Shuddering Grimm’s Fairy Tales (1)

Catalog.

‘Sequence’

‘Chapter 1 Snow White – The Love Affair Between Daughter and Birth Mother’

‘Chapter 2 Cinderella – The Path to Happiness Left by Her Mother’

‘ Chapter 3 – The Frog Prince – The Wonderful Power to Change a Woman’s Psyche ‘

‘ Chapter 4 – Bluebeard – Another Forbidden Key ‘

‘Chapter 5’

‘Chapter 6’

‘Chapter 7’

‘Chapter 8’

‘Chapter 9’

‘Chapter 10’

‘Epilogue’

‘Sequence’

Welcome to the brutal yet allegorical world of fairy tales. The Brothers Grimm, Jacob (1785-1863) and Wilhelm (1786-1859), were born in Wilhelm, Germany, the sons of the local administrative court.

After the death of their father in 1796, the family’s life became difficult, but the two brothers continued to study hard and graduated from the prestigious University of Mulbrugge with excellent grades. Afterwards, they taught at the Universities of Göttingen and Berlin and published books such as German Grammar and Ancient History of the Laws of Germany.

The Grimm’s Fairy Tales, published by the Brothers Grimm, were first published on Christmas Day, 1812 A.D., only six years after the tragic Napoleonic occupation of Germany.

Thus, the passion for the loss of utopia and the desire for the unification of the German nation, which arose during this tragic period in Germany, became the driving force of their creativity.

The Brothers Grimm argued that it was the inability to unite Germany’s many city-states that drew Napoleon’s invasion, and that the unification of the German nation had to begin with the unification of language and culture.

The period from the end of the eighteenth century to the nineteenth century was the heyday of German culture; in literature there were Goethe and Schiller, in philosophy Kant, in music Mozart, Beethoven and Haydn.

Under the strong national consciousness, the public gradually became interested in the history, myths, legends, and even countryside stories of the Germanic peoples, and Grimm’s Fairy Tales were born against this background.

The first edition, published in 1812, sold quite well, and was followed by the second (1819), third (1837), fourth (1840), fifth (1843), and sixth (1850) editions, until the seventh (1857), the last edition before the Brothers Grimm’s death; in the past, foreign translations and introductions were mostly based on the seventh and sixth editions, and the seventh edition was the last edition before the Brothers Grimm’s death. In the past, most of the foreign translations and introductions were based on the seventh edition.

But the original Grimm’s Fairy Tales was, in the eyes of fellow publishers and critics, a collection of stories “that a mother could not read to her daughter without blushing with shame.”

As a result, the Brothers Grimm reprinted the fairy tale with a number of deletions; in particular, the most controversial episodes, such as sexual intercourse, pregnancy, and adultery between close relatives, were completely deleted.

And now, thanks to the craze for fairy tale re-reflection, fairy tales have been given new life.

Although various schools of thought have analyzed fairy tales from different perspectives, the most notable one is the “psychoanalytic” one.

For example, according to Bruno Bettikhan, the dispute between Snow White and her stepmother originated in the Edipus complex, in which both mother and daughter wanted to possess their father.

In Karl-Heinz Marey’s analysis, the key that Bluebeard gives to the consort to the door that cannot be broken into is in fact a key with the connotation of a “chastity belt”.

In addition to psychoanalysis, a popular analytical method is “historical analysis”.

For example, the extremely high frequency of stepmothers and stepfathers in the story actually reflects the historical fact that in the early modern period in Europe, one in five married men lost their marriages and remarried again.

The “abandonment of children” in the story of “Hanso and Greta” is also a reflection of a common phenomenon in those days, when famine made it impossible to make a living.

Therefore, after referring to the different analyses made by various scholars, we decided to dig out the cruelty and reality in the “first edition” of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, thoroughly analyze the subconscious and historical background hidden in the fairy tales, and launch a more vivid Grimm’s Fairy Tales Collection with new interpretations.

Although it is impossible to strictly define, Grimm’s Fairy Tales are mostly set in the early modern period of the twelfth to eighteenth centuries, which may be the particular era that the Brothers Grimm wanted to express?

“Wow! So that’s the meaning contained in the story, huh?”

“So this is the intention they really wanted to express!”

If this book provokes such interest in readers, then the author’s inadequate labors will be compensated.

Without further ado, let’s enter the grim but profound world of the “New Grimm’s Fairy Tales” together…

Chapter 1 – Snow White (Love entanglement between daughter and birth mother)

The Empress hid at the corner of the long corridor and waited quietly, the firelight of the candlestick flickering on and off, vaguely illuminating the long corridor that stretched out to nowhere.

Just then she heard the sound of tiptoeing; it was a man of great stature, with his face covered by a cloak; and the queen immediately understood that it was no other than the present king.

The king looked around furtively, and after making sure that there was no one else, he stopped at the door of one of the rooms, pushed it open and disappeared in a flash, leaving the queen, who had seen it all, alone under the promenade.

What exactly is going to happen?

The Queen was very curious about what was going on in the room, but she was scared at the same time, which was an unforgivable sin.

In her mind, she did struggle for a moment, but in the end, anxiety and curiosity won out.

As if possessed by a demon, the Queen approached the room into which the King had infiltrated, and, bending down, peered through the keyhole into the interior.

Inside the room, illuminated only by a faint moonlight, a girl lay across the bed.

The Queen could only vaguely see the King sitting up on the edge of the bed and kissing the girl passionately.

A happy smile appeared on the girl’s childish face, her cute squirrel-like incisors showing between her half-open lips.

The king embraced the girl with his left arm while his right hand helped her to remove her garments.

In the moonlight, the girl’s beautiful body was clearly visible, with slightly bulging breasts, an underbelly that hadn’t yet grown any body hair, and doll-like legs…

The Queen was reluctant to look down at the moment, her eyes leaving the keyhole.

Though her long-held doubts were finally answered, a sense of despair weakened her entire body, causing her to fall helplessly to the floor.

As a wife, she witnessed her husband’s infidelity… What a helpless fact… But the greater tragedy was that the object of her husband’s affair was the couple’s own daughter… It was snowing, and the Empress was sitting alone at the edge of the ebony window, doing her needlework.

It had been ten years since she had married into the kingdom; the young and beautiful queen had no distinguished birth, but the king didn’t care and decided she was the woman he wanted.

Just married the period, the king crazy love the queen, and the queen also to have the king’s love for satisfaction, as long as the king glanced at the surrounding maids of honor she will be jealous, even the king and the courtiers to talk about the day will also trigger her jealousy, and even some of the princes and nobles  can not help but be affected by the queen’s jealousy wave.

Happiness did not last, however; in those days it was common for the king to go out to war, and the lords of the various castles seldom remained in their towns, spending most of their time on the battlefields.

So the queen, left behind in the city, began to feel a loneliness she had never felt before.

Every day was spent in boredom surrounded by maids of honor.

What else is there for women to talk about?

Mostly it’s all about costumes, makeup, and backstabbing.

The Empress forced a smile on the surface, but inside she was lonely.

In such a life, the only entertainment for the Empress was to close the door of her room at the end of the night and take out her dowry, a magic mirror, to examine it.

When she gazed into the magic mirror, she would always murmur, “Magic mirror, magic mirror, who is the most beautiful woman in the world?”

“Your Majesty, of course the most beautiful woman in the world is you…”

The Queen was relieved to hear the Magic Mirror answer in this way.

In the mirror she had brown hair, a straight nose, and white skin like marble.

The Empress took her skin care very seriously, sparing no expense to buy skincare formulas from advanced France and using a variety of herbs to make oil creams and give her skin the best massage every morning.

However, age is not forgiving, and the beauty of the Empress, there is a day of decline.

Since when, the Queen’s skin has been sagging, fine lines have appeared at the corners of her eyes, and the King doesn’t seem to be enjoying the fish and water so much anymore; it seems that the King is no longer interested in the Queen.

The Queen had certainly heard rumors of the King’s desire to find favorites amongst the nobles’ daughters, for when not at war, even when remaining in the city, the King spent most of his time visiting the royal family.

The king was very fond of young girls, and the queen was only fifteen years old when she married him, so rather than being bowled over by her beauty, the king fell in love with her youth.

Full breasts and hips were not the king’s favorite; the queen had smooth, unsullied skin, straight legs, tight hips, small features…

This immature neutral beauty fascinated the king.

In those days, it was extremely rare for underage girls to get married, and there were even some princesses who were married off to foreign countries before they reached the age of ten, but since the other party was also a prince who was not yet a breastfeeding child, they looked more like playmates even though they were called husband and wife.

The Queen thought to herself, “Aren’t all the daughters of nobles favored by the King these days young girls no older than fourteen?

In addition to being out of years, the Empress has another great weakness: she has no heir.

She sighed and looked out the window at the snow once more.

One carelessness, the tip of the needle pricked the fingertip, a drop of blood fell in the snow; the red blood and white ice and snow together, the color is actually so eye-catching; the queen saw this scene, her face showed unprecedented glory.

“I will have a child, a child whose skin is as white as snow, whose lips are as red as blood, whose hair is as black as window-frame sandalwood…”

Just having a child will surely win back the king’s heart.

