My Book of Favorite Fairy Tales | Page 9

In this
garden stood a fine large pear tree full of ripe fruit; and Cinderella, not
knowing where to hide herself, jumped up into it without being seen.
Then the king's son could not find out where she was gone, but waited
till her father came home, and said to him, "The unknown lady who
danced with me has slipped away, and I think she must have sprung
into the pear tree." The father thought to himself, "Can it be
Cinderella?" So he ordered an axe to be brought; and they cut down the
tree, but found no one upon it. And when they came back into the
kitchen, there lay Cinderella in the ashes as usual; for she had slipped
down on the other side of the tree, and carried her beautiful clothes
back to the bird at the hazel tree, and then put on her little old frock.
The third day, when her father and mother and sisters were gone she
went again into the garden, and said---
"Shake, shake, hazel tree, Gold and silver over me!"
Then her kind friend the bird brought a dress still finer than the former
ones, and slippers which were all of gold; so that when she came to the
feast no one knew what to say for wonder at her beauty; and the king's
son danced with her alone; and when any one else asked her to dance
he said, "This lady is my partner." Now when night came she wanted to
go home; and the king's son would go with her, and said to himself, "I
will not lose her this time;" but, however, she managed to slip away
from him, though in such a hurry that she dropped her left golden
slipper upon the stairs.
[Illustration: "SHE SPRANG AWAY FROM HIM, ALL AT ONCE,
INTO THE GARDEN BEHIND HER FATHER'S HOUSE."]
So the prince took the shoe, and went the next day to the king his father,
and said, "I will take for my wife the lady that this golden shoe fits."
Then both the sisters were overjoyed to hear this; for they had beautiful
feet, and had no doubt that they could wear the golden slipper. The
eldest went first into the room where the slipper was, and wanted to try
it on, and the mother stood by. But her great toe could not go into it,
and the shoe was altogether much too small for her. Then the mother

gave her a knife, and said, "Never mind, cut it off; when you are queen
you will not care about toes, you will not want to go on foot." So the
silly girl cut her great toe off, and squeezed the shoe on, and went to the
king's son. Then he took her for his bride, and set her beside him on his
horse and rode away with her. But on their way home they had to pass
by the hazel tree that Cinderella had planted and there sat a little dove
on the branch singing---
"Back again! back again! look to the shoe! The shoe is too small, and
not made for you! Prince! prince! look again for thy bride, For she's not
the true one that sits by thy side."
Then the prince got down and looked at her foot, and saw by the blood
that streamed from it what a trick she had played him. So he turned his
horse round and brought the false bride back to her home, and said,
"This is not the right bride; let the other sister try and put on the
slipper." Then she went into the room and got her foot into the shoe, all
but the heel, which was too large. But her mother squeezed it in till the
blood came, and took her to the king's son; and he set her as his bride
beside him on his horse, and rode away with her. But when they came
to the hazel tree the little dove sat there still, and sang--
"Back again! back again! look to the shoe! The shoe is too small, and
not made for you! Prince! prince! look again for thy bride, For she's not
the true one that sits by thy side."
[Illustration]
Then he looked down and saw that the blood streamed so from the shoe
that her white stockings were quite red. So he turned his horse and
brought her back again also. "This is not the true bride," said he to the
father; "have you no other daughters?" "No," said he; "there is only a
little dirty Cinderella here, the child of my first wife; I am sure she
cannot be the bride." However, the prince told him to send her. But the
mother said, "No, no, she is much