Cinderella #294: Le Pays Des Brides (or, Walnut, Almond, Hazel-Nut)

Cinderella #294: Le Pays Des Brides (or, Walnut, Almond, Hazel-Nut)

A bowl of nuts, with
magical dresses hidden inside! 

Once upon a time, there lived "a prince, who has a beautiful daughter whose godmother is a sorceress." The family falls on hard times, and both father and daughter must seek work. Now the girl goes to town in search of a position; while she is there, "her godmother appears to her, gives her a walnut, an almond, and a hazel nut." These are to be cracked only in time of great need, the sorceress tells her, then vanishes. The girl hides the nuts and takes a job in the scullery of a fine house. She "dresses shabbily and goes unwashed, and is quite unrecognizable". One day as she scrubs dishes, she overhears the young master in the courtyard, preparing for a special evening. She runs out and before the servant can put the horse's saddle on, she has put on the bridle instead and pushed the horse out the door. When the master sees his horse, he calls his servant "and gives her a good blow with the bridle". By then, the false scullery maid has returned to her chambers where she now "cracks the walnut and takes out a lovely dress with a pattern on it like the sea and fishes." Next "she combs her hair and instantly it is golden and falls into ringlets on her shoulders." Then she goes to the ball, where she meets the young lord. He is so smitten with her that he asks who she is. All she will say is, "From the Land of Reins", before she runs away. The young man is so crestfallen that he asks his mother for advice. She counsels him to give a second ball the following night, in hopes that the young lady will come. So he does. The next night, the girl makes a huge fuss, crying and weeping because she is denied permission to go to the ball. Banished to her chamber again, the maiden takes out "her almond, and finds a dress with the sun embroidered on it."She goes to the ball again, and, when it is time for her to ride away, grabs "a whip from her pocket, she gives [the master's son] a cut across the eye and disappears".  Now she is irresistible! He simply must find out who she is. He calls out the question,.but all she yells back is that she's from "Saddle Land." So he announces that he will hold one more ball the next night. Again the maiden is denied permission to go, and again, she sneaks out her nuts. Now she cracks the hazel-nut and "a lovely dress falls out with the moon embroidered on it." Then she goes to the ball, dances with the young lord, and runs away. Teasingly, she yells, "Stirrup Land!" as she runs away. Now the young man takes to his bed, sick with longing for his love. Before long, it is announced that he will die soon. Now the maiden, dressed as the scullery maid, goes to the lady of the house and begs to be allowed to prepare a meal for her son, as it may cure him. The mother dislikes this idea, yet can think of no other remedy, and so consents.  And the maiden has already vanished. At "the hour of the ball, she dons the moon dress, and presents herself before the invalid." He recognizes her at once! He swallows a bit of broth, and then a bit of bread, and leaps from his sick bed. Calling for his mother, he introduces the young lady, dressed now in her lunar gown. The lady approves, and so the maiden "tends him until he is well and then marries him."

From: Cox, M.R. (1893/2011) p. 125

Cinderella #286 by David Delamare

Cinderella #286 by David Delamare

Illustration by
David Delamare

Once upon a time, in Italy, "a young merchant in search of his fortune moved with his wife and baby daughter to a fantastic city".  The streets were made of water, and curved and gurgled through town. His luck was good and his business savvy strong; he prospered. As his child grew so did his wealth.  He bought a fabulous grand house, and outfitted it with every convenience for his family.  All that his wife and little Ella lacked was "the merchant himself.  He came home only once a year, when autumn winds and tides brought his ship back from the Far East." The years passed and soon a celebration for Ella's 16^th birthday was being planned. It was to be a grand affair with "a traveling circus with acrobats, clowns, a magician, a fire-eater..." There were even monkeys who "swung from bush to bush by their tails...and even a baby elephant to ride!" Yet Ella was keenly aware of her father's absence. She determined to make the best of it and enjoy the day, and, as she gazed out the window, she saw "a gondola drift slowly by.  A boy her own age leaned on its railings, longingly watching the party."  He smiled wistfully as he passed and then he had sailed on.  Later, her dear mother came to speak with her, knowing of her sadness.  But when Ella answered, she spoke not of her father's absence but the mysterious boy on the gondola. That's when her mother told her that "That boy is young Duke Fidelio, son of the Grand Duke. One day, he may be Grand Duke himself." Then mother hugged daughter, each  holding the other tightly, lost in her own sorrow.  The very next day Ella's mother fell ill. Despite urgent messages sent to her father, he could not be alerted. By the time he finally returned home, his wife was dead. With no other means of caring for Ella, he send her away to a school. This was hard for her but worse times were coming soon. After only two years at school, her father summoned her home, telling her that he had joyous news. He had taken a second wife, a lady with two young daughters just older than Ella. Their names were Livia and Zenobia, and they were as unpleasant as two stepsisters can be. When it happened one day that "a messenger delivered a scroll" inviting all young ladies to "a masked ball", there was a flutter of excitement, But when Ella asked her stepmother if she might go too the woman snapped at her. "Rude girl! What do you mean by interrupting?" Then she doubled Ella's chores, and taunted her by saying, "Of course you may go, IF you have all your chores done in time!". And Zenobia and Livia repeated, in an ugly sing-song, "Done in time! Done in time!" And of course she did not. When the big night came, and the stepfamily had finally gone, Ella sat alone and wept. Suddenly, "a tiny, winged woman hovered" before her, saying, "Don't cry, daughter." It was her "fairy-mother", called forth by Ella's tears. She told the girl that she could go, and asked her to bring a large pumpkin. When Ella did so, the fairy "clapped her hands over the pumpkin", causing it to swell "like a balloon.  [Then] it floated over the balcony railing and dropped into the canal with a splash." When a fish leapt up, it was transformed into "a gondolier in a velvet-and-lace waistcoat". Then in a twinkling, the fairy mother changed Ella's clothes into "a glittering, beaded gown. On her feet a pair of tiny glass slippers sparkled in the moonlight." With a hasty promise to be back by midnight, Ella departed. Of course the young duke could not take his eyes off of her, and of course Ella forgot the time. That is why she lost a slipper running away, and why the duke held it tightly as a clue to her identity. Within days, Stepmother answered a knock at the door, and found a messenger from the Duke. He was bearing a tiny glass slipper on a pillow, and  asked the resident ladies to try it on. So Zenobia "pushed her toes into it. She grunted and groaned" but no matter what, she could not make the shoe fit. So her sister Livia "shoved her toes into it...Suddenly, with a sharp crack, the slipper shattered into a thousand pieces." The page was horrified. He wailed, "Now Duke Fidelio will never find his true love! I'm afraid his heart may shatter just like the slipper." But that is when Ella "took the other glass slipper from her apron pocket, sat down, and slid her foot easily into the slipper." The page ran out to signal the Duke by running "to the garden and set[ting] a torch blazing that could be seen from the palace across the canal."  A gondola was dispatched at once, and the young Duke himself brought over. "So it was you!' he exclaimed" when he saw Ella, and told her that he had been dreaming of her since the glimpse so long ago. Ella said that she had "been dreaming of the boy who sailed past my garden on the day of my 16^th birthday." The had much to discuss, and wanted to avoid the unpleasant stepfamily, so they "hurried to the gondola and set off for the palace, where they were married the very next day."