No, even if the king no longer loves me, I am still the prince’s birth mother, and no one can shake my position… Perhaps God really heard the queen’s prayer.

It didn’t take long for the queen to become pregnant and later give birth to a healthy baby.

Just as she had hoped, it was a baby girl with skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as black as sandalwood: they named her the Snow King.

The king was so pleased with the queen’s “work” that he rewarded her with countless jeweled garments.

Although some people outside said it was a day of regret not to have a prince, the Queen didn’t care at all.

As the little princess grew up, the king was so happy that he stopped going out to find his lover and spent most of his time with the child, which led to frequent visits to the queen’s chambers.

The Queen finally got her wish and she, once again, reclaimed the King’s heart.

Growing up with two loving parents, Snow White had a beauty similar to the Queen’s; the Queen was so proud of this that whenever someone praised Snow White’s beauty, she felt appreciated as well.

But one day the Queen realized that something was wrong; she found that the King was gazing at Snow White not as a father would look at his daughter, but as a man would look at a woman.

He stared at the white skin of the princess’s breasts, at the ankles that were inadvertently exposed at the foot of the princess’s dress, and his eyes actually contained a strange light of desire.

In times past, adultery between close relatives was not as exceptional as modern people think; the Egyptian queen, Cleo Patra, used to marry her brother, and Francesco Chanci, a well-known Italian nobleman in the sixteenth century, even imprisoned his beautiful daughters for his own pleasure.

As it turned out, just days later, by chance, the queen saw the king sneak into the princess’s chambers and discovered the hard truth through the keyhole.

From that time on, the king went to the princess’s chamber almost every night, and never came to visit the queen; and she fell into the depths of loneliness again, as before.

However, the queen did not tell anyone about it, but just suffered the pain of jealousy alone.

Her pure and innocent daughter had now been defiled by the king’s bestiality; how she wished it was she, not her daughter, who was panting under her husband’s caresses…

A woman who has tasted a man…

The Empress could not bear the thought of her daughter’s defilement as long as she thought of it.

In the past, she also liked to caress the Princess’s delicate skin, but nowadays just the sight of the Princess made her feel her heart.

“Why are you wearing such revealing clothes!”

The Queen will always be unable to resist criticism.

“How nasty, does this deserve to be a princess of a country?”

The princess was happily dressed in the most fashionable dresses of the time, which showed off her curves, as well as silk socks, but was coldly reprimanded by the queen.

However, the princess, who used to be obedient to her mother, suddenly started to rebel: “It’s you who are too conservative, mom, this is the most popular dress now!”

“I suppose it’s you who don’t know it well, and aren’t you afraid of outsiders gossiping about you like that? What is really fashionable in Paris nowadays, do you know? Dressing up like you, you look like one of those peddler’s girls who love to run about in the streets.”

Being rebuked in this way, the princess flaps her mouth and shows a mournful expression.

In the past, the Queen had always found such princesses to be the most beautiful, but now it seemed so annoying.

However, what was even more detestable was that the princess was emitting an unclean odor that only women who had already tasted men could have; she knew that the princess had already gotten used to men’s caresses, and that her copulation skills were also improving.

From then on, the princess and the queen often argued with each other over a small matter; once, the princess even said in an old-fashioned manner: “For a woman, a man’s love is everything, and a woman without a man’s love, what is there to be proud of.”

“You’re saying I’m unloved?”

In an instant, the Queen’s face changed all over.

“Yes! Dad doesn’t love mom anymore. I heard it myself. He said he’s had enough of women like that…”

It was the kind of strength that only a woman in love could have, and the Empress had retained it in the past, but with her changing looks and her age, the Empress was now just a woman who had lost her self-confidence… For the first time, the Empress found herself jealous of her daughter as if she were a formidable enemy…

The glossy, glistening skin, and the rose-colored lips, and the torso without a hint of flab; those were all precious things that the Queen herself had lost, or was about to lose.

The princess who now stood before her had all the advantages and was winning the war for love.

Now the king has become a complete captive of Snow White, and whether he goes to the theater or to a concert, he takes the princess with him.

Though still young, the Princess imitated her lordship by wearing an evening gown adorned with silk bows and a poufy dress held up by whale baleen braces, and sat in the seat originally reserved for the Empress.

Such a light naturally attracted the attention of the crowd.

When everyone witnessed the King step into the theater and sit in the box on the front of the second floor with Snow White, they understood what was going on, even though they didn’t make a sound as they looked at each other in all directions.

But even with all the twinkling eyes, the King and Princess didn’t take it seriously.

The same is true when receiving ambassadors at court, where the petite Snow White sits next to the king.

At first, she didn’t know what she was supposed to do when the guests came to the royal court, but then the king gave her a wink, and only then, after a playful wink, did she rise with a smile on her face to be greeted by the guests.

Ambassadors are, of course, well aware of what this means.

So the ambassadors came to an understanding that if they wanted to ask the king for something, the first step must be to meet Snow White first.

For this young princess is the sole nemesis of the king whom everyone fears and worships.

As much as people don’t like it, they have to accept the reality.

Spoiled Snow White, becoming more and more arrogant, begins to use her chin to make people around her, including her father.

One night, after returning to her chambers from a concert, Snow White fell into bed, exhausted, and allowed the king to help her remove the silken socks from her feet.

The king carefully removed the socks from the princess’s feet as if he were peeling eggshells, revealing flawless feet; and with that, he knelt before the bed and greedily sucked up the tips of her toes, and then caressed her legs with immense patience.

“Don’t, I’m so sleepy, Father.”

Snow White yawns while refusing the king’s advances.

“Please, you rejected me yesterday too, tonight at least…”

“No, I’m sleepy today, let’s talk about it tomorrow.”

Snow White said in a bad humor, and turned towards the other side to continue her dream. The king did not get what he wanted, but the fire of his heart burned harder; like an old man who has been played by a young girl, he continued to pester her.

“I can’t stand you, all right, I’ll lend you a foot.”

She put one foot out to satisfy the agonizing King, who enjoyed and sucked it up as hard as he could.

“Come on, give me the other foot too.”

Snow White obediently stretched out her other foot, which was immediately wrapped around the king’s arm again, and repeated the same action.

The Princess’s arrogance didn’t stop there; she had to tell the King on her pillow about any squire or maid she didn’t like.

“That squire, Faranz, always looks at me with disgust; I have warned him before, but he seems to have no remorse at all; what a bad man.”

“That maid, Clara, was lazy and didn’t iron my dress last time, and as a result, the back hem of my dress was all wrinkled, causing me to make a fool of myself in front of the noblewomen.”

“That maid Helena is so useless, she always hurts me when she takes my shoes off, I really should teach her a lesson sometime.”

Whenever the princess has a complaint, the king will immediately behead or severely punish the squire, sometimes even flogging the squire and maid in front of Snow White.

The first step was to pull out a squire who had been tied up, stripped off his shirt to expose his back, and then ordered him to be whipped hard enough to leave trails of blood on his white skin.

The snowy male king was happy to watch it, although he felt scared.

One of the attendants, who was disliked by Snow White, was sentenced to run naked through the palace atrium, while another was stripped naked and tied up, and tickled with feathers all over his body.

There was also a squire who, just because Snow White didn’t like the way he wore his shoes, had his feet scalded with red-hot human tongs.

Thus, Snow White’s bad intentions became more and more uncontrollable, but the king was not at all displeased, but rather enjoyed them; perhaps because his youthful vigor was waning, and he wanted to satisfy his own emptiness by Snow White’s recklessness?

Or maybe it’s because the king thinks of Snow White as a pet and enjoys the thrill of taming a lion cub?

“Another squire named Hans was whipped naked in front of everyone today, what a pity, his back is all red and swollen and bleeding, I’m afraid he won’t be able to get up and work for a while.”

As the queen sat before that mirror, having her hair brushed by her maid, she heard her maid complain in this way.

“Alas, even Hans…”

The Queen felt very discouraged.

What was wrong with the king, and how could a little girl’s whining be taken seriously?

If this continues, the court will be in a state of panic, and something must be done. But now the relationship between the King and the Snow King is a well-known fact in the palace, even the personnel of the palace must go through the Princess’s nod to be able to change, not to mention those who are not at fault just because of the King’s whim will be tortured.

It was too dangerous for a young girl, who was completely ignorant of the adult world, to decide on matters large and small in the palace based only on the good or bad of her personal feelings.

If the situation continues to deteriorate, the Empress fears that even her own status will be jeopardized.

After the maid had departed, the Empress gazed at herself in the mirror again, as usual, and scrutinized the corners of her eyes, her mouth, and her nose with the most exacting scrutiny.

Yet the only thing she could notice was the fact that the engravings caused by the years were steadily eroding her beauty.

She’d tried everything; herbs and oils from the mages, mud baths from the hot springs, and blood from animals…

But it’s not working.

How would one live in the future if one were to lose the looks that one had spent so much painstaking effort to keep in the past?

In her despair, the queen hesitated, but still asked the mirror, as she had done in the past, “Mirror, mirror, who is the most beautiful woman in the world?”

