Cinderella (Evans)/Chapter 10

by Charles Perrault

CINDERELLA

CHAPTER X

The Glass Slipper

Charlotte was right. Though the Prince hadonly spent two evenings in Cinderella’s com­pany he already loved her very dearly, not only because of her beauty, but because of her sweet nature, which nobody could help seeing. He felt sure that she must be in some trouble, otherwise she would not have run away from the ball so suddenly, and he made up his mind to find her, and protect her from any one who would do her harm.

The first thing he did was to go into the courtyard, for he thought he might just be in time to see her before her carriage drove away. When he got there, however, he was astonished to hear that the carriage, with all its horses and footmen, had absolutely disappeared. No one had seen the carriage drive away, yet not a sign of it was to be seen.

Very much puzzled, the Prince sent a servant to ask the guards at all the other gates whether they had seen the Princess go out; for he thought she might perhaps have sent her carriage away early, and gone home on foot. But the guards were positive that nobody had passed out of the gates except a shabbily dressed girl, whom they took to be one of the scullery-maids.

Now the Prince was not only a very handsome young man, but he was fairly clever also, and in this case love made him sharp. He thought immediately that this poorly dressed maid seen by the guards might be the lady he sought, who had disguised herself for some reason of her own.

“If she went on foot,” he said to himself, “she cannot be very far away, and in that case I can certainly discover her.” That night he hardly got a wink of sleep, but in the morning he had thought of a plan.

First of all he gave orders that every lady at the Court must come and try on the slipper which Cinderella had left behind. Not one of them was left out.

First of all came the princesses,

 

and then the duchesses,

 

and then the countesses,

 

and so on to the plain gentlewomen,

 

until it was the turn of the servants in the kitchen, but the slipper would not go on the foot of any of them.

 

After that the Prince sent out a proclamation that every lady in the town and in the country round about, be she high or low, must try on the glass slipper, and that when he found the lady whom the slipper would fit, he would make her his wife.

There was great excitement when this proclamation was read in the market-place. People knew that some­ thing out of the ordinary was afoot as soon as they saw the Court courier, with his big curly wig and his trum­peters, and they left whatever they were doing and

crowded round him to listen, and to stare at the glass slipper, which a little blackamoor carried on a velvet cushion.

When he had finished reading, he had hardly time to fold up the parchment and put it in his pocket before there were about a hundred women clamouring to try the slipper on.

“Here’s a chance that comes only once in a lifetime,” said a stout old lady, plumping herself down in the chair which an attendant had set ready. “One does not get the opportunity of marrying a King’s son every day!” And she waggled her fat foot and tried to work her toes into the dainty shoe which was at least six sizes too small.

Then they all came, one after the other, citizens’ and shopkeepers’ daughters, and tried their utmost to get the slipper to go on. Many of them had very small, pretty feet, too, but for some mysterious reason the slipper always seemed a little smaller than the very daintiest foot. The truth is, of course, that it was a magic slipper, and could by no means be made to fit anybody except its rightful owner.

So it was all in vain; and at last the courier, his trumpeters, and his blackamoor left the town and set off to try their fortune in the country houses.

By this time Cinderella’s stepsisters had heard the news and were almost beside themselves with excitement.

“Do you hear, Euphronia?” cried Charlotte, “the Prince has announced that he will marry the lady whom the slipper fits. I’m perfectly certain that it is just my size, for I took particular note of the lady’s shoes when she was dancing!”

“Pooh! What nonsense!” answered Euphronia with a scornful smile. “Everybody knows that you take nines in shoes, and that is two sizes larger than mine. For my part, I also took careful note of the glass slippers, and I am positive they were sevens. Besides, they were slim and elegant shoes, not at all suitable for massive feet like yours.”

Here Euphronia stretched out her own long and bony foot, clothed in its red stocking, and gazed at it admir­ingly, while Charlotte sniffed.

Soon afterwards the sound of the trumpet was heard outside, and a loud knock came to the door. Cinderella opened it and showed the courier into the drawing-room, where the sisters were already sitting, dressed in their best. After she had shown him in she went into the kitchen again, for she had not received an invitation to stay.

The courier read the proclamation, and the servant knelt down to try the slipper on Charlotte’s foot, which was already extended towards him.