From Cinderella, by Delamare, D. (1993) New York: Green Tiger Press

Notes: The illustrations are just spectacular, reminiscent of Grahame Williams' Animalia, as well as Roy Gerrard (Rosie and the Rustlers, etc.) Them is "a fantastic Venetian setting" according to jacket notes, and this book does not dissapoint. 

Cinderella #246 Bride From the Sea

"To his delight,
he discovered a large fish
in the net." Illustration by
Hemkunt Press

Once upon a time, in India, "a fisherman named Singaram once lived in a small hut, close by the sea."At dawn every day, he would push his small boat out onto the waves and spend the day fishing. One day, though he had baited his line again and again, he could not catch a single fish. Just as the sun was setting, he "discovered a large fish in the net, of a kind he had never seen before." It was nearly as big as he, and colored a rich, rosy red. Most surprising of all was that it spoke, saying, "Kind Sir, if you do take me home, please do not cook me for your dinner. For I can be of use to you." Then the fish told the man that he could take care of the man's cow. The man was quite surprised that the fish even knew he had a cow, let alone that his young cowherd had not presented himself in several days. "Thus, Singaram was only too pleased to accept the fish's offer though he wondered how a fish would lead a cow out to graze." But as he rowed closer to shore, the fish began to shrink. As they stepped onto the sand, the fish was small enough to fit into Singaram's palm. He took it home and showed his family, who marveled at the little red fish. When Singaram put it onto the back of the cow, and "he was surprised to see that the fish began to give the cow instructions  and the cow listened." So the fish proved its worth. This life went on for quite some time, until, one day, "the cow went further into the forest than usual," found some especially tasty grass, and ignored the fish's orders to go home. Unfortunately for the cow, the man appeared just then, and began beating it with a stick. That's when the fish called  out, "Oh man, do not touch me, or else I will kill you in a matter or moments." At this, the man thought his cow had begun to speak, and trembled in fear. So the fish took advantage of the foolish man, and brought the cow to graze in his best garden every day. And since the cow now fattened itself on the sweetest herbs, its milk began to run rich and strong. Soon it "supplied Singaram with milk by the bucketful." He sold this, and made lots of money. In fact, he made so much money that he built himself a fine, large home. Here he raised his son, who "grew up to become a handsome young man." His father realized that it was time to find "a suitable match" for him, and so he "searched and searched". But none could be found. He lamented about this one night at home. That's when the fish said,"Why do you search for a bride so far away? There's a suitable bride living under your roof in only you care to look!" And that is when "the fish changed into a beautiful young girl." She said,"I am not really a fish.", then told him of the curse she was under. It had been partially broken now that she had been chosen as a bride. She confided in her father-in-law-to-be," I can be a woman by day, but at night I will have to return to my fish form." So the man married his son to the girl who had been a fish. They lived happily together, but the groom very much wished that his bride was a woman at night, and not a fish. So he observed her routine, and learned that "she would take a bath in the sea before turning into a fish. Every night she would carry her fish skin with her. She would leave it on the shore, have her bath, then return to slip into it and become a fish." Now the young man snatched the fish skin, and ran home. There he tossed it into the fire, where it "burnt itself to ashes in a manner of minutes." Just then, his wife came back from the sea, "looking more  beautiful than ever, dressed in a gorgeous silk sari." The spell was broken, and they lived happily as man and wife for the rest of their lives. 

From: Fairy Tales from India (Hemkunt,1996)

Cinderella #160 Bound (2004, Yeh-Shen Number Four)

Illustration by Ed Young
(From the story by Ai-Ling Louie)