The mirror answered her, “Queen, you are indeed the most beautiful woman here, but the most beautiful woman in the world is Snow White, and Snow White is the most beautiful woman in the world.”

You can’t continue to hold back, you must get rid of Snow White so that your position can be secure.

Queen Kisaragi has lost her mind.

Now that we have a goal, we must implement it immediately.

But how to kill her?

The Queen thought about using poison, but it was too much trouble to get it; or strangling Snow White herself?

Yet she was afraid that she would not have the courage to do it when the time came because of her motherly nature.

Finally the Queen made up her mind and found a hunter who was quite good at kung fu.

“Take the princess to the forest and kill her! Then bring her liver and lungs back to me.”

To the people of that time, the forest was full of mystery, inhabited by monsters of unparalleled horror, and was a place where one could enter but not leave.

“Let me take you to the forest, there are a lot of really interesting things there oooh.”

The hunter invited Snow White in this way, but Snow White instinctively sensed that something was wrong with the situation, so she didn’t dare to agree.

Still, the hunter took the princess by the hand, and so he led her into the forest.

Just then, a wave of sadness floated through the hunter’s mind.

(It’s pathetic that I have to kill such a young child.)

For hunters of fairly low status, this is unthinkable.

At that time, the infant mortality rate was very high, and newborns often died of leaking diseases, so the children who survived with great difficulty were regarded as precious treasures by everyone.

The hunter couldn’t understand why those of high status would have so little regard for the lives of small children.

“Don’t you blame me, it was the Queen’s order, I didn’t want to do it myself.”

With that, the huntsman drew his sword and Snow White fell to her knees, begging for mercy: “Please have mercy and spare my life…”

The two lines of tears that ran down the princess’s cheeks instantly took the air out of the hunter.

(Even if I hadn’t killed her, such a young child wouldn’t have been able to survive in the forest, would she? Sooner or later, she’d be eaten by horrible beasts, so I wouldn’t have to kill her directly…)

So the hunter put away his knife and drove the princess into the forest, then slaughtered a pig and took out the liver and lungs to take back to the city.

The Queen who waited impatiently, saw the bloody entrails in front of her eyes, but she was still shocked, but she forced herself to calm down and said, “Good job, did the Princess resist?”

“Yes, she was screaming and wailing before she died…”

“Good, well done, I’m going to reward you well.”

With that, the Queen called out her minders to kill the hunter on the spot.

It is, of course, a sealing action.

The Queen then re-examined the livers and lungs that the hunter had brought back; she thought to herself, “These entrails, which still have the color of blood and body heat, are the entrails of that young and beautiful Snow White who keeps pushing me to the brink of extinction…” According to the custom of the time, if one ate the heart and liver of a young girl, one could take her youth for oneself.

At first the queen was a bit hesitant, but eventually she got a cook and brought those entrails to the table after they had been salted and roasted.

At that time, cannibalism was not uncommon, and there were great famines in Europe in the Middle Ages, and in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, because of climate change, famine became more serious, and many villages and towns were even deserted because of population loss.

Under the pressure of food shortages, people flocked from the countryside to the cities, but there wasn’t enough bread in the cities to feed so many people; so people starved to death all over the streets, and those who were alive fought over the bodies of the dead, which in retrospect was a tragedy of immense proportions.

At first, the Empress only dared to take a shallow taste: she squinted at the blood dripping from the red meat; finally, she mustered the courage to take a bite.

In the midst of chewing, the Queen always experienced a marvelous sense of satisfaction.

Now all the beauty of the princess will be hers.

On the other hand, Snow White is crying in the forest out of fear and doesn’t know where to go.

Now she finally realized how stupid she had been, only competing for her father’s affection without noticing her mother’s feelings.

Is it possible that my mother is confronting me with the way a woman looks at a woman?

Is it possible that my mother’s jealousy of me is so strong that she wants to kill me to vent her anger?

Until this moment, Snow White is still unable to recognize reality, thinking that the love of mother and daughter can trump everything.

But now is not the time to think about that.

The wind made a swooshing sound in the treetops, while in the distance came the long howl of a fierce beast; the night grew deeper and deeper, and the branches of the trees around them looked like the faces of ghosts.

Excessive fear almost made the princess faint, she could only walk and cry unconsciously, over hill after hill; I don’t know where the strength came from, but the princess went over seven hills in a row.

It was then that she finally saw the lights of the folk’s house.

Before her strength ran out, she made her way to the door of the tiny stone-built dwelling.

There are actually seven dwarves living here, and they usually make a living by digging up copper ore in the Upper Reaches and beating it into weapons.

Snow White stepped slightly into the room, where there was a small dining table with seven tiny plates, along with seven sets of tiny, cute forks, spoons, cups, and table knives.

At the other end of the room were seven tiny beds lined up with clean white sheets.

The starving Snow White did not think much about it, and at once ate all the bread and dishes on her plate, and finished the wine in her glass; and when her stomach was full, the tiredness came back again, and she picked out a bed, and fell asleep at once, in a bed that was just the right size for Snow White, who was only seven years old at the time.

When night was low, the masters of the house, the seven dwarfs, returned, and they lighted the lamp to see that a lovely girl was sleeping on the bed, and that the bread and soup on the table had been moved.

“What a cute girl!”

One of the dwarves called out.

“Shh, don’t wake her, let her go back to sleep.”

The next morning, Snow White opened her eyes and was shocked to see the seven dwarfs.

They were all about the same size as himself, only with gray hair mixed in, and skin as rough as that of a middle-aged man, though their eyes all seemed kind.

The Princess thought, “If they hadn’t built a house here, I’m afraid I would have been eaten by wild animals last night…

Although the princess was still a child, she had a brilliant mind. She immediately told the story of how her bad-hearted mother had tried to kill her, and how the hunter had let her live because he couldn’t bear to kill her… After listening to what she said, the dwarfs looked incredulous… How could any mother want to kill her own daughter?

But such a cute girl doesn’t look like she’d lie, there must be something behind this.

“If you don’t have anywhere to go, stay here.”

The dwarfs told Snow White so, as you said.

For a long time, these aged dwarfs had lived in a world without women, and now such a lovely young girl appeared before them, as if a bright light had been lit in their gray lives.

Each of the dwarfs made a secret inner wish that such happiness would continue.

“But you’ll have to help with the housework to make it work; you’ll have to clean, do the laundry, sew, cook, and organize your room. We’re all rough and tumble men who don’t know how to make the house look nice. You’re a girl, this shouldn’t be that hard for you.”

Snow White nodded happily.

And so it was from that day on that her marvelous cohabitation with the dwarfs began.

Back in the day, it was natural for men to go out to work and women to stay home and take care of the house, so naturally, the household chores fell to the princess.

In the past, as flowery and pampered as she was, she certainly didn’t know how to do laundry, cooking and cleaning, but over time, she had gradually learned a little; besides, even if she didn’t do a good job, the dwarfs never complained about anything.

A lovely girl comes to the house, and the dwarfs feel so content that they don’t want to lose the girl.

Therefore, even though no one said it out loud, there was a tacit agreement that the girl should be well protected.

“When we go out to work, remember to always keep the doors and windows closed, and never open the door, no matter who comes calling.”

The dwarfs reminded Snow White of this again and again.

Without realizing it, they had taken it upon themselves to be the Princess’s fathers, and the Princess, who used to be quite dependent on her father, had become quite accustomed to men treating her this way.

Since some time, the dwarfs have taken turns making love to the princess every night.

Normal girls hated grown men’s scruff, rough skin, and the characteristic body odor of older men, but Snow White had long ago gotten used to it all, so she didn’t find it repulsive.

Only when the dwarf slept with her, the prickly scruff would always bring back memories of the old days, reminding the ground of her father’s face.

The Princess remembered her first night, when there was no joy, only terror; when the man’s rough hands stripped her of her clothes and caressed her breasts and lower abdomen, while she could only shiver in secret.

“Don’t, Father! Stop it.”

But for some reason, it was just hard to say no at the time.

For her, it was a horrifying and humiliating memory; the pain of breaking her body was still fresh in her mind… But after the encounter, her father gently wiped away the blood and held her tightly; she slept in the crook of his arm that night.

That rough scruff and the distinctive body odor of an old man are so nostalgic today.

“Aaah, Father…”

Reaching the peak of her orgasm, Snow White couldn’t help but cry out.

Hearing her cry out in such a way, the dwarf stopped his movements; a question that had long been answered at last.

Why was the princess so jealous of her birth mother that she had to get rid of her?

Why is it that such a young girl is so sickly sexy?… On the other hand, in the city, the Empress started a new life.

While the guilt of killing her own daughter was unbearable, the fact that there were fewer love rivals with whom she could take her love was incredibly reassuring.

No one can take the King away from me. The King belongs to me again…

Expedition back to the king found the princess disappeared, heart sadness unbearable, but the queen is very skillful to tell a lie: “that day we went to the forest for a walk, but unexpectedly was attacked by wild beasts, so we all rushed to escape, but on the way to escape, the princess was tripped by the skirt, and the result of wild beasts caught up with and eaten.”

Then the Queen sighed; it was a sigh as a mother.

