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--Dead mother help--Counter-tasks--Magic dresses-- Heroine disguise (rat-skin)--Heroine asks leave to go to bath. Mother appears, and whirls her away in a hurricane to stone cross, wherein heroine hides bundle of dresses. [Heroine flight]--Enraged father shoots himself--King finds heroine, as rat; takes her to palace--King's son throws (1) boots, (2) knife, (3) towel at heroine--Meeting-place (church)--Token objects named--Threefold flight--Pitch shoe--Shoe marriage test--Happy marriage.

TABULATION

(1) King has beautiful wife and beautiful daughter. When his wife dies he seeks another, but finding no one as beautiful as his daughter, he wants to marry her.-- (2) At night heroine sits at her window weeping. Her mother appears to her, and asks why she weeps; then bids her demand from father a sun-dress, sun-gloves, and sun-shoes before she will marry him.-- (3) Father obtains these; heroine again weeps at her window. Mother now bids her demand moon-attire and star-attire. Father provides both; then heroine asks him to wait one night longer, because she wants to consult her mother once more.-- (4) At twelve o'clock mother appears and advises her to ask father for a dress made of rat-skin, and, having obtained this, to tie her clothes together in a bundle, and go to the bath, saying she is going to get herself ready and to wash herself. Mother promises to come then and carry her off in a hurricane.-- (5) Heroine does as bidden; she packs her magic dresses together, goes to the bath, and dons the rat-skin. Mother comes and whirls her away in a storm to the forest, and deposits her by a stone cross at the side of the road.-- (6) The stone opens, and when heroine has laid her bundle of clothes inside, it closes again.-- (7) Meanwhile, the king, waiting in vain for heroine to come out of bath, at length sends servants to find her. When they report her absent, he takes his gun and, in his rage, shoots himself dead.-- (8) A king passing by the stone, sees a rat lying in the road. Rat speaks, and asks king to take her with him to his castle. King is pleased with the animal, takes it home, giving it into the care of a lackey.-- (9) One day king's son is getting ready for church, and lackey has forgotten to clean his hoots. Rat cleans them, and takes them to king's son, who throws a boot alter her for daring to appear before him.-- (10) He rides off to church, and rat begs lackey to allow her to go. He says she must not be away more than an hour. Heroine runs to stone, dons star-dress, star-gloves, and star-shoes, and goes to church. She fills the church with rays of light; everyone looks at her, and when she leaves, king's son asks her whence she comes. "From Boot Castle." "Where is that?" ha asks. She cannot tell him that, for when she is at home she is not this same lovely, stately maiden. She leaves her clothes at stone, and returns its rat-skin to castle. King's son tells his patents and brothers and sisters about lovely lady. No one has ever heard of Boot Castle.-- (11) Next Sunday king's son sits at table to eat something before going to church, and the lackey having forgotten a knife, the rat brings him one. King's son throws knife after her, scolding her for coming.-- (12) Heroine wears moon-dress, moon-gloves, and moon-shoes to church, and afterwards says she comes from Knife Castle. The young men confer together as to some means of tracing her, and decide to place a barrel of tar outside the church next Sunday, and when she is about to leave, to pour some of the tar out on the chance of one of her shoes sticking to it.-- (13) Next Sunday, when king's n is washing his face for church, the towel is missing; he calls out for one, and the rat hands it him. He strikes her with it.-- (14) Lackey says rat must not be away more than an hour and a half. She dons sun-attire, and goes to church. The young men pour out some tar, and she loses one of her shoes. King's son picks it up, and then asks heroine whence she comes. "From Towel Castle," she says. When asked whether it is far off, she says, "Whether far or near, you will know one of these days, when everything comes to light." Heroine presently hears him tell parents about shoe, and all that has happened.-- (15) He sets out to seek Boot Castle, Knife Castle, and Towel Castle. But none can show him the way. He tries the shoe upon all girls and women, rich and poor. It is too small for some, too large for others, and fits nobody.-- (16) Then he turns back home, and tries it on everybody in castle, at length sending for the rat also. Rat agrees to try it on, but it must be in a dark room, and prince must not be present. Being taken to a dark room, she throws off rat-skin, and the whole room is lit up by her clothes. All exclaim; the shoe fits her, and the prince, who peeps through the key-hole, recognises the lady he has seen in church, bursts open the door, and embraces her.-- (t7) He marries her.

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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