Note: Contains violence. Once upon a time, in China, there lived a young girl. Her mother, the first wife, had died long ago.  The girls' name sounded like this, "Shing-Shing", when it was spoken. Now she "squatted by the water, silent and unmoving.  Her stillness was a prayer." She held her breath, hoping to see the "white fish with red fins and golden eyes." A moment later it "zipped a lotus leaf", and the girl laughed, delighted. Her mouth was unused to the sound: since her father, the potter Master Wu,had died. Instead, she kept her thoughts strangled inside her, pouring her tears out only when she knew that she was alone. Then she heard her stepmother's harsh voice. "Lazy One!" she yelled from the mouth of the cave where they lived. Second wife and her daughter, Wei-Ping, lived in the family cave now. It fell to Xing-Xing to do all of the hardest work, such as hauling water. Now, she drew her buckets up and ran back home.  Wei-Ping was waiting for her, and "grimaced with pain as she rubbed behind" her knee. She was slowly scooting her way across the floor of the cave, not on her feet, but atop small stools. "A tear escaped and ran down her cheeks. Her lips tightened into a straight line." Then she looked down at the colored silk bound tightly around her feet, and smiled. "Xing-Xing could tell Wei-Ping was admiring herself — an immodest act that one should avoid." She could not help looking down at her own dusty feet, bare and strong.  "No one cares about your feet.' hissed Wei-Ping", and ordered her sister to get another stool. Xing-Xing was one year younger than her half-sister.  No preparations were being made for her marriage, though they were well under way for her sister. Master Wu "didn't want his daughter's feet bound....He enjoyed the assistance of his daughters in his shop — and that work required them to have full use of the feet." Second Wife had tried to convince him to make Xing-Xing do all the work, sparing Wei-Ping.  But Master Wu loved his child, and would not force her into hard labor. But then he took a terrible fall, and, before Xing-Xing had quite understood what was happening, she was slave in all but name.  An orphan girl in the care of an unloving stepmother, with little care shown for her comfort and safety. Then she had seen the fish. At first she had kept in in a bowl, the most beautiful one her father had made. She remembered that afternoon, when "sunlight danced on the bowl's enamel, where brilliant yellows and greens and reds played out the legendary story of the carp at Dragon Gate." She remembered her mother laying on her death bed, telling her that "her hun, her spirit, would always protect Xing-Xing. And she had asked her daughter for one promise, and one promise only: that Xing-Xing would take care of her father's needs" for the rest of his life.  Then her mother had died, and, too soon, her father as well. Now there was no one to look fondly on her. Her heart ached as she recalled her father teaching her calligraphy, a skill normally reserved for boys. But her father had been a practical man, and provided his daughter with lessons in writing and poetry. Sometimes she still scratched the characters in the mud, composing poetry to remind her of her parents. One day while she waited for the fish to appear she used a stick to write," Fins like red clouds at sunset, Eyes like gold tears of joy, sparkling wet White fish in cold water, happily met."Most days passed slowly with hard work, and caring for Wei-Ping.  She grew more and more listless, and cried out now, in her fevered sleep. Soon, Second Wife realized that something must be done. She sent Xing-Xing on an errand: find the lang zhong, the wandering doctor, and bring him home.  Her stepmother could not tell her where this man might be, or where to find him. But she threatened to chop the girl's nose of with a cleaver if she did not return with medicine for Wei-Ping's feet, so Xing-Xing had no choice. She set off, with a bag of green dates to trade for the medicine.  She soon found herself pursued by every man on the path. After a near miss, and determined to arrive safely, Xing-Xing slides into the river, there to be out of sight. But "her teeth were clamped down hard on the strings of the date sack that was hanging over her shoulder. She was in water from her chest down, but her hands clung to bits of bramble that allowed her to hug the bank. She heard a cart pass on the road...She hardly dared breathe....At any moment, she could get washed away and drown in the Han River." That is when Xing-Xing sees a bramble leaf float past, just at eye level. As she studies its veins, she realizes that "a principal of order guided the veins on that leaf. In every leaf. In everything on earth." Grasping hold of the bramble vine, she "pulled herself out, sopping, on the riverbank.  She lay there for several minutes, the date sack at her side now, letting the fact that she had escaped, that she was still alive, become real for her." At long last, Xing-Xing stumbles into the  village where the lang zhong has set up a clinic. Making her way through the crowd, she is suddenly confronted with this sight: "A dried spotted serpent coiled like a rope around the neck of one very fat man who shaking a ring-shaped hollow rattle.  Beside him lay a big, black dog, asleep on its side in the dust. Behind him was a cart with little bells hanging from the corners, filled with pieces of small cloth sacks and rows of porcelain jars like the ones she'd seen at Master Tang's house. His face was wide, with a square chin. This was a lucky face." When it is her turn to speak with the lang zhong, he eyes her up and down and says," You're not sick. So what's the message, Wet Girl?"  Xing-Xing remains with the man for several days, sleeping with his dog, and accepting three meals a day from Yao Wang, or Medicine King, as he asked to be called. This seemed rather conceited to Xing-Xing, but he was kind to her. When she had eaten and slept enough to tell her story, he gave her liniment for Wei-Ping, and careful instructions on its use. Xing-Xing faces another lonely, frightening journey home. When she arrives, she finds that catastrophe has struck.  It is up to her to tend to both her stepmother and stepsister, and she does so with strength and kindness. But Stepmother repays this with duplicity: she buys Xing-Xing a fine dress, telling her that she can wear it to the Cave Festival that the entire region will soon be celebrating. Casting off her ragged cotton clothing, Xing-Xing dances off to compose poetry for the contest to be held at the festival. That's when her stepmother puts on the old dress to disguise herself as Xing-Xing. She creeps down to the river, tricks the beautiful white fish into surfacing, and then kills it.  Xing-Xing, on her way back from the woods, stops at her old tutor Master Tang's house to borrow ink and brush to write the poem down.  When he tells her to thank her stepmother for the gift of a large piece of fish, she guesses what has happened. Now  the gloves come off as Stepmother ridicules Xing-Xing and plots to be rid of her, even as she arranges a marriage for Wei-Ping.  The two leave the girl at home, with orders to stay there or face a beating, and they go off to the Cave Festival. That is when Xing-Xing, feeling the caress of her mother's spirit in the wind, is inspired to gather the fish bones out of the dung heap, and hide them in her father's old storeroom.  There, she suddenly notices a stone projecting from the floor. When she lifts it, she finds a large space under the floor. Thinking to hide the bones there, she instead finds  a letter, addressed to herself, from her mother. It describes the treasures which are hidden in the hole, and gives her mother's instructions for her. "My cloak and dress and pearls and little things [are here]. If you are an adult woman, then then the things in this hole are to add to the treasures of your life. If you are still a child, then these things are to be used in whatever way you need. Ornament yourself, if that makes sense. Sell these things, if that makes sense. My spirit will always be with you." Xing-Xing does ornament herself, and she does go to the Cave Festival.  But Stepmother recognizes her, and so she flees...losing one of the small golden shoes that belonged to her mother. Much later, when the Prince has found the shoe and undertaken a search for the maiden who can wear it, he comes to Xing-Xing's family cave.  Predictably, Stepmother tries to pass her off as a raving, crazy girl, too dirty to speak a word in the Prince's presence.  When she gets the chance to speak, Xing-Xing so impresses the Prince with her wit that he teasingly calls her "Impertinent One", then asks whether he has not seen her before, only wearing a green silk dress and cape of kingfisher feathers? She asks him to be patient, then runs to change clothes. Upon her return, dressed as she was at the festival, he says,"And now, Impertinent One, will you show me whether you are, instead, the truly pertinent one?' A man who liked puns. Xing-Xing's hand responded of its own accord, holding out one gold and sacred shoe. 'If you give me the other shoe, I'll have a matching pair." said she. And the rest, as it is said, is history. 