Whenever she was left alone in her room, she would always think of Snow White’s childish face; at which point she would shake her head violently, trying to erase it all.

In the future, she and the king would continue to live together, and she was a woman who had regained her love; and if all this had to be exchanged for Snow White’s life, that would be a last resort… That night, the queen greedily enjoyed the king’s caresses, forgetting the fear of sin in her carnal desires.

The king was surprised by her perverse enthusiasm, but didn’t say much; perhaps the queen was trying to wash away the grief of losing her daughter with sex.

But it wasn’t long before rumors of the King’s new love affair reached the Queen’s ears, making her wonder if killing her daughter and reclaiming the King’s love had been in vain.

Is it wrong to do so?

That night, the queen, who had fallen into solitude again, took out the mirror again, and then gazed into it and asked, “Magic mirror, magic mirror, answer me, who is the most beautiful woman in the world?”

“O Empress, it is true that you are the most beautiful woman here, but the most beautiful in this world is Snow White who lives seven hills away…”

The Empress’s face turned ironic and the mirror fell to the ground.

How is it possible that my daughter, who was already dead, is still alive? How is it possible?… Fear made the Empress tremble, what if the child came back and denounced me for my crimes?

Surely the king will not spare me as a mother who killed her own daughter… Rudra’s killing has become a necessity.

Whereas in the past killing was about inner jealousy, this time it’s a matter of life and death.

In such a battle for love between a mother and her daughter, only one can survive.

You can’t trust anyone else anymore, you have to do it yourself.

Determined, the queen smeared paint on her face, put on her tattered clothes, chose a couple of pretty silk-woven girdles and put them in a basket, and sneaked out of town.

A girdle is an undergarment that is tied around the waist to keep the breasts high and firm, and silk fabrics were only produced in Venice and Milan at the time, making them extremely high-priced garments.

The princess who loved to dress up so much in the palace in the past would definitely be interested in the girdle, and now that she was living deep in the mountains and couldn’t access the fancy clothes of the past any more, her heart was probably just getting bored.

The Empress, who was herself a great lover of beauty, knew how to use such things to capture a woman’s vanity; and she was confident that the young princess would easily fall for them.

The Empress, disguised as an old woman, crossed seven mountains and finally arrived at the dwarf’s house; she knocked on the door and shouted, “Anyone want to buy a girdle? A very beautiful girdle…”

Snow White found it puzzling how anyone could be hawking in such deep mountains.

But these days she was always left alone to look after the house, and hadn’t spoken to outsiders for a long time; besides, the old lady sold girdles…

So the itchy princess opened the door without warning.

At the sight of the Princess’ figure, the Empress was flooded with mixed feelings.

The Princess shone with youthful splendor even though she wore a garment made of coarse cloth.

Ah, this is the daughter who took my husband’s love and my happiness.

Abhorrence welled up in the Queen’s heart at the thought.

That’s right, it’s this young, energetic face that has caused me to lose my position as Empress; no, it’s even threatened my life…

“Aiya, what a cute little girl, which color do you like? Right, this color is nice, let me help you put it on, okay?”

Snow White unsuspectingly lets the Queen approach; and lets her tie her girdle from behind.

But the more she was tied, the more she felt her chest stifled, and tried to break away, but the girdle grew tighter and tighter; and at last, with an alas of sadness, she collapsed; and only then did the Empress, satisfied, escape into the forest.

When it was cloudy, the dwarfs came home, but there was no one to greet them; the group opened the door suspiciously, only to find Snow White collapsed at the door.

No matter how much she was called or shaken, there was no response.

Just when the dwarfs were at their wits’ end, they suddenly realized that the princess was wearing a girdle, so they hurriedly loosened the rope of the girdle; only then did the princess gasp for breath and regain her senses.

The dwarfs all cheered loudly and burst into tears at the sight.

After hearing what happened to Snow White that day, the dwarfs were once again shocked.

“That’s terrible, that old woman must be the Queen. But fortunately, a life was saved at last; and next time, no matter who knocks at the door, you must not open it yo!”

Like a father admonishing his young daughter, the dwarfs repeatedly whispered to the princess.

On the other hand, the Queen rushed back to the city panting; she was confident that she would never fail this time, for she had already determined that the Princess was unlikely to survive as soon as she had fastened the girdle.

No more questions!

The princess is unlikely to come back to life.

The queen thought so in her heart, but still felt a little uneasy, so once again took out the magic mirror to make sure: “Magic mirror, magic mirror, who is the most beautiful woman in the world?”

She prayed, but the mirror answered, “O Queen, you are indeed the most beautiful woman here, but the most beautiful in the world is Snow White, who lives seven hills away.”

Ahhh, how did that happen?

Even though I did it myself, the princess is still alive?

Could it be that my motherly love was at work, and instead of exerting all my strength in tightening the girdle, I showed mercy… Next time, the Empress swore in her heart that she would kill her no matter what method she used, or else my life and position would be in jeopardy.

So the Queen decided to go with poison.

In the Middle Ages, poisoning was an extremely common means of killing; at court, princes and noblemen were often poisoned, so they developed the habit of always asking their attendants to test the poison before eating; even when entertaining guests with a drink, the hosts had to raise their cups and drink the whole thing down to show their sincerity.

The Queen chose a poison that strikes immediately.

She applied the decocted poison to her pretty comb, then changed into a different costume than the previous one and snuck out of town again.

After crossing the seven hills to the dwarf’s house, the Queen yelled again, “Does anyone want to buy a comb? Beautiful combs…”

“What are you doing here, old woman?”

Snow White asked this as she opened the door a crack.

“Selling combs. I’ve got beautiful combs. Would you like to see them?”

“But I can’t just open the door.”

“What does it matter for a moment? Look, where are we going to find such a beautiful comb?”

The Queen picked up a comb and shone it into the sun, and the jewels it held sparkled.

All of a sudden, the beauty-loving Snow White lost her guard and thought it should be okay to take a look, so she opened the door.

“It’s beautiful…”

The King admired the comb, while the Queen drummed up her tongue: “Your hair is even more beautiful, let me comb it for you.”

The moment the Queen stuck the comb in the Princess’s hair, the poison immediately kicked in and the Princess then fell to the ground.

Before the dwarves could return, the queen made a hasty escape.

When evening came, the dwarfs came home to see that the princess had fainted on the floor again.

Everyone searched for the princess, this time the princess did not wear a girdle; finally suddenly noticed that there was a comb in the princess’ hair that had not been seen in the past, so they pulled up the comb, the princess woke up again, and the dwarfs also shed tears of joy again.

I can’t believe this happened twice in a row. How can there be such a stupid girl?

The dwarves sighed.

The Princess, after all, had been brought up in plenty, and had never suspected others; and now that life was hard, she was far from being able to forget what was beautiful.

The dwarfs didn’t really understand her inner distress, but still had to be sternly warned: “Listen carefully, don’t let people you don’t know come to the house anymore, or next time you’ll really be dead.”

On the other hand, the panting queen finally rushed back into town.

She thought, “There’s no way I can fail this time…

So she asked the mirror again, but it answered her in the same way: “Your Majesty, you are indeed the most beautiful woman here, but the most beautiful woman in the world is Snow White, who lives in the house of a dwarf seven hills away…”

At this point in time, all that remained in the Empress’s heart was hatred, hatred of an abominable creature that could not be killed how could it not be killed, and wasn’t that a demon?

No, come to think of it, the Princess was already a monster when she was still in town; she stepped between the King and me, threatened my happiness, and laughed unashamedly at the sight of me in pain.

She’s a monster. She must be…

The only trace of pity for her daughter left in the Empress’s heart had completely disappeared by this time.

(I have to kill her no matter what, I don’t care if it costs me my life! I’ve got it, just put poison on the apple!)

The princess has always loved apples, and if she sees one, she won’t be able to resist.

It must be hard to get good apples when you live in those deep mountains.

The queen soon got an apple and applied the poison to half of it, then disguised herself in a different costume from the previous two times, and once more went to the dwarf’s house.

She knocked on the door and yelled, “Apples, apples! Do you want to buy some delicious apples?”

“I can’t talk to strangers.”

Snow White opened the door a crack and peeked her head out of it and said.

“En, it’s okay, these are leftovers from the sale anyway, it’s useless to bring them back, so I’ll just give one to you to eat, miss, I’ll be leaving soon.”

With that, the Queen slipped the poisoned apple between the cracks of the door, only to see Snow White stepping backward warily.

“You think I put poison in it? Then how about this, I’ll eat half of it first, and leave the rest for you.”

With that, he cut open the apple, ate half of it first, and acted like it was very tasty.

Snow White couldn’t hold back any longer as she watched, so she too took the apple into her mouth, only to fall to the ground in agony at the first bite.

“This time it’s a poison that’s several times stronger than the last time, and there’s no way you’re going to come back to life.”

With that in mind, the Queen rushed to flee the scene.

Upon returning to town, the Queen immediately inquired about the Magic Mirror.

This time, the mirror replied, “Your Majesty, the most beautiful thing in the world is you…”

The Empress finally collapsed into her chair in peace.

It finally worked!

