The wife of a rich man fell sick; and when she felt that her end drewnigh, she called her only daughter to her bed-side, and said, 'Always bea good girl, and I will look down from heaven and watch over you.' Soonafterwards she shut her eyes and died, and was buried in the garden;and the little girl went every day to her grave and wept, and was alwaysgood and kind to all about her. And the snow fell and spread a beautifulwhite covering over the grave; but by the time the spring came, and thesun had melted it away again, her father had married another wife. Thisnew wife had two daughters of her own, that she brought home with her;they were fair in face but foul at heart, and it was now a sorry timefor the poor little girl. 'What does the good-for-nothing want in theparlour?' said they; 'they who would eat bread should first earn it;away with the kitchen-maid!' Then they took away her fine clothes, andgave her an old grey frock to put on, and laughed at her, and turned herinto the kitchen.

There she was forced to do hard work; to rise early before daylight, tobring the water, to make the fire, to cook and to wash. Besides that,the sisters plagued her in all sorts of ways, and laughed at her. In theevening when she was tired, she had no bed to lie down on, but was madeto lie by the hearth among the ashes; and as this, of course, made heralways dusty and dirty, they called her Ashputtel.

It happened once that the father was going to the fair, and asked hiswife's daughters what he should bring them. 'Fine clothes,' said thefirst; 'Pearls and diamonds,' cried the second. 'Now, child,' said heto his own daughter, 'what will you have?' 'The first twig, dearfather, that brushes against your hat when you turn your face to comehomewards,' said she. Then he bought for the first two the fine clothesand pearls and diamonds they had asked for: and on his way home, as herode through a green copse, a hazel twig brushed against him, and almostpushed off his hat: so he broke it off and brought it away; and when hegot home he gave it to his daughter. Then she took it, and went toher mother's grave and planted it there; and cried so much that it waswatered with her tears; and there it grew and became a fine tree. Threetimes every day she went to it and cried; and soon a little bird cameand built its nest upon the tree, and talked with her, and watched overher, and brought her whatever she wished for.

Now it happened that the king of that land held a feast, which was tolast three days; and out of those who came to it his son was to choosea bride for himself. Ashputtel's two sisters were asked to come; so theycalled her up, and said, 'Now, comb our hair, brush our shoes, and tieour sashes for us, for we are going to dance at the king's feast.'Then she did as she was told; but when all was done she could not helpcrying, for she thought to herself, she should so have liked to havegone with them to the ball; and at last she begged her mother very hardto let her go. 'You, Ashputtel!' said she; 'you who have nothing towear, no clothes at all, and who cannot even dance--you want to go tothe ball? And when she kept on begging, she said at last, to get rid ofher, 'I will throw this dishful of peas into the ash-heap, and if intwo hours' time you have picked them all out, you shall go to the feasttoo.'

Then she threw the peas down among the ashes, but the little maiden ranout at the back door into the garden, and cried out:

'Hither, hither, through the sky, Turtle-doves and linnets, fly! Blackbird, thrush, and chaffinch gay, Hither, hither, haste away! One and all come help me, quick! Haste ye, haste ye!--pick, pick, pick!'

Then first came two white doves, flying in at the kitchen window; nextcame two turtle-doves; and after them came all the little birds underheaven, chirping and fluttering in: and they flew down into the ashes.And the little doves stooped their heads down and set to work, pick,pick, pick; and then the others began to pick, pick, pick: and amongthem all they soon picked out all the good grain, and put it into a dishbut left the ashes. Long before the end of the hour the work was quitedone, and all flew out again at the windows.

Then Ashputtel brought the dish to her mother, overjoyed at the thoughtthat now she should go to the ball. But the mother said, 'No, no! youslut, you have no clothes, and cannot dance; you shall not go.' And whenAshputtel begged very hard to go, she said, 'If you can in one hour'stime pick two of those dishes of peas out of the ashes, you shall gotoo.' And thus she thought she should at least get rid of her. So sheshook two dishes of peas into the ashes.

But the little maiden went out into the garden at the back of the house,and cried out as before:

'Hither, hither, through the sky, Turtle-doves and linnets, fly! Blackbird, thrush, and chaffinch gay, Hither, hither, haste away! One and all come help me, quick! Haste ye, haste ye!--pick, pick, pick!'

Then first came two white doves in at the kitchen window; next came twoturtle-doves; and after them came all the little birds under heaven,chirping and hopping about. And they flew down into the ashes; and thelittle doves put their heads down and set to work, pick, pick, pick; andthen the others began pick, pick, pick; and they put all the good graininto the dishes, and left all the ashes. Before half an hour's time allwas done, and out they flew again. And then Ashputtel took the dishes toher mother, rejoicing to think that she should now go to the ball.But her mother said, 'It is all of no use, you cannot go; you have noclothes, and cannot dance, and you would only put us to shame': and offshe went with her two daughters to the ball.

Now when all were gone, and nobody left at home, Ashputtel wentsorrowfully and sat down under the hazel-tree, and cried out:

'Shake, shake, hazel-tree, Gold and silver over me!'

Then her friend the bird flew out of the tree, and brought a gold andsilver dress for her, and slippers of spangled silk; and she put themon, and followed her sisters to the feast. But they did not know her,and thought it must be some strange princess, she looked so fine andbeautiful in her rich clothes; and they never once thought of Ashputtel,taking it for granted that she was safe at home in the dirt.

The king's son soon came up to her, and took her by the hand and dancedwith her, and no one else: and he never left her hand; but when anyoneelse came to ask her to dance, he said, 'This lady is dancing with me.'