From Bound, by Donna Jo Napoli (2004) New York: Simon and Shuster

Notes: This novel of 184 pages does for Yeh-Shen what the Newbery Honor Book, Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine, did for Cinderella. It is a fully realized story, set during the Ming Dynasty, which began in 1368. It offers a unique window into daily life in that time and place. The descriptions of plants and animals, clothing, kinds of food prepared, etc. stem from the author's academic background. She writes in her notes that she spent the summer of 1997 teaching literature at Capitol Normal University in Beijing. 

Montessori Connection: History/Medieval Times/Eastern Civilization

1. Read Bound and know that it takes place around the year 1368.

2. Learn about Chinese history, and how Chinese civilization grew:Ancient China (DK Eyewitness Books) or Legend of the Chinese Dragon (English and Mandarin Chinese Edition) or Chinese Dress: From the Qing Dynasty to the Present or Great Ancient China Projects You Can Build Yourself (Build It Yourself series) or China: Land of Dragons and Emperors

3. Read another Cinderella novel from China: Chinese Cinderella and the Secret Dragon Society

4. Read a European Cinderella novel: Ella Enchanted 

Cinderella #153 Yeh-Hsien (Number Three), a Chinese Cinderella (2010)

Holland,R.

Once upon a time, "in Southern China, so the old scrolls say, there lived a girl named Yeh-Hsien. Even as a child, she was clever and kind. As she grew up, she knew great sorrow, for her mother died, and then her father too. Yeh-Hsien.was left in the care of her stepmother." Now, this woman had a girl of her own, and two mouths ate more than one. If only, she thought to herself, little Yeh-Hsien.had an accident. So she made her do the hardest chores, and sent her "to collect firewood from the most dangerous forests and draw water from the deepest pools." But in spite of this, Yeh-Hsien.managed to remain cheerful, for she had a secret friend.  He was a tiny red fish, "with golden eyes".  Once she had discovered him, she began saving grains of her rice, and feeding them to the pretty creature. Now it bobbed to the surface when it saw her, splashing over as close to the bank as it could come. It grew to a wonderful size. Of course, the stepmother and her daughter wanted to know how that wretched girl could stay happy, no matter how they treated her. So when they began to suspect that Yeh-Hsien.had a secret, the stepmother said to her daughter,"Why don't you  follow her, and find out?' This the girl did, and so learned the secret.  So the stepmother made a nasty plot: she tricked Yeh-Hsien.into taking off her ragged dress by giving her a new one. Then, when the girl had been sent out to play, as a treat for her hard work. the stepmother "pulled on the ragged dress, and hurried to the pond. Hidden up her sleeve, she carried a knife. The fish saw Yeh-Hsien's dress and in a moment, raised his head out of the water. In the next, the stepmother plunged in her dagger. The huge body flapped onto the bank. Dead."Then she went home, built up the fire, and roasted the fish. She declared that it was delicious, and "between them, the stepmother and her daughter ate up every last bit of Yeh-Hsien's friend." When Yeh-Hsien.came home from her wandering, she went straight to the pond to show her friend her new gown, and tell him of her delightul day.  He was gone.  When she realized what must have happend, Yeh-Hsien.sobbed uncontrollably.  "She did not notice the old man floating down from the sky....His hair was loose and his clothes were coarse but his eyes were full of compassion. 'Don't cry.'he said gently. 'Your stepmother killed your fish and hid the bones in the dung heap. Go fetch the bones. They contain powerful magic. Whatever you wish for, they will grant it." So Yeh-Hsien.followed his directions, and in this way, she began to have enough food to eat, and shoes to wear, and clothing to keep her warm. When she held the bones, "they felf smooth and cool and heavy in her hands." They reminded her of her friend. Soon the season of the Plum Blossoms came, and the Spring Festival.  It was the time to honor one's ancestors, and for young people to make new friends. Oh, how Yeh-Hsien.wished she could go! But her stepmother forbade it, saying, "You must stay here to guard the fruit trees." Well, they could not stop her wishing! As soon as they were gone, she took out her friend's bones, and wished. In an instant "she was clothed in a robe of silk, and her cloak was crafted from kingfisher feathers....On her feet were shoes of gold." Now Yeh-Hsien. ran to the festival. There she "could smell tender meats sizzling and warm, spiced wine. She could hear music, singing, laughter. " Such a joyful time! Many, many people wondered who this lovely new-comer could be. But her stepmother grew suspicious.  Yeh-Hsien.could feel the malevolence of her eyes,and began to run. But she was in such a state of nervousness that, without knowing it, she lost one of her golden slippers. Once home, she changed back into her rags, flopped down on the grass, and embraced a tree as though it were a friend. That is how her stepmother found her. "And what happened to the golden shoe? It lay hidden in the long grass, washed by rain and beaded by dew." It caught the eye of someone walking one day, and this person sent it to the king, as a gift. He said, "This slipper is exquisite. If I can find the woman who fits such a shoe, I will have found a wife."  And he gave orders that every single woman in his kingdom, beginning with those in his own household, must try on the shoe. Many tried, but none could wear it. Finally, the king had an idea. He laid the shoe along a country path, and set spies to watch for anyone who picked it up. When a raggedy girl did, and took it into her hut, the king's men followed her, and banged on the door. They made her open up and searched the house. They found the shoe, and made the girl try it on. "The stepmother and stepsister watched with mouths agape as Yeh-Hsien.went to her hiding place . She returned wearing her cloak of feathers and both her golden shoes. She was as beautiful as a heavenly being. And the king knew that he had found his love." So they were married, and "there were lanterns and banners, gongs and drums, and the most delicious delicacies. The celebrations lasted for seven days."  Now that all of her wishes had come true, Yeh-Hsien.asked her husband to come with her to honor her fish friend. They floated the bones out on the tide, and "the spirit of the fish was free to swim in sun-sparkled seas forever."