Finally killed Snow White!

The demon that could not be killed in any way had finally disappeared from the world… After mental relaxation, deep fatigue ensued.

Life resumed once more as it had been before; and though sometimes, lying in the King’s arms, she could not help thinking of Snow White’s lovely face, the Queen always shook her head, and endeavored to dismiss the thought.

In the future, whenever she was distressed over her crime, she would say to herself, “If I had not killed her at that time, then it would have been me who would have been killed.”

Later that evening, the dwarfs returned home as usual and were once again in a state of panic when they saw the princess collapsed on the floor.

The guys rush around, feeling around the princess’s body to see if there’s a murder weapon, but this time nothing is found.

They even undressed the princess and carefully washed her body with water and wine, but it had no effect at all.

The dwarfs each let out a cry.

How can there be such a stupid girl?

It was useless to talk to her twice or thrice, but in the end she was killed… The dwarfs stood by the body for three days and three nights, crying out the name of the Snow King, but they could not save her life.

Originally the dwarfs had intended to cremate the remains, so they pushed firewood around them, but seeing the expression of the body as if it were asleep, the cheeks still rosy, the skin still transparent; they could not bear to light the fire.

“Right, let’s put her in a glass casket.”

The dwarves said in unison.

At that time, glass was a very noble thing, although the technology of making glass has existed since ancient times, but most of them were used to make some decorative small things, until the end of the Middle Ages was used to make the church and church window glass.

In Prussia, craftsmen were using potassium carbonate, produced by burning forest trees, as a solvent for making glass, and the glass coffins that the dwarfs used to hold their princesses were made in the same way, in their workshops in the forest.

The dwarfs put the princess in a glass coffin, embedded her name in gold at the top to show that it was a royal princess, and then carried the coffin to the top of the hill, where they sent a rotating guard every night.

As a result, many birds and fowls flew in, all lords, crows and doves that lived in the forest.

The people of that time believed that after death the soul of a person would turn into a bird and fly to where the gods of heaven were, so the dwarfs took great care of these little birds.

Despite being placed in a glass coffin, the Princess’s expression remained the same as it had been in life; her cheeks had a rosy tint, her skin was still white, and her hair was still black.

But no matter how beautiful the flesh is, sooner or later it will still decay and reek.

The dwarfs were saddened by the thought.

They had all lived together for so long in the past, but in the future no one would ever come out to greet them when they came home from work.

Suddenly one day a young man appeared on the mountain with his attendant, wearing a sword at his waist and a silken garment.

Only when asked did he realize that it was the prince of a neighboring country, who had lost his way back to the city when he went out hunting and strayed into the forest.

The dwarfs fed the prince and let him stay in their home.

Intrigued by the marvelous glass coffin, the prince inquired what had happened, and the dwarfs told him everything.

“What a beautiful princess, sell me this glass coffin, I’m willing to speculate no matter how much it costs.”

The dwarfs were quite upset to hear this.

“How can that be, no matter how much you offer, we won’t sell it.”

But the prince refused to die in the least.

The Princess in the glass coffin had snow-white skin, rosebud lips, soft black hair, a slightly bulging breast, slender legs…

What a lovely girl. You won’t find such a girl even in the court.

“Then give it to me as a gift, I will cherish it for the rest of my life. As long as I can see such a beautiful princess, I my heart is satisfied.”

The prince’s persistence finally impresses the dwarf.

Snow White is, after all, a member of the royal family, instead of being buried in this remote mountain, it would be better to give her to a prince of equal status to bring back to be buried in a thick, so that it would be truly happy for the princess, right?

The prince, after thanking the dwarfs again and again, made ready to depart.

The next day, the prince rode on a white horse, followed by his retainers carrying a glass coffin, and set off on his return journey.

The seven dwarfs, on the other hand, kept watching the prince and his party leave and waved their hands until they could no longer be seen.

After bringing the glass casket back to the city, the prince’s behavior became so unusual that he stayed at the casket day and night, without leaving it for a moment.

If he had to go out, he would also ask his servants to follow him carrying a glass coffin.

If he did have to leave the coffin for a while, the prince would put it in a room where no one could enter and lock the door.

However, whenever he was unable to see the coffin, the prince became so restless that he could not concentrate on his work; he even had to eat by the coffin every morning and evening, otherwise he could not eat.

It turns out that this prince has a pathological necrophilia and he can’t love a living woman.

In the past the prince had also searched around for the bodies of young girls who had recently died.

After obtaining the body, he would always hold it and caress it obliviously, and the body would not react, but would only grow cold; the prince was so enamored of this sensation that he could not bring himself to do it.

Because the prince himself is sexually incompetent.

Though surrounded by untold numbers of women since he was a child, and with everyone wanting to climb into a relationship with him, preferably to become a crown princess, the prince never looked at any of these women.

His father was so worried about the prince’s strange behavior that he ordered his retainers to help the prince make arrangements to create encounters.

But whenever the big moment arrives, the prince always invites ridicule from the women and makes the atmosphere stale.

From then on, the prince held women in abhorrence.

Though his father had repeatedly sent women to tempt him, his disgust was multiplied just by the thought of those women’s almost hysterical jealousy and mutual annoyance.

That night, the prince closed the door to his room as usual and lifted the lid of the glass coffin.

He gently stroked the beautifully made-up face, cradled her torso, caressed the cold breasts, and moved his hands to the princess’s lower abdomen.

In such a situation, the prince alone moaned lowly and climaxed.

He had spent many such nights.

One day, an overly curious squire, while the prince was away, secretly unlocked the door to the room where the glass coffin was located and snuck inside.

Seeing the sickly beauty radiating from the princess lying in the glass coffin, the valet finally couldn’t resist lifting the lid and picking her up.

Just then, the sound of gradually approaching footsteps suddenly came from behind, causing the attendant to be startled and instantly release his hand, while the princess’s remains fell back into the coffin with a gurgle.

With such an impact, the mouthful of poisoned apple that was choking the princess’s throat burst out with a poof.

“Where is this place? Why am I here?”

The prince, who had learned the news, rushed back and was shocked to see that Snow White had risen from her glass coffin.

What the hell is going on here?

The dead have come back to life…

There was more disillusionment than joy in his heart, but he still forced himself together and said attentively to the princess, “I was the one who brought you back, I thought you were dead.”

After explaining what happened, the prince formally proposed to the princess.

The princess was not averse to this, after all, she would be able to live in luxury and extravagance again.

Besides, it would not be bad to marry a prince; she had always been with old men in the past, and now it was far more refreshing to meet a handsome youth.

So the prince and the princess held a grand marriage ceremony in the city, to which all the princes and ministers of the neighboring countries were invited, and splendid and luxurious banquets were held every day.

Snow White never wanted to go back to her previous life of misery; now she was surrounded by gold and silver, beautiful silk and embroidered dresses, fine furniture, and Farandale tapestries… and her days were very relaxing and enjoyable.

Time is spent ordering goods from the gem merchant or the seamstress.

Otherwise, they gather with the maids of honor to talk long and loud, and then let out a laugh in a ho-ho-ho manner.

Despite the monotony of such a day, Snow White would not be bored at all, for it was better than staying in the hut of the Seven Dwarfs in the forest with no one to keep her company.

The prince had great contempt for such a tacky Snow White, but he had long ago recognized the reality of the situation and knew that this was what women were like, so it wasn’t all that unacceptable.

So unless it was necessary, he wouldn’t pussyfoot around with those women.

Now he was only focused on his next goal, to find another fresh corpse… Snow White, who was having a very contented day, had one thing that she had to accomplish.

That is to take revenge on the Queen who has tried to put her to death many times.

And she was getting a little tired of hosting proms every day, she wanted to find something else to cheer up.

“I won’t be able to sleep at night if I’m not allowed to get my revenge. Besides, what if Mother finds me here and tries to kill me? I’m really scared…”

Snow White deliberately frowned and said so: the prince did not think too much and agreed.

“That’s true, it wouldn’t be good to get into trouble, it’s better to settle it sooner rather than later.”

The one thing the prince hated in life was getting into trouble.

It just so happened that the execution of witches was wildly popular in European countries again, and anyone who was in the way and whom one hated could be swept away with this offense.

Soon after, the city hosted a great feast like no other.

The Queen was also invited, and as she certainly did not wish to be rude to a neighboring prince, and as she herself was fond of lavish banquets, she agreed without saying a word.

On the day of her departure for the banquet, the Queen wore a dress of purple velvet with seven strings of diamond necklaces.

Although the Queen’s eyes have grown wrinkles, her cheeks have sagged, and her skin is no longer as white, her nature to love beauty remains unchanged.

Before leaving, she inadvertently asked the magic mirror, “Magic mirror, magic mirror, who is the most beautiful woman in this world?”

The Magic Mirror answered her, “The most beautiful thing here is you, Queen, but the most beautiful thing in the world is the new Princess who married the Prince in the castle over the seven hills.”

What’s going on here?

It was so hard to kill a formidable enemy, how could another new one pop up?

The furious Empress originally no longer wanted to go to the banquet, but driven by curiosity, she couldn’t help but attend the banquet.

