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

Unnatural father--Helpful animal (red cow)--Heroine flight on red cow. Cow hides in sand-pit; bids heroine seek employment at palace--Menial heroine (kitchen-maid)--Magic dresses from cow--Meeting-place (church) -- Threefold flight --Lost shoe--Shoe test--Happy marriage--Red cow is an enchanted princess.

TABULATION

(1) A certain king lost his wife. His daughter put on her mother's dress, and appeared before the king, who was so struck by her likeness to his dead wife, that he fell in love with her, and wanted to marry her.-- (2) The girl was so horrified at the proposal, that she ran away from home, and met a little red cow. The cow asked her why she was weeping so bitterly, and the girl told everything. The cow carried her to another kingdom, hid herself in a sand- pit, telling the princess to go to the royal palace hard by, and hire herself as kitchen-maid.-- (3) The princess did so. She had to attend upon the king, who sent her away on account of her ugly appearance.-- (4) One Sunday they all went to church. The princess was told to stop at home and cook the dinner. Instead of doing this, she ran to the sand-pit, and, assisted by the cow, got a beautiful dress, put it on and went to church. The king and the whole congregation were surprised at her beauty. Before the service was over, she ran back to the sand-pit, put on her usual dress, and returned to the castle. The dinner was found ready.-- (5) The following Sunday she did the same thing..-- (6) The third Sunday the princess lost one of her gold shoes. The king, wishing to find her, ordered all the young girls to try the shoe on, but it would not fit any of them. At last they sent for the scullery-maid, and the shoe fitted her to perfection.-- (7) The king married her. The little red cow was an enchanted princess.

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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