“No, no, I should be first,” cried Euphronia. “It is perfectly useless to try the slipper on Charlotte. Anybody can see with a glance it is much too small.”

“Nothing of the kind!” snapped Charlotte, squeezing her toes into the slipper so that she winced with the pain. “A little humouring is all that is necessary!”

And she insisted on trying again and again, until it was evident that she could never succeed in getting the slipper on, even if she tried for years.

“I told you so!” said Euphronia. “Now it is my turn”; and she stretched out her ugly foot so quickly that she nearly knocked the poor attendant over. She, too, struggled and wriggled, but it was all in vain, and at last the courier became very impatient.

“It is no use, madam,” said he, “the slipper will not fit either of you. Are there any other ladies in the house?”

“No,” snapped Euphronia, “there are not; and I’m certain that I could get the shoe on if you would only let me try just once more. My foot was almost inside when you snatched the slipper away.”

“I think you are mistaken, madam,” answered the courier politely; “there was a young girl who opened the door for us. Who was she?”

“What, do you mean Cinderslut?” cried Euphronia, with a mighty scornful laugh. “She, you must know, is our kitchen-maid, who does all our dirty work!”

“No matter,” answered the courier firmly. “The Prince’s orders are not to leave out anybody, whether of high rank or low, so with your leave I will try.”

“This is really infamous!” cried Euphronia, with a stamp of her foot, but it was useless to argue, for the courier without wasting any more words walked into the kitchen. Cinderella rose in surprise as he entered, and even in her ragged working dress she looked so lovely that the courier opened his eyes.

“Will you please sit down, madam,” said he, “and try this slipper on?”

“Madam, indeed!” sniffed Euphronia. “What next, I wonder!”

But the courier took no notice of her, for at the very first trial the slipper glided on to Cinderella’s dainty foot with the greatest ease.

How the sisters stared! Euphronia’s face turned almost green with rage and envy, while Charlotte glared. But their surprise was as nothing to the shock they received the next moment, for Cinderella calmly took the other shoe from her pocket and put it on the other foot. These were the pair of them, gleaming and flashing so that her feet seemed shod with light.

“Well I never!” muttered Euphronia. “Of all the deceitful little-———”

And then she stopped suddenly, for another figure had come into the room—out of nowhere, as it appeared; for one moment she wasn’t there and the next she stood smiling behind Cinderella’s chair. It was the figure of an old woman dressed in a red petticoat, with a pointed hat on her head.

She lifted her stick and touched the girl lightly on the shoulder. In that moment Cinderella’s rags dropped away, and she appeared dressed in the beautiful gown of white silk in which she had first gone to the ball. She looked so lovely as she sat there that the courier fell on his knees and kissed her hand, as one kisses the hand of a queen.

Then the old godmother spoke, and her voice was very stern and hard.

“Proud and cruel girls,” she said, “look upon the sister whom you have despised and have used so spite­ fully. She is the daughter of the house, but you robbed her of all the joy that should have been hers. Now she shall be the greatest lady in the land, and you shall creep to her feet for forgiveness.”

And that is just what the stepsisters did, weeping and

crying for pardon; but Cinderella, whose kind heart felt pity for their discomfiture, raised them with a kiss. And this is a thing not many girls would have done who had suffered as Cinderella had suffered at these girls’ hands, but she had a sweet and gentle nature.

She even kissed the Baroness, who came into the room just in time to see her daughters kneeling, and who dropped her lorgnette in surprise.

Then the fairy godmother said that the carriage was

waiting, and they all went down into the courtyard, where they found the magnificent gilt coach, with its six grey horses already harnessed and the coachman and lackeys in their place.

So Cinderella drove away, and there was no happier man in all the world than the Prince when he saw her again, and knew that she would not go away any more. Cinderella, too, was happy, for she loved him and wished for nothing better than to be his wife.

A week later they were married with great pomp and ceremony. The rejoicings lasted a full week, and all the town made holiday. Euphronia and Charlotte were at the wedding and they never uttered a single spiteful word, not even below their breath, for they were really sorry for their conduct. As soon as she was settled down, Cinderella sent for them and gave them each a suite of grand apartments at the palace. Not long after­ wards they married two gentlemen of the Court, and

 

Cinderella and the Prince lived very happily together for the rest of their lives.

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