From: Yeh-Hsien, a Chinese Cinderella Retold by Casey, D. & Holland, R. (2006)Yeh-Hsien: A Chinese Cinderella (Folk Tales) (Chinese Edition)Yeh-Hsien a Chinese Cinderella in French and English (Folk Tales) (English and French Edition) Yeh-Hsien: A Chinese Cinderella (Folk Tales) (Vietnamese Edition)

London: Mantra Lingua Ltd. Vietnamese/English bilingual

Montessori Connection: Geography/Asia/China/Vietnam

1. Read this story and compare it to Yeh-Shen, by Ail Ling Luie. 

2. Do both stories take place in China?

3. Why do you think this book is bilingual in Vietnamese instead of Chinese?

Cinderella #121 Nomi and the Magic Fish (1969)

Fish swam in the deep pool.

Once upon a time, in South Africa, there lived a little girl named Nomi.  When she was very small, her mother died, and her father married again.  "This woman had a daughter named Nomsa.  Nomi was a beautiful, tall child, but Nomsa was very short and ugly.  The second wife did not like Nomi.  Often she beat her and sent her to bed without supper.  Ever since the girl was six years old, she had sent her to the  veld to look after the cattle." Each day at dawn, she pushed the child out the door, telling her," Drive the cattle to the veld. Do not come home at midday, for I have no food for you. And take your ugly dog with you!" So Nomi had no choice but to obey.  It happened one day, as the cattle were crowding around a watering hole, that Nomi sat down to watch.  She had seen a large fish flash by under water, and hoped to catch it: she was so hungry. Now she started to cry, and that's when the fish swam up and spoke to her! It said, "Do not be afraid, Nomi, I shall not touch you.  Why are you crying?" And the child sobbed, "I am hungry.  My father's second wife is very cruel to me. Often she gives me no food to eat. This morning, before breakfast, she sent me to the veld with the cattle. Last night I had no supper. Look at my arms. They are very thin.  My fingers look like the claws of a bird. In winter I am cold.  I have no warm coat to wear. Look at these ugly clothes I am wearing.  I have no pretty clothes." And the fish spoke kindly to Nomi, and gave her some bread and milk.  It asked her to bring the cattle to that pond every day, and she would provide a meal for her while the cattle drank.  So this Nomi did, and soon she "grew fat, and looked happy and beautiful. The dog too, was fat, and did not creep under the table."  And of course this made the mean stepmother angry and suspicious.  "She beat Nomi with a big stick but Nomi would not tell her who gave her the food.  Then the cruel woman beat the dog.  At last, the poor animal said, 'A big fish that lives in a deep pool in the river gives us food each day.'  The girl ran to the pool and told the fish," who answered, "I know the wicked woman will kill and eat me.  Do not cry but take my bones and throw them into the chief's garden.  Do not let anyone see you doing this." Sure enough, the very next day, the woman tricked her husband into thinking that she was very sick. The only cure for her, she insisted, was to eat the big fish that he would find swimming in a certain part of the river.  So Nomi's father killed her friend, and her stepmother ate the fish.  The only thing left on her plate when she was done was the fish's bones. Now she said, " Nomi take this plate and wash it.  Now, nobody will give you food to eat, you naughty girl.  Take the cattle and go to the veld.  There is no food for you and your ugly dog today. You will soon be thin and ugly again, with fingers like the claws of a bird."  So Nomi carried the plate away and washed it, but secretly, she hid the bones.  Late that night, when the house was asleep, she tiptoed out in the dark.  Quietly, she made her way to the chief's garden, and there she threw down the bones.  Then she went back home and went to bed.   In the morning, there was a big commotion.  The chief had found some white bones in his garden, and there was something very mysterious about them: no one could seem to pick them up.  First one, then another, and finally, a third, servant was sent to pick up those bones.  But each time anyone reached down to grab them, the bones eluded them. A person's fingers simply passed right through them as though the bones were made of smoke.  At last the chief himself stamped out to clear them.  He had no more luck than his own servants.  So he called for all the girls of the village to come and try to pick them up, declaring that he "would marry the girl who brings the bones" back to him. So all the maidens dressed in their finest robes, and went to the Great Place, as the chief's house was called. Not one could get their hands around them.  "When all the girls had tried, the chief said,'Are all the girls of the village here?' One woman said, 'Nomi is not here. She is on the veld, looking after some cattle.' Nomsa's mother said, 'Nomi is not strong. She is very thin, and cannot pick up the bones.' But the chief said, 'Send a servant to fetch her.' When Nomi was brought to the Great Place, she walked over and picked up the bones, just like that, with her little dog barking merrily behind her! " And the chief watched this beautiful, tall girl, and her laughing dog, and said to her,"I will marry you tomorrow." And then "many women stamped mealies and made big loaves of bread. The men killed six oxen and many sheep, and the next day, there was a great feast. Nomsa and her mother didn't come to the feast. They were afraid, and ran away into the forest."

