Aschenputtel

"Shake and rattle, little tree!
Throw gold and silver over me!"

Probably due to the bicentenary of the publication of Grimms' Fairy Tales, I've been thinking quite a lot about their tales, in particular their version of "Cinderella", known in German as "Aschenputtel". Like all fairy tales, many variants of "Cinderella" exist around the world. In the English-speaking world, the version of "Cinderella" we know is the late 17th century French version by Charles Perrault (this is the version Walt Disney adapted). Yet in many countries, in particular those in the German-speaking world, the Grimms' version of the tale is better known. I can remember being ten and picking up a collection of Grimm tales at school and reading their version of "Cinderella" for the first time. Unaware of the idea that multiple versions of the same narrative existed across different cultures, I was surprised to read such a different version.

"There's blood in the shoe!" warn the birds.

The Perrault version of the tale is much more light-hearted and refined than the more sombre Grimm version. The stepfamily in Grimms' version are truly cruel, demonic creations as opposed to delightfully haughty comic villains. In particular, the stepmother, so hell bent on seeing her family wed into royalty, has her own daughters cut off bits of their feet to make Cinderella's golden slipper fit. The magical helpers in Grimms' version of the tale are also radically different. Whereas Perrault has a fairy godmother appearing mid-point through the story to get Cinderella to the ball, the Grimms have Cinderella plant a hazel tree at her birth mother's grave in the garden, which can grant such wishes as providing a lovely dress and slippers for the royal ball (one can assume that the dead mother's spirit inhabits the tree). Also helpful are the birds that reside in the tree; they help Cinderella with the tedious task handed by her stepmother of sorting out good and bad lentils that have been thrown among the ashes, and they alert the prince of the stepsisters' treachery by getting him to notice the blood in the golden slipper. Yet these birds aren't entirely sweet and innocent as well. In an ending that would delight Hithcock, Cinderella's bird friends peck out the eyes of the stepsisters as punishment for their horrid ways.

The birds help Cinderella with her tedious chores.

Yes, it may sound like an unpleasant tale, especially if you were raised on Disney or Ladybird books. Yet the original Grimms' stories are not exactly stories for children to begin with, hence their bowdlerisation in versions for younger people (in fact, I believe contemporary German versions of the tales for children tone down the violence).  Equally, there is something about the Grimms' "Cinderella" that really is enchanting. So much so, in fact, that I decided to make some sketches based on it. Enjoy!