The carriages of the guests arrived in the city one after another, and the orchestra played a magnificent piece of music, declaring the arrival of the guests.

Guided by the attendants, the guests were led to pay their respects to the new Crown Princess.

Fear rises in the Queen’s heart in vain when she realizes that the new Princess is actually Snow White.

She tried to escape immediately, but was then arrested by the guards and sent to the court of judgment; the charge, of course, was casting spells and concocting poisons in order to kill Snow White, for this was a court for the trial of witches.

A number of women at the time who used herbs to cure people’s illnesses or to help with abortions were prosecuted for being witches and burned alive after being brutally tortured.

The arrested queen can now only desperately beg for mercy for herself.

“Spare me, it’s my fault. O Princess, have you forgotten those happy days of the past in the palace?

Have you forgotten how much I love you? You were my lovely daughter, the child I gave birth to through pain. How could I possibly want to put you to death? Give me a break. I was possessed by a demon. I didn’t really want to kill you…”

Such mournful entreaties won tears from all around, and even the prince interceded with the princess to spare the queen.

But the princess turned a deaf ear, and she ordered the queen to be tortured.

The executing guards held the red-hot iron shoes in long human tongs and placed them in front of the queen.

By this time, the Queen was already completely deflated and had no strength to resist or cry out, so she was hardened into the iron shoes.

The “Iron Shoe” was a special tool for torturing witches that was very popular in medieval Europe.

In the late nineteenth century, King James VI of Scotland used this instrument to punish witches.

After the prisoners had put on the crimson iron shoes, the execution guards would also use hammers to flatten the shoes; this hellish and miserable scene was repeated over and over again in those days.

Amidst the stench of charred flesh, the queen desperately stared at her feet and jumped, finally collapsing from exhaustion.

How does Snow White react when she watches her mother dance in her iron shoes until she dies of exhaustion?

Is it just admiring and enjoying the bounty on the table at the same time?

Or did she look at her accomplice, the prince, who had planned this game with her, and smile…?

The symbolic queen of evil has been put to death and the story can finally end happily.

How did the prince and the Snow King spend the rest of their lives after that?

That’s for no one to know.

But both of these guys seem to appreciate each other’s cruel personalities, so they should be happy in their lives going forward.

The Prince with his necrophilia, and Snow White with her extravagance… After they had tired of the old cruelty, they would find a second or third victim; and when they were tired of the “iron shoe” torture, they would probably invent a new “skewer” torture to provide them with their daily entertainment. When they got tired of the “iron shoe” torture, they would probably invent new “skewer” tortures for their leisure time.

Perhaps it was people like these who started the horror of “execution of witches” that spread throughout medieval Europe?

Queen’s Background Exploration

“Snow White was killed by her stepmother, who was a witch.” That’s the Snow White that people know.

The Story.

However, the queen who really wants to put Snow White to death is not her stepmother, but Snow White’s own mother.

From the second edition onwards, the Brothers Grimm changed the identity of the birth mother to that of a stepmother.

However, in the first edition of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, there is no description of Snow White’s mother dying after giving birth to her, and her father marrying another stepmother.

When the Brothers Grimm released the first edition of The Collected Fairy Tales of Grimm, they received a lot of criticism from readers that the stories were filled with too much immorality and cruelty.

Readers responded that a story like this, in which a biological mother kills her daughter and then swallows her entrails, is not the kind of story that a conscientious German mother should read to her children.

In addition, there have been many attacks from fellow publishers and critics, such as “What mother or nanny could read such a heterosexual story to her innocent little daughter without blushing or gasping?”

“[The Brothers Grimm] did not visit every class of society in their  collection of folktales, and thus often followed the coarse tone of those who relayed the stories, which is lethal to the stories themselves.”

Wait…

The Brothers Grimm also responded to these critical voices; they revised the story for each subsequent reprint.

In terms of sexualized episodes, that’s what they were most worried about, and it was almost entirely deleted.

The Brothers Grimm seem to have adopted an extremely strict standard for the depiction of sexuality compared to other violent, brutal plots.

For example, in the first version of “The Frog Prince”, the frog becomes a prince and lies on the bed, but in the second version, he falls under the bed, and the king allows them to get married.

The story of “The Bride Without Hands,” in which a daughter is condemned to have her hands and breasts removed because she refuses to marry her father, was later changed to a storyline in which a brother who loathes inbreeding and adultery makes a pact with the devil.

However, such a story, which has been repeatedly rewritten, discounts authenticity.

According to the book “A Redundant Fairy Tale” by John M. Elliott, the original “Snow White” is actually a tale of hostility between a mother and her daughter, sparked by sexual jealousy.

The mother’s desire to give birth to beautiful daughters in order to be recognized for her own beauty is based on selfishness as the original starting point.

Yet after giving birth to Snow White, the Queen suddenly realizes that her daughter is not an extension of her own beauty, but rather someone else who competes with and outshines her.

Such a threat makes the Queen determined to eliminate her love rival, and ends up with even more destruction.

In fact, there are similar stories to “Snow White” in all European countries, such as the king’s courtship of Snow White, or the country’s praise of Snow White’s beauty, which led to a change in the couple’s relationship.

These kindred stories allude to the unusual relationship between a beautiful daughter and her father, and are places where alternative possibilities are implied.

Is it possible that the reason why her own mother, who is the Queen, banished Snow White was not out of jealousy, but a desire to sever the dysfunctional relationship between father and daughter?

In The Deeper Side of Fairy Tales, Yoshinobu Mori asks, “Did the Queen really want to kill Snow White?” The question.

In short, the new possibility is that the Queen forced Snow White to leave her father, causing her to develop a grudge, so she made up the lie that her stepmother was trying to kill me, in order to gain sympathy from the dwarfs.

Mr. Mori also mentions that the Queen’s visit to Snow White was not intended to harm her, but rather, she was worried that her daughter was not used to living outside, so she brought her some small gifts that would make her happy, hoping to alleviate her daughter’s loneliness a little.

There’s a better chance that Snow White fainted to death because of the girdle and the comb, and is actually being staged and pathetic; that’s another possibility.

However, the plot of the queen being put in red-hot iron shoes and dancing to her death remained unchanged from the first to the last edition.

In Grimm’s Fairy Tales, there are a lot of bad guys who are punished with torture at the end of the story, and all of these punishments actually existed at the time, so it’s kind of a reflection of historical reality.

A prince with a necrophilia.

According to the earliest notes by the Brothers Grimm in 1808, it was actually the father, not the prince, who went in search of the glass coffin.

The Brothers Grimm rewrote this to depict the prince as a necrophiliac.

Mr. Mori also mentioned that the prince who fell in love at first sight with the corpse of a beautiful woman and had to bring it back to the castle to enjoy it was indeed “out of the ordinary”.

In spite of the fact that the most beautiful woman in the world lay within the coffin, the prince never spoke to the dead man; and in such a case it was really a head-scratcher to dine every day beside the corpse, or else be unable to eat.

In the original version of the story, the prince asked his attendants to carry the coffin and follow him every time, which made the attendants resentful and beat Snow White’s back hard enough to cough up the poisoned apple choked in her throat, thus bringing Snow White back to life.

The episode was also rewritten several times before it became what it is today.

Chapter 2-Cinderella (The Path to Happiness Left by Her Mother)

Cinderella, who used to live like a young lady, was driven to the narrowest and most sunless room in the mansion.

And the room she was staying in was given over to her stepmother and the two sisters her stepmother brought with her.

Originally, Sendora liked to stay alone in her room, reading, painting, embroidering… Having been an only child in the past, Sendora was very used to this kind of solitude, and she didn’t like to go out, nor did she like to meet her friends and go around; in short, she was an introverted girl.

However, despite her introverted personality, she has a fine mind and is always growing inside.

She has great insight and knows more than children of her age, except that she rarely brings out her inner words to share with others, instead keeping everything closed up in her own heart.

So no one around understood this girl, everyone just thought she was an introvert and had a weird temper.

The only person who had ever paid her any attention was her now-deceased mother; and although she didn’t understand her inner world either, she was the only one who had the patience to be there for her.

“You’re such a strange child, always reading at home, be careful of your body…”

Mom often took Cinderella for walks in the forest because she was worried.

“This flower is called the hawthorn flower, and the one over there is the flower of the hazel tree…”

Mom was very familiar with the names of all kinds of flowers and would always stop and smell the beautiful wildflowers whenever she saw them on the side of the road.

She is a very emotional person. When she sees a child without a father or a mother, she will shed tears of sadness, and if she sees a child bullying a puppy, she will get angry and snatch the puppy into her arms; this is the kind of mother she is.

So although Cinderella and her mom didn’t talk much, their hearts were always connected.

But one day, mom suddenly became seriously ill and died.

From then on, Cendula I was even more lonely, spoke even less, never opened her heart to anyone again, and even if anyone spoke to her, she would only offer a smile.

Her smile was pure and innocent, and although everyone thought the child had an odd personality, they knew that she would never hurt anyone, so they didn’t interfere with her too much.

However, ever since my stepmother arrived, everything has changed.

Moving into the house with her stepmother were two sisters, both of whom were rude girls.

