Variations of "Cinderella" Quiz

Answer: Greece

Recorded in the 1st century BCE, "Rhodopis" is considered the very first version of the fairytale which would later be called "Cinderella". Strabo was the one who originally recorded "Rhodopis"; a later version of her story was included in the writings of Claudius Aelianus.

Although her being sold and becoming a slave to Egyptians might remind you of the Biblical Joseph account, Rhodopis came from Greece, not Israel (or Rome, or Persia). The people who kidnapped her were pirates.

The name "Rhodopis" actually means "red-cheeked" or "rosy-cheeked". The other girls made fun of her because she looked so much different than they did (skin, hair, etc). But it isn't super clear whether they teased her because they were jealous of her, or if they teased her because they felt that she was the ugly one. (The story overall says that she was beautiful, though, of course).

Rhodopis' elderly owner gave her a pair of red slippers after he saw how beautifully she danced. As in other "Cinderella" versions, she lost one of her slippers, the prince (or in this case, pharaoh) said he would only marry the girl who fit it, and they got married.

Answer: Fish

The "Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang" is a collection of Chinese legends and other stories.

Dating from around the 9th century, "Yè Xiàn" (or "Yeh-Shen") is one of the oldest versions of "Cinderella". The main character's stepsister and stepmother both hated her and abused her. She befriended a large fish, which seemed to be either the reincarnation of her biological mother or a gift sent to her by her mother. She later went to a New Year's Festival, lost a golden slipper, and then eventually became a queen.

Answer: True

It's totally true. "Kongji and Patzzi", which can be alternatively written "Kongjwi and Patjwi", is about Kongji, the only child of a couple who originally couldn't have kids. Sadly, her mother died when she was young. Her father remarried when she was fourteen years old; her stepmother and her stepsister (Patzzi) treated her badly (they starved her) and made her do hard labor.

Her father had died, too. She eventually did attend the king's dance, where she lost a shoe; the king made her his wife.

Answer: Native Americans

Ironically enough, this comes from the book "Canadian Wonder Tales" (1918) by its Canadian author, Cyrus Macmillan. The characters, however, are Native Americans.

This, though it is still considered a "Cinderella" variation, is quite different from others. But it has its similarities, too. In a nutshell, Strong Wind said that he would marry the maiden who could see him; for he usually was invisible. Her cruel sisters tried to win him, but they couldn't see him; they failed. The girl married Strong Wind. Although no slipper or festival was involved in the story, a "Cinderella" theme was.

Answer: Little Rag Girl

According to the text, she was called "Little Rag Girl" even before her father remarried; she was called it because her family was so poor. It's interesting in itself how one tale can have so many versions and variations; in some "Cinderella" versions, she was originally a rich child. In fact, a few state that she was a princess! In others, like this, she was a peasant and/or poor.

Regardless of if she was born a princess or not, most true "Cinderella" stories have her marry a king or a prince.

"Conkiajgharuna (Little Rag Girl)" can be found in "Georgian Folk Tales" (1894) by editor/translator Marjory Wardrop.

Answer: No, she quickly became cruel, just like the first.

In Italian, "Cinderella" is "Cenerentola".

Regarding the answer, isn't that terrible?! Zezolla thought that her governess really cared for her--she always acted like she did! Her first stepmother was indeed not the best (step)mother you could wish for, but that's why she talked to the governess and told her she wished that she were her mother instead.

What a strange turn of events, that after Zezolla naively murdered her first stepmother, her friend turned on her. The governess also had six daughters of her own, who were revealed after the marriage. They, too, started treating Zezolla cruelly.

Basile's story was originally published in "The Pentamerone" in 1634.

Answer: It was a male calf.

It isn't unusual for "Cinderella" versions, especially older ones, to have an animal play the part of a fairy godmother. For examples, in addition to the calf in "Rashin-Coatie", "Yè Xiàn" used a fish; "Maria and the Golden Slipper" (a version from the Philippines) had a crab; another Scottish version, "The Sharp Grey Sheep", used a sheep!

