know her, and thought she must be a foreign princess, she looked so

beautiful in her golden dress. Of Aschenputtel they never thought at

all, and supposed that she was sitting at home, and picking the lentils

out of the ashes. The King's son came to meet her, and took her by the

hand and danced with her, and he refused to stand up with any one else,

so that he might not be obliged to let go her hand; and when any one

came to claim it he answered,

"She is my partner."

And when the evening came she wanted to go home, but the prince said he

would go with her to take care of her, for he wanted to see where the

beautiful maiden lived. But she escaped him, and jumped up into the

pigeon-house. Then the prince waited until the father came, and told him

the strange maiden had jumped into the pigeon-house. The father thought

to himself,

"It cannot surely be Aschenputtel," and called for axes and hatchets,

and had the pigeon-house cut down, but there was no one in it. And when

they entered the house there sat Aschenputtel in her dirty clothes among

the cinders, and a little oil-lamp burnt dimly in the chimney; for

Aschenputtel had been very quick, and had jumped out of the pigeon-house

again, and had run to the hazel bush; and there she had taken off her

beautiful dress and had laid it on the grave, and the bird had carried

it away again, and then she had put on her little gray kirtle again, and

had sat down in the kitchen among the cinders.

The next day, when the festival began anew, and the parents and

step-sisters had gone to it, Aschenputtel went to the hazel bush and

cried,

"Little tree, little tree, shake over me,

That silver and gold may come down and cover me."

Then the bird cast down a still more splendid dress than on the day

before. And when she appeared in it among the guests every one was

astonished at her beauty. The prince had been waiting until she came,

and he took her hand and danced with her alone. And when any one else

came to invite her he said,

"She is my partner."

And when the evening came she wanted to go home, and the prince followed

her, for he wanted to see to what house she belonged; but she broke away

from him, and ran into the garden at the back of the house. There stood

a fine large tree, bearing splendid pears; she leapt as lightly as a

squirrel among the branches, and the prince did not know what had become

of her. So he waited until the father came, and then he told him that

the strange maiden had rushed from him, and that he thought she had gone

up into the pear-tree. The father thought to himself,

"It cannot surely be Aschenputtel," and called for an axe, and felled

the tree, but there was no one in it. And when they went into the

kitchen there sat Aschenputtel among the cinders, as usual, for she had

got down the other side of the tree, and had taken back her beautiful

clothes to the bird on the hazel bush, and had put on her old gray

kirtle again.

On the third day, when the parents and the step-children had set off,

Aschenputtel went again to her mother's grave, and said to the tree,

"Little tree, little tree, shake over me,

That silver and gold may come down and cover me."

Then the bird cast down a dress, the like of which had never been seen

for splendour and brilliancy, and slippers that were of gold.

And when she appeared in this dress at the feast nobody knew what to say

for wonderment. The prince danced with her alone, and if any one else

asked her he answered,

"She is my partner."

And when it was evening Aschenputtel wanted to go home, and the prince

was about to go with her, when she ran past him so quickly that he could

not follow her. But he had laid a plan, and had caused all the steps to

be spread with pitch, so that as she rushed down them the left shoe of

the maiden remained sticking in it. The prince picked it up, and saw

that it was of gold, and very small and slender. The next morning he

went to the father and told him that none should be his bride save the

one whose foot the golden shoe should fit. Then the two sisters were

very glad, because they had pretty feet. The eldest went to her room to

try on the shoe, and her mother stood by. But she could not get her

great toe into it, for the shoe was too small; then her mother handed

her a knife, and said,

"Cut the toe off, for when you are queen you will never have to go on

foot." So the girl cut her toe off, squeezed her foot into the shoe,

concealed the pain, and went down to the prince. Then he took her with

him on his horse as his bride, and rode off. They had to pass by the

grave, and there sat the two pigeons on the hazel bush, and cried,

"There they go, there they go!

There is blood on her shoe;

The shoe is too small,

--Not the right bride at all!"

Then the prince looked at her shoe, and saw the blood flowing. And he

turned his horse round and took the false bride home again, saying she

was not the right one, and that the other sister must try on the shoe.

So she went into her room to do so, and got her toes comfortably in, but

her heel was too large. Then her mother handed her the knife, saying,

"Cut a piece off your heel; when you are queen you will never have to

go on foot."

So the girl cut a piece off her heel, and thrust her foot into the shoe,

concealed the pain, and went down to the prince, who took his bride

before him on his horse and rode off. When they passed by the hazel bush

the two pigeons sat there and cried,

"There they go, there they go!

There is blood on her shoe;

The shoe is too small,

--Not the right bride at all!"

Then the prince looked at her foot, and saw how the blood was flowing

from the shoe, and staining the white stocking. And he turned his horse

round and brought the false bride home again.

"This is not the right one," said he, "have you no other daughter?"

"No," said the man, "only my dead wife left behind her a little stunted

Aschenputtel; it is impossible that she can be the bride." But the

King's son ordered her to be sent for, but the mother said,

"Oh no! she is much too dirty, I could not let her be seen."

But he would have her fetched, and so Aschenputtel had to appear.

First she washed her face and hands quite clean, and went in and

curtseyed to the prince, who held out to her the golden shoe. Then she

sat down on a stool, drew her foot out of the heavy wooden shoe, and

slipped it into the golden one, which fitted it perfectly. And when she

stood up, and the prince looked in her face, he knew again the beautiful

maiden that had danced with him, and he cried,

"This is the right bride!"

The step-mother and the two sisters were thunderstruck, and grew pale

with anger; but he put Aschenputtel before him on his horse and rode

off. And as they passed the hazel bush, the two white pigeons cried,

"There they go, there they go!

No blood on her shoe;

The shoe's not too small,

The right bride is she after all."

And when they had thus cried, they came flying after and perched on

Aschenputtel's shoulders, one on the right, the other on the left, and

so remained.

And when her wedding with the prince was appointed to be held the false

sisters came, hoping to curry favour, and to take part in the

festivities. So as the bridal procession went to the church, the eldest

walked on the right side and the younger on the left, and the pigeons

picked out an eye of each of them. And as they returned the elder was on

the left side and the younger on the right, and the pigeons picked out

the other eye of each of them. And so they were condemned to go blind

for the rest of their days because of their wickedness and falsehood.