The stepmother’s ex-husband was originally a tycoon, so the stepmother and her sisters were used to a lavish and wasteful life before, but lacked upbringing, so they made the house vulgar.

Sendura’s father has a high status, so many people say that his stepmother married him because of his family history.

The stepmother thought that by marrying here, she would be able to maintain the same luxurious life as before… However, when she first stepped into the house, she was very confused by the quietness of her new home.

Then again, her doubts didn’t last long, because no matter what era it was, it was always the woman who really ran the show at home.

It didn’t take long for the home to leak with the tacky atmosphere of a stepmother.

Once, when her sister saw Cinderella wearing the pearl jewelry her mother had left her, she immediately showed a greedy look: “Oh, what a beautiful necklace, it’s a pity to wear it on you, why don’t you give it to me?”

“Take it if you like.”

That was all Sendora could answer.

She didn’t say it was left to me by my mom so I wouldn’t let you have it.

Her father always told her, “When you see the new mommy, call her mommy.”

“You must treat your new mother as if she were your own, and be dutiful. Forget your dead mother early, it will be better for you; both for you and for me, it is a new life that we are going to welcome in the future.”

When dear father said so, Cinderella had to obey. It wasn’t long before no one in the family dared to talk about their dead mother. At first, the new mother pretended to love Cinderella, but as time went on, that was all that mattered.

“Hey, take this to the cleaners!”

Her stepmother threw underwear and socks at her and treated her like a maid. Or: “We’re going out soon, so stay at home and clean up; wash all the clothes in the basket. Oh, yes, and prepare dinner. We won’t be back until 7:00 p.m….”

With that, the stepmother and the two sisters dressed up and went out, leaving Cinderella alone and abandoned in the house.

But even then, she didn’t complain because she didn’t want her father to know that she was being treated this way.

Dad had been lonely until he married his new mom, and only then did he finally drive away his loneliness, so I shouldn’t say anything bad about my stepmother in front of Dad… That’s what the kind-hearted Chandra always thought.

However, because of Cinderella’s constant patience, it makes life more miserable day by day.

Every morning when she woke up, she had to go to the well to fetch water, make a fire, cook, do the laundry, wash the dishes, and polish all the floors in the house, so Cendula spent almost the whole day in and out of the house wearing an apron and carrying a broom and rag.

While her mother and sister slept in a wide room decorated with large gold-framed mirrors and covered with beautiful feather quilts, Cendula, who had just finished a full day’s work, had to find an empty seat in the cinders next to the fireplace to sit down and rest.

As a result, everyone in the family nicknamed her “Cinderella”.

One day, Daddy had to go to town on some business, so he got his daughters.

“What kind of gifts do you guys want?”

“I want nice dresses.”

The oldest sister said.

“I want beautiful gems.”

The second sister said.

“And what about you? Cinderella, what do you want?”

Sendura was silent, knowing that by this time both her stepmother and sister were staring at her with stern eyes.

Even though they were all so well-behaved in front of their dad, as soon as they waited for him to get his front foot out of the house, they were sure to bully Cendula hard.

That’s why Sendora could only force a smile and replied like this, “I don’t want anything, father.”

“How is that possible? Both sisters have said what they want, how can you not have what you want? Why are you such a twisted child.”

Being rebuked by her father made Sendura very sad.

What’s wrong with Dad?

Where is the old understanding dad now?

Cinderella, of course, didn’t dare to actually say it.

While mama was still alive, papa was a very gentle man, and they were a good-natured couple, never suspecting or envying others; always thanking God for his gifts every day, and living their lives contentedly.

While Papa played an instrument, Mama sat in a chair and embroidered, and the family gathered around the fireplace; Cendula sat between her parents and looked at her favorite picture book.

But ever since the stepmother came, Dad has changed.

Her stepmother was a thuggish woman who liked to be ostentatious; wherever there was a dance, she made sure to attend it, and wherever there was a concert, she made sure to attend it.

Even if you stay at home, you will invite the neighbors’ aunties to chew on you; someone has bought something, someone has been promoted to a higher position, and the topic is always revolving around rumors about others.

Ever since Sendra was born, she never heard her parents talk about gossip at home, only her mother, who said, “When she was a child, she was a daydreamer, always sitting around and staring at things. Yes, yes, just like you are now…”

Their mother’s words caused them both to laugh cheekily.

“Your grandmother, as soon as she saw her mom in a daze, she would chide her, saying: “It’s going to be hard for you when you get out of society, you’re such a heartless girl.”

“No heart?”

“It’s about not being suspicious of others, not caring even when you’re lied to or set up, so you’re often teased by your friends and often bullied by others.”

“But isn’t it good to have no heart? Why do you need to suspect others?”

Sendura, who had grown up in a happy family and didn’t know the hard work of life, asked this.

“Sendura, the world is not as beautiful as you think it is, and when you grow up in the future, you will understand what that means. There are a lot of people in this world who spend their days thinking about jealousy, hatred, and framing others, and you must learn to live among such people.”

“Learn to envy, hate and trap people too?”

Sendura was even more puzzled.

Why be jealous and hateful of others?

She always thought that when she saw the poor she should share what she had with them.

Sendora is the kind of teenage girl who can’t help but feel sad and cry when she sees a puppy being bullied.

With so much misery in this world, shouldn’t one live to shed tears over misery, but instead to envy and hate others?

But Dad had really changed. He and his stepmother gossiped behind others’ backs and were jealous of their achievements; Dad wasn’t like that before…

Papa now no longer called Cinderella into his room for happy chats like he used to do, or talked with Cinderella about stories in books, or had the patience to listen sideways to Cinderella.

But Cendula said nothing, knowing that it would be useless to say anything, for there was no room for herself in this house any longer.

She thought that when she was a little older and stronger, she would have to leave the house; and the only thing she could do now was to endure and endure again.

“Actually, you can send me anything, Dad.”

Sendora said despondently.

“Tell you what, when you come back from town, just break off the branch that first hooked your hat and give it to me.”

“What a silly wish, Cinderella.”

“A tree branch? Wahaha.”

The stepmother and sister laughed disdainfully.

What a hopeless girl… Mother and daughter glared at her with such expressions, and even her father put on a displeased look.

So when the father arrived in town, he first went to the market and bought beautiful dresses and jewels for his stepmother’s daughter.

On the way home, the carriage passed through a fresh green forest, when suddenly a branch of a hazel tree hooked his hat to the ground.

As he was bending down to pick up his hat, he suddenly remembered Cendula’s request, and folded the hazel branch home.

When he returned home, he distributed the gifts he had brought back to his daughters.

The two sisters were overjoyed at the sight of the beautiful dresses and jewels, and talked excitedly about where they were going to their next ball and whose home they were going to visit.

Sendura thanked her father and took the branch of the hazel tree.

She quickly ran to her mother’s grave and buried the branch her father had picked back in the cab next to the grave.

“Mom, Dad has changed, he’s not the same as he used to be, he won’t even look me in the eye and talk to me. Every time I try to talk to him, he purposely looks away.”

Now she realized what her mother had said, that there are people in this world who live in envy and hatred all day long…

The two sisters were originally of low birth, but because their family suddenly made a lot of money, they were reckless and extravagant, girls who grew up in a family of profiteers.

In contrast, Cinderella grew up in a home of material and psychological abundance and was not in the habit of being wasteful, nor did she ever agonize over money; the topic of conversation in the home never came to money.

The family was not so well off financially as the parents often gave money away to poor people, but everyone lived in happiness and contentment.

Relatively speaking, what could they possibly have to complain about when their stepmothers and sisters were living in such affluence?

Why do they have to be jealous of others and hate them?

From that day on, Cendula went to her mother’s grave every day, talking to her and watering the twigs she had planted.

Fall came and went, winter went, and when spring visited, the twigs sprouted and slowly began to grow.

In the summer, the tree grows luxuriant leaves, and in the fall it produces delicious fruits, sometimes attracting small birds that sing a melodious song while enjoying the fruits of the tree.

Hazel nuts have a gentle flavor just like mom.

I don’t know how many fall days passed after planting the twigs.

One day, Cinderella went to her mother’s grave as usual, only to meet a middle-aged woman she had never seen before; a stranger, but a woman who felt unusually kind, and about the same age as her dead mother, dressed plainly, but with a knowing look on her face.

“Are you Sendura?”

The woman asked this in a soft tone.

“Yes, I am. May I ask if you are…?”

“I’m a friend of your mom’s.”

“You know my mom?”

“Um, we’ve known each other for a long time.”

All of a sudden, tears almost came to Sendora’s eyes, as it had been a long time since she had been able to mention her dead mother.

Since her mother’s death, Cinderella was suddenly thrown into a completely different environment; in confusion and sorrow, she tried desperately to adapt to the circumstances of her life, chased by fatigue almost every day, and had no time to dwell on the memories of her mother.

Sometimes she wonders why mom left me behind like that.

I can’t help but feel resentment in my heart; but resentment aside, my mother is still my mother, and will always be the same smiling, kind, nostalgic mother.

“What was mom like when she was young?”

“It’s just like you now. Though small and thin, she had the courage to take on the world, but her personality was too gentle and vulnerable.”