However, more often than not, the animal does tend to be a female. This is probably because the animals really do represent motherly comfort to the Cinderella characters, regardless of whether they're supposed to represent the dead biological mothers or whether they're just supposed to be godmothers/stepmothers/whatever.

That said, "Katie Woodencloak" (Norway) is another which uses a male animal (a bull, in fact).

A copy of "Rashin-Coatie" can be found in "Scottish Fairy and Folk Tales" (1901) by editor/translator George Douglas.

Answer: Henwife

Now, this is a very interesting version. One reason is that, unlike in many other versions, Trembling goes to church services, rather than balls or festivals. To summarize, Trembling's two sisters, Fair and Brown, went to church every Sunday wearing fancy dresses; they were jealous of Trembling's beauty and forced her to stay home and do chores. The henwife, who obviously was in the role of a fairy godmother, helped Trembling go to the church. Typical events followed: everybody thought she was so pretty, she lost one of her shoes, and she eventually married a king's son.

Another thing I find interesting is how the story states that the henwife "put on the cloak of darkness"; she would wish for things and they magically appeared. Is this quote suggesting that the henwife was actually a witch? I think so; though given the setting, anybody who practiced witchcraft would probably have been looked upon as a sinner. (It might be interesting to note that even though the henwife encouraged Trembling to go to church, she didn't go to church herself. How could she have gone? She needed to be home to help Trembling).

I really don't get why the Cinderella character got stuck with the name "Trembling". It seems to be that "Fair" would have been more appropriate; especially considering that the character Fair was anything but! Even after Trembling married the prince, Fair tried to murder her!

This story can be found in "Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland" (1890) by editor/translator Jeremiah Curtin.

Answer: In the 1857 story, Cinderella's father made a cruel remark about her.

In German, "Cinderella" is "Aschenputtel".

In the 1857 edition, her father is quoted as saying, "No...There is only a deformed little Cinderella from my first wife, but she cannot possibly be the bride." He said this when the prince asked him if he had any other daughters; for the prince realized that one stepsister only forced herself into the slipper by cutting her toe off!

But what he said is pretty mean, is it not? I know I wouldn't be very happy if my father made such a comment about me! And it's not just the fact that he called her "deformed"--he also suggested that he didn't believe in her. Then again, in an earlier scene, he did say, "Could it be Cinderella?"--so it's very possible that he only said the latter because the stepmother was standing next to him.

In the 1812, it was, in fact, only the stepmother who told the prince that there were no other daughters, except for a "dirty cinder girl".

Answer: At the end, birds pecked out her stepsisters' eyes.

In French, "Cinderella" is "Cendrillon". It means "little ash girl".

If you happen to think of pumpkins, glass slippers, and fairy godmothers when you think of Cinderella, you can thank Charles Perrault for that! Prior to Perrault's "The Little Glass Slipper" (often simply called "Cinderella") there really weren't fairy godmothers per se; rather, most of the older versions had either an animal or a tree give comfort and help to the main character.

Examples of versions with magic trees are "The Wonderful Birch" (Russia), "Cenerentola" by Giambattista Basile, and even the Grimm Brothers'. This is despite the fact that the Grimm Brothers' versions actually came AFTER Perrault's. Still, they held to earlier traditions using the tree.

Perrault was the first to introduce the glass slipper. Sure, versions older than his included slippers, but they were usually gold; a few versions included red, silver, or silk slippers. Even in the Grimms', they were gold. Some researchers in the field contend that Perrault originally used the word "vair", meaning squirrel fur, and it was mistranslated as "verre", meaning glass. Nevertheless, the English translations of his story consistently have glass slippers.

Disney did indeed base their 1950 animated movie on Perrault's version.

Charles Perrault was quite a fellow. In addition to creating a unique "Cinderella" story which led to the Disney film, he also is considered the founder of the modern "fairy tale" genre.

Perrault's version actually ended with Cinderella forgiving her stepsisters and letting them live in the palace with her and her prince, believe it or not. The birds pecking out the stepsisters' eyes comes from the 1857 edition of the Brothers Grimm.