Сказка золушка

Сказка золушка \ CINDERELLA

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 good and pious, 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
died. 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. She is nothing but a kitchenmaid!”
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 because she always
looked dusty and dirty, as if she had slept in the cinders, they
named her Cinderella.
It happened one day that the father went to the fair, and he asked
his two stepdaughters what he should bring back for them. “Fine
clothes!” said one. “Pearls and jewels!” said the other. “But what
will you have, Cinderella?” 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 Cinderella 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. Cinderella 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 it 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 stepdaughters heard that
they too were bidden to appear, they felt very pleased, and they
called Cinderella 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.” When she heard this, Cinderella 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 Cinderella!” 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 stepmother
said, “I have strewed a dishful 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, Cinderella, you have no proper clothes, and
you do not know how to dance, and you would be laughed at!”
And when Cinderella 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 turtledoves, 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-anhour
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 Cinderella and made
haste to set out with her two proud daughters.
And as there was no one left in the house, Cinderella 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 Cinderella
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 surely cannot be Cinderella,” 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
Cinderella in her dirty clothes among the cinders, and a little oillamp
burnt dimly in the chimney; for Cinderella 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, Cinderella 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 surely cannot be
Cinderella,” 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
Cinderella 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, Cinderella 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 splendor 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 Cinderella 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 Cinderella; 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 Cinderella 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
Cinderella 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 Cinderella’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 favor, 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.
THE END