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253

Société de Littérature Finnoise. MS. Collections. By Kaarle Krohn. From Suojarvi in Carelia. 1884. (Narrated by Tatjana Ignatjova, of Koitajarvi, sister of Illa. She is 59 years of age, and learnt the story from her mother, Matrova Karpova, who died 20 years ago, at the age of seventy.)

"THE SWINEHERD."

ABSTRACT

Ill-treated heroine (by elder sisters)--Heroine called "Cinderella". Elder sisters have washed their hands for six weeks to make clothes for king; they refuse to (1) milk cow, (2) shear sheep, (3) remove burning loaves, (4) help old man--Heroine milks cow, and replaces pail on horns; shears sheep, and gets wool; takes loaves out of oven, and piles them up; helps old man out of ditch, and receives magic stick to open treasure-stone-- Menial heroine (sifts cinders at palace)--Sisters object to her eating with them; abuse her--Magic dresses--Meeting-place (church)-- Threefold flight --Trap (not explained)--King's son stops heroine's carriage; gets in beside her--Happy marriage.

TABULATION

(1) There are three young girls; the youngest is Cinderella. The other two have for six weeks been washing their hands in new milk, that they may make clothes for the king's son. They set out, and Cinderella follows them. They walk on and on.-- (2) A cow meets them, and says: "Milk me, young ladies." "What soil our hands after washing them for six weeks in new milk?" Cinderella comes along and milks cow, lets it drink, washes the pail, and puts it on her horns, and continues on her way. The first two girls are on in front.-- (3) A sheep comes up to Cinderella, and says: "Shear me, dear young lady; my wool reaches to the ground." She shears sheep with the shears that are on its back, takes the wool, and proceeds.-- (4) The grand young ladies enter a hut, where the bread is being burnt in the oven. The loaves say: "Take us out; we are being burnt." "What! soil our hands," etc., etc., and they go on their way. Cinderella enters hut, takes loaves out of the oven, piles them up, and goes on again.-- (5) The two girls come upon an old man who has fallen into a ditch. "Help me up, dear young ladies." They exclaim as before. Cinderella follows, helps the old man up, and seats him at the edge of the ditch. (The old man is the Saviour.) He gives her a stick, saying: "Go to a certain stone, strike it three times with this stick. It will open, and you can take out anything you want."-- (6) Cinderella reaches the king's court. The two girls are being entertained with food and drink. Cinderella is set to sift cinders in a dark little room, where she sees nobody. Next day king's son prepares for church, and the two girls dress quickly to go with him. Meanwhile Cinderella sits in her dark room. But presently she goes to the stone of which old man told her, strikes it with her stick, and three horses come forth, the first all gilt, the second silvered, and the third quite black. Cinderella dresses, gets in carriage, and drives to church. She kneels down beside the two girls, who do not recognise her. On leaving church, she drives quickly to stone, returns the horses and clothes, and goes to her dark room. Sisters return, and all sit to table. Someone says that Cinderella should be called to dinner; but sisters say: "Oh, let her alone! She will find plenty of scraps when she is washing up." But the others say she may as well come and eat with them. She comes. They are all talking about the lovely girl who was at church. She says: "That was I." Sisters jeer at her, and say: "You indeed, scullion! If you don't hold your tongue directly you shall be sent hack to your dark hole."-- (7) Next day all go to church, and Cinderella gets still finer clothes from the stone, and horses nine times more beautiful. No one in church can go on praying. Everyone gets up to look at her. The king's son watches her all the time. He pursues her after the service, but she gets into carriage, and is off. When they return from church everyone is talking about the lovely girl. Sisters do not want Cinderella to be called to dinner, but she is fetched, and is again silenced by sisters when she says the lovely girl was herself. King's son is consumed with longing for the lovely stranger.-- (8) He causes to he placed in front of the church a greater trap than on the preceding occasions. (Trap not explained.) On the morrow they all go to church again. Heroine appears in splendour passing description. All look at her. King's son can give no ear to what the priest says. When the service is ended, heroine gets into her carriage, but the king's son stops it, and gets in beside her, and drives to the palace. Then he marries her, and they live happily to this day. The sisters took themselves off; no one knows what became of them.

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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