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

King makes three daughters relate their dreams; youngest has dreamt that she will marry an emperor---Outcast heroine--Faithful servant spares heroine's life, leaves her in the wood, and deludes king with sheep's blood and one of heroine's-fingers-- Heroine sees distant light; comes to house of ogre; ogress admits her, hides her from husband, and afterwards presents her to him as own child--Heroine enters forbidden chamber and goes out on balcony. Emperor's parrot warns her that ogre will devour her; next day she retorts that she will marry bird's master. Bird, annoyed, tells master, who lies in wait to slay heroine. Emperor falls in love with her--Happy marriage--Heroine's father attends wedding ; craves forgiveness.

TABULATION

(1) King has three daughters. One evening he tells them that he will want to hear the following morning what each of them has dreamt.¹ Next day eldest daughter tells him she dreamt that she married a prince; the second daughter that she married a king; the youngest, that she married an emperor.-- (2) Father conceives dislike for youngest daughter, because he fears she will marry someone above his own rank. One day he calls faithful servant, and bids him take her out in carriage to the wood, kill her there, and bring back her blood and one of her fingers. Servant drives her to the wood, but feels pity for her, and whilst deliberating about murdering her, sees in the distance a sheep, which he kills instead. He takes the sheep's blood, but is obliged to cut off one of heroine's fingers. Then he leaves her alone in the wood.-- (3) At night she is terrified at hearing wild beasts; sees a light in the distance, and walks towards it. She comes to the house of an ogre (Uorco) and knocks at the door. The ogress opens to her, warns her that when husband returns he will eat her, but takes pity on her, and lets her hide behind the door. Ogre returns, and remarks, "What a smell of Christians!"² Ogress persuades him it is nothing, and makes believe she is enceinte.-- (4) One day she presents heroine as her own child, and they both treat her as such.-- (5) One day, when ogre and ogress have gone out, heroine unlocks and enters forbidden chamber, is entranced with all the beautiful things, and walks out on the balcony. The emperor's palace is close by, and the parrot there says:

"Bella figliola, bella figliola,
l'Uorco ti cresce, l'Uorco ti 'ngrassa
Pe' ti mangia."

She is very frightened; but when ogress learns what has happened, she bids her say next time to parrot:

"Pappagallo, pappagallo,
de 'sta coda 'no bello ventaglio,
de 'sta capo 'no bello bastone,
Saro moglie al tuo padrone."

(6) Heroine goes again to the balcony, and replies to parrot as bidden. Bird is much annoyed, and goes in to tell his master, who, being fond of it, says he will find out who the girl is, and slay her. Accordingly the emperor is in hiding, ready to slay heroine the next time she comes to talk to the parrot. But seeing her extreme beauty, he resolves to marry her instead-- (7) Amongst other kings heroine's father is invited to the wedding, and when she makes herself known to him, he falls at her feet craving forgiveness.

NOTES

1: See Note 39.

Note 39

(P. 251.) With the opening of the story compare Denton, "The Dream of the King's Son"; De Gubernatis, Z. M., i, 139 (South Siberian tale cited from Radloff); Hahn, No. 45, i, 258; ii, 247; Krauss, ii, 290, No. 129; Roméro, No. 3, p. 12; Schott, Walachische Märchen, No. 9; and "The Three Dreams," in Magyar Folk-tales, p. 117; and see the notes, p. 376, for other stories of dreams foretelling wealth and power. Compare Joseph's dream. The significance of dreams is noticed in Uarda, cap. xv; Horace, c. iii, xxvii, 41; S., i, x, 33. See also Tylor, Early Hist. of Mankind, pp. 5-10; Prim. Cult., "Dreams."
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2: See Note 40.

Note 40

(P. 251.) For detecting the smell of human flesh, cf. Arnason, p. 454; Bleek, Hottentot Fables, p. 60; Busk, p. 6; Callaway, p. 49, "Uzembeni"; Campbell, i, 9, 252; Du Chaillu, Ashango Land, p. 107, "Legend of Fougainon"; Clouston, i, 134, note; Cosquin, i, 103; Crane, pp. 90, 340; Dasent, pp. 59, 146, and "Rich Peter the Pedlar," p. 209; Day, Lal Behari, Folk-tales of Bengal, pp. 73, 77; F.-L. Rec., iii, 45 (from Mentone); 210 (Danish tale,Grundtvig); iv, 147 and 159 (Portuguese, Coelho); F.-L. Journal, ii, 68, "Mally-Whuppy"; iii, 296 and 300 (Chilian); vi, 129, "The Three Lemons" (Hungarian); Grey, Polyn. Myth., pp. 34, 64; Grimm, Nos. 15, 29, 165; Lewin, Exercises, etc., and Popular Tales (Calcutta, 1874), p. 85; MacInnes, Folk and Hero Tales, p. 113; Magyar Folk-tales, pp. 55, 241, and see p. 340; Pedroso, pp. 105, 109; Perrault, "Le Petit Poucet"; Petitot, Trad. Ind. du Canada Nord-Ouest, Paris, 1886, p. 171; Ralston, pp. 100, 154; Theal, pp. 124, 138; Thorpe, Yule-Tide Stories, "Rich Peter the Huckster," p. 322, and p. 339; Vernaleken, pp. 38, 141, 351; Webster, pp. 17, 97; Wide-Awake Stories, pp. 58, 172.

The Eumenides smelt out Orestes. "[Greek title]" Eum., 244 (see Lang, Perrault, cvii).

Sigmund and his cousin, wandering in the snow upon the Dofrafells, weary and wayless, come to a homestead wherein the womenfolk hide them from the goodman. When the rough-tempered man enters, he casts up his nostrils, and asks who has come. (C. P. B., i, 511.)

Hidimbas, the rakshasa in the Mahabharata, smells man's flesh from afar, and orders Hidimba, his sister, to fetch it him; but she, like the ogre's or monster's wife in so many tales, befriends the slumbering hero. Thor and Tew come into giant Hymi's house, where they find his 900-headed grandmother, who hides them under the caldron. So the devil's grandmother protects the luck-child (in Grimm's No. 29) when the devil enters and smells human flesh.

The uorco of the story derives his name from the ancient god of the lower world; he is an Orcus esuriens. Compare Ariosto's description of the orco and his wife (Orlando Fur., xvii, 29-65); he is blind (does not get blinded), has a flock like Polyphemus, eats men, but not women. (For the orco, see Pent,, i, 1; i, 5; ii, 3; iii, 10; iv, 8. For the orco, ii, 1; ii, 7; iv, 6; v, 4.) Ogres, or men-eating monsters, occur in Nos. 312, 313, 316; see also note 23.
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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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