From The Oryx Multicultural Folktale Series: Cinderella. Sierra, J. (1992)

Notes: This is very similar to many European stories involving the slaughter of the helper animal. In Greece, the step mother ate Cinderella's pet goat, (roasted, with olive oil and rosemary); in England, her cow.  

Montessori Connection: Geography/Africa/South Africa

1. Read the story.

2. Find the continent of Africa on the globe, and then find the country of South Africa.

3. Learn about the rivers and the fish of South Africa:Wildlife of South Africa: A Photographic Guide or John Muir's Last Journey South to the Amazon and East to Africa: Unpublished Journals and Selected Correspondence. 

Cinderella # 117 Hearth Cat (Portugal)

Yeh-Shen, the Chinese Cinderella,
also befriends a fish in the well.
Illustration by Young, E.

 Once upon a time, in Portugal, "there was a widower who had three daughters. The two elder girls spent their time thinking of nothing but clothes and finery, and of entertaining themselves.  All day long, they sat at the window, doing nothing.  They left the youngest to take care of the house, and cook, and do all the work.  Her sisters laughed, and called her Hearth Cat."  One day the man went fishing, and caught a beautiful little yellow fish.  When he brought it home, Hearth Cat was so taken by it that she pleaded with her father to let her keep it for a pet.  He finally agreed, and she put it in a kettle of cold water.  But that night, the fish cried out to be set free.  His cries were so piteous that Hearth Cat granted his request, and tiptoed out to put the yellow fish in the well. The next morning she went out to visit it, and as she leaned over the well she heard a voice telling her to jump in! Of course she did not do this.  The next day, and the next, and the next, however, the voice called to her, imploring her to come in.  So she did, and tumbled "all the way to the bottom, where the fish appeared, swam around her in a circle, and led her to a palace made of gold and precious stones." The fish directed her into a room, telling her that she would find all kinds of fancy clothing in it, and that she should pick herself out an outfit, with shoes.  It told her that her sisters were attending a festival, dressed in finery, and that she must go as well. The fish warned her that she must leave the celebration before her sisters did, and that it was very important to toss the clothes into the well as soon as she got home.  If she followed these instructions, it said, then a time would very soon come "when you will be as happy as you are now unhappy." Arriving at the palace, Hearth Cat felt all eyes on her, and heard murmurs of wonder at the appearance of so beautiful a stranger.  She kept an eye on her sisters, and as soon as they made ready to depart, ran ahead of them out the door.  Soon she was home — but missing one of the fish's golden slippers.  The fish did not scold her for this loss, but told her to come back the next day, alone, so that he could ask her an important question.  She agreed to this.  Unbeknownst to Hearth Cat, the king had found her shoe! He sent his heralds out with the announcement that he sought its owner, and would marry the woman who could wear it. The older sisters were a-flutter over this news, and drove Hearth Cat to distraction with their endless talk of it.  They were unkind enough to laugh when she said that she'd like to try the shoe, and told her that, if she was lucky, it would fit one of them instead.  Then, they might, they just might, buy her a dress to replace her rags.  With that, they set off for the palace.  Now alone, their little sister went out to the well to speak with the fish.  Though his yellow scales glittered in the sunshine, Hearth Cat was shocked at his request.  "Maiden, will you marry me?" asked the fish. "How can I possibly marry a fish?" cried Hearth Cat.  The fish led her to see that she must first consent and only then would she see how it might be done.  At length, she agreed. Immediately, "the fish was transformed into a handsome young man. 'Now you must know that I am a prince who was under an enchantment. ' he told her.  'I am the son of the king of this land.  I know that my father has ordered all the young women of the kingdom to come to the palace and try on the golden slipper that you dropped as you left the festival.  Go there, and when the king tells you that you must marry him, tell him that you are already promised to the prince, his son, whom you have released from his enchantment." So Hearth Cat set off for the palace. On the way, she crossed paths with her sisters.  They were in a foul temper: the little slipper had been too small for both.  They mocked her now, saying,"You should be ashamed of yourself, Hearth Cat. Go and show your dainty kitchen-maid's foot if you want.  Everyone will laugh at you." But she went on anyway.  The king's guards, seeing a dirty, ragged girl heading toward the gates, held her back.  But the king saw her and motioned to them to let her advance.  When she reached the front of the line, she slipped her foot into the slipper as easily as a fish slides into the water.  He was overjoyed, and proposed that she become his queen. But "very respectfully, she told him that it could not be, for she was already promised to his majesty's son the prince, who had been spellbound long ago." So the king sent a party to the well at Hearth Cat's home, and brought the prince back home.  He and the girl in the golden slipper were married, and there was jubilation in the kingdom.  As for Hearth Cat's sisters, "they remained at home, filled with jealousy and bitterness."

From The Oryx Multicultural Folktale Series, p. 61

Cinderella (The Oryx Multicultural Folktale Series) Notes: This is a nice twist on the animal helper, as the fish actually becomes the prince. It is interesting to see the fish motif, so common in Asia, here in a Portuguese story. 

Montessori Connection: Language/Vocabulary: spells, spellbound, chanting, enchantment.

1. Read the story and see if you can figure out what the words spellbound and enchantment mean. 

2. Learn that the word spell has several meanings.  One of them is using letters to write words, and many children have tests on this at school, called spelling tests. Another meaning of the word spell  is a period of time, as when someone invites you to "Sit a spell with me, and chat." The kind of spell found in fairy tales is a magic spell.  Usually this is a short rhyme which a witch says out loud, causing the person affected to transform into an animal, or something else. 

3. Learn that the word chant means to speak or sing words in a pattern, kind of like a song. 

4. Learn that when witches, wizards, and fairies chant, they are often casting spells, or enchanting someone! 

5. Learn more about magic:The Book of English Magic, for ages 10+; Magic Tree House Boxed Set, Books 1-4: Dinosaurs Before Dark, The Knight at Dawn, Mummies in the Morning, and Pirates Past Noon; Magic by the Lake and Tales of Magic Boxed Set (Edward Eager Tales of Magic).

