SurLaLune Fairy Tales: Marian Roalfe Cox: Cinderella: Three Hundred and Forty-five Variants of Cinderella, Catskin, and Cap O' Rushes, abstracted and tabulated

Ill-treated heroine (by step-mother)-- Menial heroine--Task (spinning)--Task-performing animals (cows)--Madonna aid (in form of old woman)-- Heroine cleans old woman's hair; is rewarded with star on brow --Step-sister sent to do same; gets ass's tail on brow--Magic dresses--Task (grain sorting) per formed by Madonna--Meeting-place (ball)--Threefold flight-- Bran thrown to blind pursuers Lovesick prince-- Recognition food (prepared by heroine in wooden dress) contains ring given at ball --Happy marriage.

TABULATION

(1) Stepmother loves her own ugly daughter, and ill-treats heroine, who is beautiful, sending her to pasture with seven spindlefuls to spin.-- (2) An old woman (who is the Madonna) comes to heroine, and says, "Louse me." "Willingly, if I hadn't to spin enough to fill seven spindles." Madonna makes her put everything on horns of cows, and these spin for her. Then Madonna asks, "What have you found?" "Dorini e granate." [Another version says, "Lice and nits; a nice old woman you are!" and the Madonna replies, "You shall find granate e dorini."] Then Madonna says, "When you get to the top of the mountain, turn round." heroine does this, and a star settles on her brow, making her still more beautiful.-- (3) Stepmother questions her, and sends own daughter to pasture with stuff to spin, which he does not trouble to do. She replies to Madonna, "I haven't time," and Madonna asks her three times. Then she combs her, and when asked what she has found, says, "Lice and nits, etc." Such, the Madonna says, she shall find. Then stepsister gets up to go, and Madonna tells her to turn round when she gets to top of mountain. She does so, and an ass's tail comes from her brow, and the more they cut it the more it grows. Stepmother is very angry with heroine.-- (4) King gives three balls. Heroine goes to the mountain, and obtains from Madonna three lovely dresses, of gold, silver, and steel. Heroine asks stepmother to let her go to ball; hut she gives her a sack of grain to sort and count, and goes with stepsister to ball.-- (5) Heroine weeps, and Madonna comes, consoles her, sorts the grain herself, and sends heroine to the ball, where she dances with prince.-- (6) This hap pens three times, and no one sees whither heroine goes, because she throws bran into the eyes of all.-- (7) At third ball king gives his own ring to heroine.-- (8) He falls ill, and will eat nothing. Heroine dresses in wood, and prepares gruel for king, and puts ring into it.-- (9) He finds ring, sends for heroine, makes her come forth from wooden dress, and marries her.

Cox, Marian Roalfe. Cinderella: Three Hundred and Forty-five Variants of Cinderella, Catskin, and Cap O' Rushes, abstracted and tabulated. London: David Nutt for the Folklore Society, 1893.

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