Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm: A New English Version (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

but the first half, with the comedy of the three little men, has a quite different tone.

These are not just the sort of thing that fairy tales don’t bother with, and to which it’s silly to expect answers; they are more than that: they are clumsy storytelling. I thought it was possible to deal with them and improve the story.

And she never had a chance to wash and clean herself, so she always looked dusty and grubby. Because of that, they found a special name for her. ‘What shall we call her – Ashy-face?’ ‘Sootybottom?’ ‘Cinderina?’ ‘Cinderella – that’s it!’

When the prince and his bride walked into the church, the older sister walked on their right and the younger sister on their left, and the doves flew down and pecked out one eye from each of them.

The runner joined in with them, and presently they came to a man who was wearing his cap on one side, with the flap over one of his ears.

I’m fond of this tale because of the simplicity and power of its form. When a tale is shaped so well that the line of the narrative seems to have been able to take no other path, and to have touched every important event in making for its end, one can only bow with respect for the teller.

the tale itself is disgusting. The most repellent aspect is the cowardice of the miller,

‘But the wedding will be fun. Bears always dance well.’

She has many names. The Grimms call her Aschenputtel, but she is firmly Cinderella in English. In our centrally heated homes today, when few children have ever seen a cinder or know what one is, Cinderella just sounds like a pretty name, but I thought it needed a little context.