Cinderella #114 Yeh-hsien (Number Two,1992)

She saw a pretty little fish with red fins and golden eyes.

Note: contains violence. Once upon a time, in China, "there lived a cave-master called Wu. People called the place the Wu Cave."  The cave-master had two wives, and each bore a baby girl.  Sadly, one wife died.  Now the second wife had two baby girls to care for and she did not appreciate this one bit. Since this second little girl, whose name was Yeh-hsien, turned out to be "intelligent and good at making pottery on the wheel", the stepmother especially resented her. But Yeh-hsien's father loved her, and saw to it that she had all she needed for comfort.  This changed the day he died.  Alas for poor Yeh-hsien, she was left alone with a step mother who plotted to be rid of her.  It became the woman's custom to "always order her to collect fire wood in dangerous places and draw water from deep pools." Once, while the girl was filling her water jugs, she "caught a fish about two inches long with red fins and golden eyes".  She took the little thing home, fed it some rice, and kept it in a dish of water.  The next morning, the fish had doubled in size.  Yeh-hsien found a bigger bowl.  Carefully, she filled it with fresh water and sprinkled a bit of rice for the fish over it. The next morning, the fish had doubled in size again!  Now Yeh-hsien knew that she must return the fish to the pool.  The girl did this, and came every day to that place to fill her jugs. Every time she arrived, the fish was waiting for her, "its head on the bank".  Now the stepmother became jealous of the time Yeh-hsien spent at the pool.  She spied on the girl, and observed the fish, which was now nearly ten feet long! The next day, "she tricked the girl, saying,'Haven't you been working hard! I am going to give you a new dress." And she took her stepdaughter's ragged cloak and gave her a new silk gown. Then she sent the child "to get water from a spring that was very far away." As soon as she was gone, the stepmother disguised herself in Yeh-hsien's old cloak and went to the pond.  The moment the big fish put its head on the bank, the wicked woman chopped its head off with the knife she had brought. Then she carried it home and cooked it and "when she had served it up, it tasted twice as good as any ordinary fish.  She hid the bones under the dung hill." When Yeh-hsien went to the pond the next morning, no fish appeared.  Realizing what must have happened, she was beside herself with grief.  "Suddenly, there appeared a man with his hair loose over his shoulders, dressed in coarse clothes. He descended from the sky, and he consoled her saying,'Don't cry so! Your stepmother has killed the fish and its bones are under the dung-heap. Go back, take the fish's bones and hide them in your room. Whatever you want, you have only to ask the fishes bones for it."  So the girl did this, and "from then on she was able to provide herself with gold, pearls, dresses, and food whenever she wanted them." Now every year, there was a cave festival.  All the villagers dressed in their finest and went to celebrate, but Yeh-hsien was left at home, "to keep watch over the fruit trees in the garden".  And then she went to the bones, and wished for finery to wear to the festival.  She received " a cloak of material spun from kingfisher feathers, and shoes of gold." At the festival, Yeh-hsien watched acrobats and dancers, and enjoyed herself tremendously.  But then her stepmother and sister passed by, and kept staring at her.  She was afraid that they recognized her!  Yeh-hsien ran all the way home, and in her haste, she lost one of her golden shoes. "When her stepmother got home, she found the girl fast asleep, with her arms round one of the trees in the garden, and thought no more about it. The cave was near an island in the sea, and on this island was a kingdom called T'o-han. "  Now, when Yeh-hsien had lost her shoe, a man picked it up.  It was such a pretty thing, the man was sure that he could sell it for a few pieces of gold.  This he did, and the shoe changed hands several times, until finally, "it was brought before the king."  He was determined to find out where the dainty thing had come from, and desired greatly to see the girl who could wear it. " He ordered all the women of the court to put it on, but it was too small for even the one among them that had the smallest foot." The king was not discouraged.  He commanded that every female in his kingdom try the shoe on.  The shoe seemed to have taken some magical hold over the ruler, and he could not rest.  "It was as light as down, and made no noise even when treading on stone."  At last, the king and the golden shoe arrived at the home of Yeh-hsien.  Of course her sister demanded the right to try it on first, and her stepmother tried to dissuade the king from letting her stepdaughter try it on at all, but he would not listen. Now Yeh-hsien slipped into the shoe, and "it fitted her perfectly. She put on the other shoe, and her cape of feathers, and she was as beautiful as as a heavenly being." And so the king married her, and she took the magic fish bones with her. All went well at first, but then the king became greedy.  He asked the bones for "jade and pearls wtihout limit.  The next year, the fish bones no longer granted his requests. He buried them by the sea shore and covered them with a hundred bushels of pearls, and after a while, they were washed away by the tide." As for the stepmother and her daughter, they "were struck by flying rocks, and died.  The cave people buried them in a stone pit, which was called the Tomb of the Two Women."  Young men in love came there and prayed, and left offerings.  And, if they were very lucky, the girl they prayed for would become their wife."

From The Oryx Multicultural Folktale Series: Cinderella. Sierra, J. (1992)Cinderella (The Oryx Multicultural Folktale Series); see also Multicultural Folktales for the Feltboard and Readers' Theater; Beauties and Beasts: (The Oryx Multicultural Folktale Series)

Notes: This author has also done a lovely retelling of The Gift of the Crocodile, a Cinderella story from the Spice Islands.  The Oryx volume contains twenty five Cinderella stories, each with notes.  It is a fabulous resource! 