Thus they danced till a late hour of the night; and then she wanted togo home: and the king's son said, 'I shall go and take care of you toyour home'; for he wanted to see where the beautiful maiden lived. Butshe slipped away from him, unawares, and ran off towards home; and asthe prince followed her, she jumped up into the pigeon-house and shutthe door. Then he waited till her father came home, and told him thatthe unknown maiden, who had been at the feast, had hid herself in thepigeon-house. But when they had broken open the door they found no onewithin; and as they came back into the house, Ashputtel was lying, asshe always did, in her dirty frock by the ashes, and her dim littlelamp was burning in the chimney. For she had run as quickly as she couldthrough the pigeon-house and on to the hazel-tree, and had there takenoff her beautiful clothes, and put them beneath the tree, that the birdmight carry them away, and had lain down again amid the ashes in herlittle grey frock.

The next day when the feast was again held, and her father, mother, andsisters were gone, Ashputtel went to the hazel-tree, and said:

'Shake, shake, hazel-tree, Gold and silver over me!'

And the bird came and brought a still finer dress than the one shehad worn the day before. And when she came in it to the ball, everyonewondered at her beauty: but the king's son, who was waiting for her,took her by the hand, and danced with her; and when anyone asked her todance, he said as before, 'This lady is dancing with me.'

When night came she wanted to go home; and the king's son followed hereas before, that he might see into what house she went: but she sprangaway from him all at once into the garden behind her father's house.In this garden stood a fine large pear-tree full of ripe fruit; andAshputtel, not knowing where to hide herself, jumped up into it withoutbeing seen. Then the king's son lost sight of her, and could not findout where she was gone, but waited till her father came home, and saidto him, 'The unknown lady who danced with me has slipped away, and Ithink she must have sprung into the pear-tree.' The father thought tohimself, 'Can it be Ashputtel?' So he had an axe brought; and they cutdown the tree, but found no one upon it. And when they came back intothe kitchen, there lay Ashputtel among the ashes; for she had slippeddown on the other side of the tree, and carried her beautiful clothesback to the bird at the hazel-tree, and then put on her little greyfrock.

The third day, when her father and mother and sisters were gone, shewent again into the garden, and said:

'Shake, shake, hazel-tree, Gold and silver over me!'

Then her kind friend the bird brought a dress still finer than theformer one, and slippers which were all of gold: so that when she cameto the feast no one knew what to say, for wonder at her beauty: and theking's son danced with nobody but her; and when anyone else asked her todance, he said, 'This lady is _my_ partner, sir.'

When night came she wanted to go home; and the king's son would go withher, and said to himself, 'I will not lose her this time'; but, however,she again slipped away from him, though in such a hurry that she droppedher left golden slipper upon the stairs.

The prince took the shoe, and went the next day to the king his father,and said, 'I will take for my wife the lady that this golden slipperfits.' Then both the sisters were overjoyed to hear it; for theyhad beautiful feet, and had no doubt that they could wear the goldenslipper. The eldest went first into the room where the slipper was, andwanted to try it on, and the mother stood by. But her great toe couldnot go into it, and the shoe was altogether much too small for her. Thenthe mother gave her a knife, and said, 'Never mind, cut it off; when youare queen you will not care about toes; you will not want to walk.' Sothe silly girl cut off her great toe, and thus squeezed on the shoe,and went to the king's son. Then he took her for his bride, and set herbeside him on his horse, and rode away with her homewards.

But on their way home they had to pass by the hazel-tree that Ashputtelhad planted; and on the branch sat a little dove singing:

'Back again! back again! look to the shoe! The shoe is too small, and not made for you! Prince! prince! look again for thy bride, For she's not the true one that sits by thy side.'

Then the prince got down and looked at her foot; and he saw, by theblood that streamed from it, what a trick she had played him. So heturned his horse round, and brought the false bride back to her home,and said, 'This is not the right bride; let the other sister try and puton the slipper.' Then she went into the room and got her foot into theshoe, all but the heel, which was too large. But her mother squeezed itin till the blood came, and took her to the king's son: and he set heras his bride by his side on his horse, and rode away with her.

But when they came to the hazel-tree the little dove sat there still,and sang:

'Back again! back again! look to the shoe! The shoe is too small, and not made for you! Prince! prince! look again for thy bride, For she's not the true one that sits by thy side.'

Then he looked down, and saw that the blood streamed so much from theshoe, that her white stockings were quite red. So he turned his horseand brought her also back again. 'This is not the true bride,' said heto the father; 'have you no other daughters?' 'No,' said he; 'there isonly a little dirty Ashputtel here, the child of my first wife; I amsure she cannot be the bride.' The prince told him to send her. But themother said, 'No, no, she is much too dirty; she will not dare to showherself.' However, the prince would have her come; and she first washedher face and hands, and then went in and curtsied to him, and he reachedher the golden slipper. Then she took her clumsy shoe off her left foot,and put on the golden slipper; and it fitted her as if it had been madefor her. And when he drew near and looked at her face he knew her, andsaid, 'This is the right bride.' But the mother and both the sisterswere frightened, and turned pale with anger as he took Ashputtel on hishorse, and rode away with her. And when they came to the hazel-tree, thewhite dove sang:

'Home! home! look at the shoe! Princess! the shoe was made for you! Prince! prince! take home thy bride, For she is the true one that sits by thy side!'

And when the dove had done its song, it came flying, and perched uponher right shoulder, and so went home with her.