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Cinderella
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Cinderella ( French: Cendrillon ) is a popular fairy tale that embodies the mythic element of unjust oppression followed by triumph and reward. Thousands of fairy tale variants are known all over the world. [1] The main character is a young girl who lives in an unhappy situation, and whose luck changes. The very word ash came, by analogy, to mean "a person whose qualities are unrecognized, or who receive recognition after a period of obscurity and neglect." The popular story of Cinderella influences the international popular culture, being transposed into other works of art through elements of action, allusions and motives.
The theme of the Cinderella may have appeared since classical antiquity: the Greek historian Strabo ( Geographica Cartea 17, 1.33) recorded in the first century the story of the Greek-Egyptian girl Rhodopis , considered to be the oldest version of the story. [2] [3] The maid Rhodopis ("the girl with the red cheeks") washes her clothes in a stream, being forced by the other maids, who went to an event organized by Pharaoh Amasis . An eagle takes her sandalwood and leaves it at the feet of Pharaoh in Memphis; he then asks the women of his kingdom to try on the sandal to see who fits it, and Rhodopis is the only one who can wear it. Pharaoh falls in love and marries her. The story later reappears in Aelian (ca. 175 – ca. 235 ), [4] which shows that the theme of Cinderella remained popular in antiquity.
Another version of the story, Ye Xian , appeared in Yǒuyáng Zázǔ by Tuan Ch'eng-Shih around 860 AD Here, the beautiful and industrious girl befriends a fish, the reincarnation of her mother, killed by the girl's stepmother. Ye Xian keeps the bones, which have magical properties, and they help her dress appropriately for a festival. When she loses her slipper after leaving in a hurry, the king finds her and falls in love with her.
A few different versions of the story appear in One Thousand and One Nights , all dealing with the theme of the little girl harassed by envious sisters. In some of them, it is about a young man who has two brothers. One of the stories, "Judar and his brothers", moves away from the happy endings of other variants, ending tragically instead, the youngest son being poisoned by older brothers. [5]
Another old story of Cinderella comes from Japan . In it, Chūjō-hime flees from his stepmother with the help of Buddhist nuns , and joins their monastery.
The oldest European story on this subject is "La Gatta Cenerentola" or "Cinderella Cat" which appears in the book "Il Pentamerone" by the Italian fairy tale collector Giambattista Basile in 1635. This version was the basis for later versions published by the French author Charles Perrault and the German Brothers Grimm . (In the Brothers Grimm's version, the good fairy does not appear, the spirit of the true mother being represented by two birds in the tree near the mother's grave.)
One of the most popular versions of the fairy tale was the one written by Charles Perrault in 1697. The popularity of his story was due to the fact that Perrault added pumpkin, the good fairy and glass shoes to the story. It was believed, wrongly, by speakers of English, the version of Perrault Cinderella wearing fur boots ( "pantoufle en Vair"), and that when he translated the story into English, Vair was mistaken for verre (glass ), and that the story remained that way. [6] However, the theory of fur boots has been refuted. [7]
Another famous version was recorded by the brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in the 19th century. The story is called Aschenputtel and the help comes from the tree on my mother's grave. In this version, the step-sisters try to fool the prince by cutting off parts of their leg to make the shoe fit. The prince is informed by two pigeons that take out the steps of the step-sisters, making them blind beggars for the rest of their lives.
