A rich man soon married again after his first wife became ill and passed away. He had one daughter and his new wife brought two daughters of her own. Her daughters were beautiful, with fair faces, but they had evil hearts.

The stepsisters treated the man's daughter poorly, taking away her beautiful clothes and leaving her only to wear an old gray smock and wooden shoes. She had to gather food, cook and clean from morning until evening -- Even her bed had been taken from her and she was forced to sleep in cinder every night. Since her clothes had cinder all over them, the stepsisters gave her the name, Cinderella.

Now it happened that the King proclaimed a ball of which all the beautiful young girls in the land were invited, so that his son could select a bride for himself. When the two stepsisters heard that they too had been invited, they made Cinderella get their clothes and hair ready.

When Cinderella had finished primping the girls, she mentioned to them that she was going to get herself ready, too. They laughed at her and said that she had no dress to wear and that she could not dance, and told her that she had too much cleaning to do. The girls and stepmother left Cinderella behind. She ran away to her mother's grave and wept. She wished that she could go to the ball and dance with the Prince.

Suddenly, a bird appeared and granted her wish, explaining that the spell would last until midnight. The bird threw a silver dress down to her, and slippers embroidered with silk. She quickly put on the dress and a went to the ball.

Once there, her stepsisters and stepmother did not recognize her in her silver dress and thought she must be a foreign Princess. The Prince immediately took notice and decided he would only dance with her.

Cinderella noticed it was nearing midnight. Fearing that the spell would wear off and her silver dress would turn back in to an old gray smock, she ran away. She was in such a hurry that she lost her slippers in the process, which the Prince picked up as he watched her leave.

The next morning, the Prince began his search to find the woman who could fit her feet in to the small silk slippers, and eventually made his way to Cinderella's house. The stepsisters fought to squeeze their feet in to the slippers, but their feet were far too big.

The Prince then noticed a woman covered in cinder and asked her to come and try on the slippers. The Prince was excited to see that her feet were a perfect fit!

"I have found you at last, my beautiful Princess" Exclaimed the Prince.

The stepsisters were red with anger when they realized that Cinderella was actually the foreign Princess they had envied so much the night before. The Prince took Cinderella on to his horse and rode away with her, as the stepsisters were left to rub their big sore feet.