Montessori Connection: History/Timeline of People/Ancient Cultures/China

1. Learn that this story dates to the first century of the Common Era.

2. Learn about the languages of China and the development of writing:History of Writing or Learning with Lulu-Chinese Mandarin Level 1 & CD (Learning with Lulu) or Hippocrene Children's Illustrated Chinese (Mandarin) Dictionary: English-Chinese/Chinese-English (Hippocrene Children's Illustrated Foreign Language Dictionaries)

3. Learn about the history of China:The Ancient Chinese (People of the Ancient World) or Chinese Art & Culture (World Art & Culture)

4. Read a modern story about a girl who faces very hard times alone: Chinese Cinderella and the Secret Dragon Society by Adeline Yen Mah

Cinderella #99 The Princess of the Third Pumpkin, a Jewish tale from Russia

Pumpkins and squashes from the Firefly Visual Dictionary

Once upon a time, in Russia, there lived "a king and a queen who had an only son.  When he was eighteen years old, they sent for him and said,'Dear son, it's time for you to be married.'  And the son replied,' If you find a bride for me, I'll gladly marry."  So the king ordered all the prettiest girls in the land to come to the palace.  The prince did not fancy any of them.  Now the king announced that the person who could find a bride to his son's taste would get a fine reward.  An old woman came to the palace the very next day.  She claimed she knew where to find such a bride, and the king bade her bring the girl forth.  But the woman said, "Let the prince get up at dawn.  Let him put on his coat and take his knife and a bottle of water, and let him go into the king's garden.  There, he will see three pumpkins growing on a single vine.  Let him take his knife and cut one off.  The most beautiful princess will emerge from it. Let him give her water to drink and she will at once be willing to be his bride." In thanks for this the king gave her lodgings in a small hut in the kitchen garden.  Now the king called his son, and gave him the unusual instructions for the morning.  At dawn, the prince carefully obeyed the orders of the old woman.  Sure enough, he saw a pumpkin vine with three gourds in a row.  He cut the first one off.  As soon as he had done so, "a naked princess as lovely as a sunrise stepped out of the pumpkin and cried,'A drink! A drink! A drink!" and ran away before the prince could speak.   So he cut another pumpkin off the vine and another naked princess jumped out and ran away.  He stopped to think for a minute, then removed the lid from his water bottle and held it at the ready.  Now he cut the third pumpkin off the vine, and, before the girl inside could run away, thrust the water jug into her hands.  She drank, and drank, and drank. When the bottle was empty, the prince took off his coat and set it around her shoulders.  Then he picked her up gently and set her comfortably onto the limb of a tree.  There he left her while he went to seek the king.  "Now, the branch overhung a well, and a gypsy woman came to it for water.  She looked into the water and cried out,'Oh, how lovely I am!" At that, the princess cried," A curse on you! You, lovely? It's I who am lovely.'  The gypsy looked up and saw the princess sitting in the tree so she dragged her out of it, took the coat, and threw her into the well, after which she donned the prince's coat and perched herself in the tree."  When the king and queen arrived and saw their son's bride, they were a little surprised.  But they thought, well, to each their own, and welcomed her into the family.  As for the prince, the gypsy cast spells over him so that she appeared to be a fresh and lovely maiden. So the preparations for the wedding began. It happened one day that the king's cook went to fetch a pail of water from the well.  When he dragged up his bucket, the prettiest fish he had ever seen was swimming in it.  "He took it to the kitchen and cooked it, but he threw the scales outside.  Now, the old woman who lived in the hut near the royal kitchen looked out and happened to see the scales.  She gathered them up and sewed them together to make a little shoe.  She hung it up on the wall of her hut before she went to bed that night."  In the morning, the dame had a nice surprise: the hut was swept clean, her breakfast was laid out for her, and the day's bread already baked."  So she ate her breakfast, and sat down to "spin flax.  She spun and she spun until she fell asleep.  When she awoke, she discovered that all her flax had been spun." She was very grateful, but she wanted to see the spirit who had helped her.  So that night, she only pretended to sleep. And just before dawn, she saw "a princess lovely as the world come out of the golden shoe." The young lady lit the fire in the oven, kneaded the bread dough and set it to rise while she tidied the hut.  Then she baked the bread and was just setting it to cool when the old woman jumped out of bed and tiptoed over. Quick as a wink, she grabbed the shoe of fish scales off the wall and tossed it right into the oven.  It burned up immediately.  "The princess, seeing this, set up a clamor, but it was too late.  The little golden shoe had burned up, and the princess had to stay with the old woman."  The princess made the best of things, and one day, said to the old woman, "I'm bored. Give me some work to do."  Now the old woman went and told the king that she herself was bored, and would like some work to do. "So the king gave her some thread and told her to crochet a tablecloth out of it.  The old woman took the thread back to her hut and gave it to the princess, who sat down and crocheted a table cloth in the design of a garden.  And in the middle of the garden she crocheted a portrait of her own face." When it was finished, the old woman took it to the king.  It pleased him very much and her ordered that it be spread upon the table that very night.  During dinner, which was a celebration for the bride and groom, the prince could not take his eyes off of the face in the middle of the tablecloth.  He asked the king that the needleworker who made it be brought before him.  When his father called forth the old woman, the prince asked her," Was it you who crocheted this table cloth?" and she replied,"Not I, but the princess of the golden shoe." And when that young one was brought before him, he "instantly recognized his betrothed, uniquely beautiful in all the world. He fell on her neck and wept as he embraced and kissed her.  The gypsy bride, the false princess, was driven out of the palace, and the prince and the princess were married and continue to live happily unto this day.

From Yiddish Folktales, edited by Beatrice Silverman Weinreich, (1988) New York: Shocken Books, p. 122

Notes: This story has everything going for it! Fish scales, very similar to those in the Iroquois Cinderella. Not one old woman but two, one of which has good and the other bad qualities. Pumpkins on the vine, from which a princess comes. There is a precedent for this in the nursery rhyme, Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater, had a wife and couldn't keep her. He put her in a pumpkin shell, and there he kept her, very well. 

See also:Folktales of the Jews, Vol. 2: Tales from Eastern Europe; YIDDISH FOLKTALES;Jewish-American Folklore (American Folklore Series)