“Turn and peep, turn and peep,
There’s blood within the shoe,
The shoe it is too small for her,
The true bride waits for you.”
Then he looked at her foot and saw how the blood was streaming from it.
He turned his horse round and took the false bride home again, and said
she was not the true one, and that the other sister was to put the shoe
on. Then this one went into her chamber and got her toes safely into
the shoe, but her heel was too large. So her mother gave her a knife
and said, “Cut a bit off thy heel; when thou art Queen thou wilt have
no more need to go on foot.” The maiden cut a bit off her heel, forced
her foot into the shoe, swallowed the pain, and went out to the King’s
son. He took her on his horse as his bride, and rode away with her, but
when they passed by the hazel-tree, two little pigeons sat on it and
cried,
“Turn and peep, turn and peep,
There’s blood within the shoe
The shoe it is too small for her,
The true bride waits for you.”
He looked down at her foot and saw how the blood was running out of her
shoe, and how it had stained her white stocking. Then he turned his
horse and took the false bride home again. “This also is not the right
one,” said he, “have you no other daughter?” “No,” said the man, “There
is still a little stunted kitchen-wench which my late wife left behind
her, but she cannot possibly be the bride.” The King’s son said he was
to send her up to him; but the mother answered, “Oh, no, she is much
too dirty, she cannot show herself!” He absolutely insisted on it, and
Cinderella had to be called. She first washed her hands and face clean,
and then went and bowed down before the King’s son, who gave her the
golden shoe. Then she seated herself on a stool, drew her foot out of
the heavy wooden shoe, and put it into the slipper, which fitted like a
glove. And when she rose up and the King’s son looked at her face he
recognized the beautiful maiden who had danced with him and cried,
“That is the true bride!” The step-mother and the two sisters were
terrified and became pale with rage; he, however, took Cinderella on
his horse and rode away with her. As they passed by the hazel-tree, the
two white doves cried—
“Turn and peep, turn and peep,
No blood is in the shoe,
The shoe is not too small for her,
The true bride rides with you,”
and when they had cried that, the two came flying down and placed
themselves on Cinderella’s shoulders, one on the right, the other on
the left, and remained sitting there.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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