Cinderella looked on the sunny side of life and made friends with the birds and mice whilst she did her work cheerfully.
One morning the palace messenger appeared at the door!!!!
It just so happened that the King had planned a ball for his son hoping that he would marry and settle down………
By royal command, all eligible maidens were to attend!
Of course Cinderella thought that she could go too and said so!
“Ha! Ha!” screeched the step sisters, and they began making fun of her.
Her stepmother did not see any reason why Cinderella could not attend the ball BUT ONLY……… after she had finished the housework!!!!
Cinderella hurried upstairs to find a suitable dress to wear! It wasn’t long before her step sisters called her to do some extra work and help them to prepare for the ball and iron their dresses!!!
Poor Cinderella, by the time she had finished all the work she was too late to get her own dress ready. “Surprise!” cried the mice and birds. They had scampered down, salvaged some beads and a sash that the step sisters’ had tossed into the corner, and transformed her dress.
“How can I ever thank you enough!” gasped Cinderella.
She slipped on her new dress and blew them a kiss as she hurried out the door.
Drizella and Anastasia were being given a last minute check by their mother and the carriage was waiting for them outside.
The step sisters were shocked to see how beautiful Cinderella looked and noticing the beads around her neck and that she wearing Anastasia’s sash, the step sisters ripped off the sash and snatched the beads from her neck. They tore off all the frills and bows, leaving Cinderella’s dress in tatters.
Then the three of them sailed through the great front door and left in the waiting carriage.
Cinderella rushed into the garden and knelt by a stone bench, sobbing her heart out.
Even though Cinderella had always believed and had faith in her dreams, she cried, “I can’t believe, not anymore…. there’s nothing left to believe in.”
Suddenly a kind-faced little lady appeared sitting on the bench next to her, saying “You can’t go to the ball looking like that!” But we’ll have to hurry…….”
“Oh! You must be …..” said Cinderella.
“Your Fairy Godmother, of course!” said the little lady with the kindly smile.
Then with a few waves of her wand she began making magic! She found a PUMPKIN and turned it into a COACH, Cinderella’s MICE FRIENDS into HORSES, the HORSE, Major, into the COACHMAN, and Bruno, the family DOG, into a FOOTMAN!
“Off you go then, don’t waste any time!”
“But….” Cinderella looked at her tattered dress in dismay!
Suddenly the Fairy Godmother realized this, then with a wave of her wand and the magic words “Bibbidi, bobbidi, boo!” – a shower of starlight whirled around Cinderella. As it melted away, there she stood in a magnificent ball gown and glass slippers.
“It’s like a dream!” exclaimed Cinderella.
“But like all dreams …..this won’t last forever, you only have until
Cinderella kissed the Fairy Godmother and away she went in her enchanted coach racing toward the palace.
The King was feeling very grumpy as his son the Prince was not co-operating at all. Just then Drizella and Anastasia were being presented – the Prince just rolled his eyes!
Something caught the Prince’s eye – a beautiful young woman was wandering in the hall just outside the ballroom. She was by far the loveliest maiden that evening. The Prince hurried out of the ballroom, he bowed to Cinderella and taking her by the hand, they walked slowly into the ballroom and began to dance.
Cinderella and the Prince waltzed around and around. Cinderella was sure she was in love, as they had eyes only for each other. They strolled into the garden together and danced beneath the stars. Just as the Prince bent to kiss her, the palace clock began to chime
“I must go!” said Cinderella.
“Wait!” cried the Prince, “I don’t even know your name!”
But Cinderella ran down the staircase to her coach. In her hurry she left one of her glass slippers behind on the stairs.
The Prince recovered the shoe and took it to the Grand Duke, who issued a proclamation that every young maiden in the kingdom should try on the slipper, until he found the maiden with whom the Prince had fallen in love.
Meanwhile the coach bearing Cinderella was racing home. As it reached the twelfth chime the coach disappeared and Cinderella was left sitting on a pumpkin beside Major and the four mice, with just one twinkling slipper!
All night long the Grand Duke went from house to house trying the glass slipper on all the sleepy maidens. Only when the search reached Cinderella’s house did she realize her dance partner had been the Prince!
Cinderella’s stepmother quickly became suspicious of her dreamy appearance and heard her humming music from the ball. When Cinderella raced upstairs to brush her hair she quickly locked Cinderella in her room!
Anastasia and Drizella elbowed each other out of the way to be the first to try on the glass slipper. They pushed and squeezed as hard as they could, but it was no use.
Meanwhile, Jaq and Gus, the two little mice hurried downstairs and managed to steal the key from her step mother’s pocket. They dragged it upstairs, and set Cinderella free by unlocking the door!
Just as the Grand Duke was leaving he heard a voice calling, “Please wait! May I try it on?” There was Cinderella standing in her work clothes.
As she stood on the stairs, the Grand Duke took one look at her feet and smiled. “Come, my child,” he said, leading her to a chair. But the angry step mother tripped the Footman as he carried the slipper over, and smashed it to pieces.
“Oh no!” wailed the Grand Duke.
“Perhaps this would help,” said Cinderella, taking a glass slipper from her pocket. “I have the other slipper.”
The King jumped for joy, and in no time at all, the Prince married his Cinderella and they lived happily ever after!
Abridged from Disney’s “Charming Tales”
http://www.fln.vcu.edu/grimm/cinderella.html
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