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

Heroine dislikes proposed husband--Counter-task--She demands from father huge gold candelabrum; tells chamberlain to sell it; hides herself in it--Heroine's hiding-box--Prince buys candelabrum; keeps it in his room. Heroine eats his food -- Heroine discovered--Happy marriage.

TABULATION

(1) King wishes daughter to marry ugly old king, she begs to be spared; at last says before she marries, her father must do something for her; he readily agrees.--(2) She chooses to have made a great candelabrum, 10 ft. high, with a stem thicker than a man's body. King sends for goldsmith and orders one to be made quickly; princess says she is very pleased with it. In the evening princess calls her chamberlain, says she does not like candlestick at all; he must take it and sell it, for she Can't bear the sight of it; he may keep the price himself, but must take it away early before king is up.--(3) Chamberlain gets up early, but princess gets up earlier, and hides herself in candelabrum, thus carried away with it. Chamberlain takes it to market-place of capital of neighbouring sovereign, and sets it up for sale there. People seeing how costly it is, no one will offer for it. Prince of country hears of it, goes to see it, buys it for three hundred scudi, and has it taken up into his room.--(4) Prince tells valet to have his supper taken up into his room, as he is going to the play and will be late. Coming home, he finds supper eaten and glasses and dishes disarranged, scolds man, who asserts all had been properly laid. Next night same happens. Third night calls servant, says aloud he is to lay supper before prince goes out, and he will lock the door and take the key with him, but in reality he stays concealed in room.--(5) Soon after, candelabrum, of which he had not thought since buying it, opens, and beautiful princess appears. "Welcome, princess," says he; they sit down and eat supper together. Next night orders double supper brought up, and after that all his meals, and never leaves his apartment.--(6) King and queen interfere, say he ought to marry, and not stay alone all day. He says he will marry no one but candelabrum. They think him mad, but one day queen surprises princess sitting with him. Struck with her beauty, she says, "If this is what you were thinking of when you said you would marry the Candelabrum, it is well judged." Takes princess to king, they give her to prince to be his wife. The king her father, hearing of alliance is glad, says he esteems it far above that of ugly old king whom he wanted her to have married at first.

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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