“Is mom like that?”

The mom who was always cheerful and never showed her dark side had so many internal struggles.

“I see you and I think of your mom. I think your mom is probably living a sad life on the other side too, and you don’t seem to be happy right now.”

At being told that, Sendora blushed.

Why would this person, whom we only met for the first time today, know so much?

“Just look at your eyes and see how sad they are. The sadness of not having money is different from the sadness of not having a mother, because one’s heart feels empty that’s why one feels sad.”

“You can even see that?”

“Of course, if I were your mother, I’d probably say something like this: ‘Cinderella, you should learn to relax a little and be more honest with yourself; it doesn’t make mommy happy to see you living in sadness; I’ll never be happy to see you mourning for me for the rest of your life.’

(Is this how others see me? Piling heavy burdens on my shoulders, showing strength all the time, not letting others see the tears; so this is what I look like to others.) From that day on, Sendura often visited the woman’s house.

The woman’s home was on the outskirts of the village, the fence outside the house was decrepit from age, the tiles on the walls were falling off from the wind and sun, and the yard was overgrown with weeds, looking like a ruin that hadn’t been tended to in a long time.

Although, the house appeared to be uninhabited, the middle-aged woman, as if she lived in it with a young maid.

Doesn’t it get lonely living in a house with no family and few friends to visit?

When she entered the house, the woman showed her the portrait of Sendura’s mother when she was young, and the portrait that her mother had drawn for Sendura when she was a child.

Though the writing was rusty, it was filled with the rich love and warmth of a mother. Sendura felt as if she had met her mother, who had passed away many years ago, and her heart warmed.

“I feel as if mom didn’t die, but has been alive and waiting for me.”

As she spoke, Sendora couldn’t help but shed tears. Tears that had not fallen in front of others since her mother’s death were now pouring out like a dike. The thoughts that had been pent up in her heart for a long time were finally released at this time.

“You can come here and meet your mom more often.”

The woman said so.

So after that, whenever Cendula was sad, she remembered her words and went to sit in her house.

And the woman was always patient enough to listen to Sendura’s troubles. She didn’t tell Cendula what to do, she just listened silently.

Even so, Sendura already felt much lighter. This woman was incredible.

Once again, when Sendra visited the woman’s house, the woman was in the garden; she didn’t seem to notice Sendra’s arrival. She was carrying a big basket in her hand, looking up at the sky and saying to herself, “Come on, come on, it’s time to eat…”

Within moments, the sound of wings flapping and chirping birds suddenly resounded around them.

Just as Sendura was feeling surprised, suddenly countless birds flew over from all directions, twittering around the woman.

The woman happily scattered the basket of bait on the ground, and the cacophony of bird calls went on for quite a while.

As she watched the birds busy pecking at the grains on the ground, the woman’s face was covered with the same smile as usual and she looked happy.

It took a while for the bird calls to die down a little.

The well-fed birds flew to the woman’s shoulders and wrists and stopped, snuggling up to her as if they were pampered, while the two women smiled and whispered to the birds.

They were like talking.

The birds chirped at the woman, or gently carved on her shoulder; with the intimate look of good friends of the same kind.

Suddenly, the woman nodded, and the birds flew away in all directions as they had just come, thundering and snapping.

As the chirping of the birds and the flapping of feathers faded away, the silence returned once more.

“Wow, there you are.”

The woman came face to face and looked at the dumbfounded Sendura.

“Did you see that, was it a shock? They’re really noisy.”

“Auntie is such a peculiar person.”

“Whoa? Why? Do you think I hate peculiar?”

“It’s amazing how those wild birds snuggle up on your shoulders and look as if they know you well.”

“Cendula, whether it is a bird or a man, it is all the same in the eyes of God. Humans have joys and sorrows, and birds certainly do too; in fact, life is so simple. You should also be more honest with yourself and show your emotions appropriately. In this way, I’m sure the birds will be able to understand what you’re saying, and you’ll be able to communicate with the birds…”

At one point, Cendula told the woman about the two sisters who had robbed her mother of the precious jewelry she had left behind.

“The sisters have so many beautiful dresses and precious jewels, and I have nothing but my mother’s collar, so why do they want to take it away from me?”

“Do you want nice dresses and jewelry too?”

Embarrassed by the woman’s question, Sendora looked up.

“I’m a girl too, of course I don’t like to be dirty all the time, I want to dress up once in a while.”

“Then wait here for a moment.”

When she had finished speaking, the woman went into another room; a moment later she came out again, with a beautiful white dress in her hand.

“Wow, it’s beautiful…”

“This was worn when I was young, it might suit you well, take it and wear it.”

At the woman’s urging, Cendula stripped off the filthy rags she was wearing, washing her body properly and pulling her hair upwards.

Cinderella already had lily-like features, so that white dress looked really good on her.

The woman scrutinized Xandora with admiration, but didn’t say anything.

Since there were no mirrors in the house, there was no way for Sendura to see what she looked like, but she did see the crooked shadow reflected in the water from the bucket.

Even so, she couldn’t believe that the young girl was herself.

“It’s beautiful, Auntie must look even better in it!”

“You look your best in it, Cinderella.”

Said the woman, narrowing her eyes.

“You can wear this dress if you like, but you can only wear it here, definitely not outside. If you want to wear it in the future, you can come here anytime.”

Xanadu accepted the woman’s kindness and whenever she was sad she would come here and borrow dresses from the woman to wear.

And each time the woman would say, “Just a moment,” and then she would tell the maid to go into the room and bring out the beautiful jewels and dresses.

Why would such a simple home have these things?

Sendura was puzzled, but she cheerfully changed into those beautiful clothes.

Only each time, they could only be worn inside the house, and Sendura didn’t dare ask to borrow clothes back from the woman.

Why is that?

Though Cendula found it puzzling, she never asked.

Until one day, she finally couldn’t help herself, so…

“Auntie, may I ask who the hell you are?”

She asked that.

“It doesn’t matter who I am, I’m just the one who lends a hand when you need it, no? When you’re sad and upset, or have a wish you want to fulfill, come here and I’ll find a way to help you reach it.”

Once, the prince of this country decided to hold a grand ball at the palace, and Cinderella’s stepmother and sisters were invited.

“Hey, Cinderella, clean my shoes, and iron my dress!”

“Hey, come and tie my hair and girdle my loins, Cinderella! The ball is going to start at nine o’clock, and if you don’t make it. You’ll be in trouble!”

At the urging of her stepmother and sisters, Cendula busied herself in ordering everything for them.

What does the prince look like?

How was the prom?

What does everyone wear to parties?

After all, Cinderella is also a young girl, even if she lives an ascetic life, she still can’t resist the temptation of fancy clothes and jewelry.

“Mom, please take me with you!”

“Take you? Cinderella, you want to go to the ball?”

The stepmother and the two sisters laughed wistfully.

“Cinderella wants to go to the ball too? That’s something new and unheard of. It’s a wonder you won’t be laughed at by everyone when you arrive at the palace looking like this.”

“Besides, how are you going to go to the party without a dress or jewelry?”

Seeing that Cinderella was still undeterred, her stepmother’s tone became even more acerbic: “Here’s the deal, mom I accidentally spilled the whole tray of beans and dropped them in the kitchen cinders; if you can pick them up in two hours I’ll take you there.”

Cendula went into the kitchen and sure enough, she found a lot of beans mixed in with the cinders.

To pick it up in two hours is just about impossible.

Sendura felt very disappointed, but she suddenly remembered the middle-aged woman feeding the birds.

By the way, maybe those birds can help me…

Hope flared up in Cinderella’s heart; and she cried out thus to the window, “O little birds, little birds under the green sky, come quickly, please, and help me to pick up these beans.”

Incredibly, there really were many little birds flying into the kitchen from all directions, in such numbers that it seemed as if all the birds under the green sky had flown into the place.

Before long, a dovebird vibrated its small, lovely neck and began thumping and picking at the beans.

And the other birds, as if imitating it, began to thump and pick at the beans as well.

They take the big, round, good beans, pick them off the plate without leaving a single one, and eat the rest in their bellies.

In this way, in less than an hour, all the beans were picked clean, and the birds flapped their wings and flew outside as they had done when they first arrived.

Cinderella came to her stepmother with a plate full of beans; and she thought to herself that this should enable her to go to the ball; and so she brought the plate to her stepmother full of joy.

The stepmother did not think that Cinderella would be able to pick the beans so quickly; she was quite astonished, but it did not take her long to regain her composure, and, assuming a stern look, she replied thus: “No. I have changed my mind, and I cannot take you to the ball! I have changed my mind; I cannot take you to the ball. I can’t take you to the ball, because you don’t have a beautiful dress, and you haven’t learned to dance, have you? The occasion does not suit you; you would be embarrassed, and we would be disgraced.”

Ignoring Cinderella’s disappointment, her stepmother took her two sisters, who were dressed up in their finery, to the carriage and left: Cinderella could only watch them leave with bated breath.

Until the carriage was out of sight, she could no longer hold back her inner disappointment and cried sadly.

Cendula ran to the woman’s house and wept bitterly; the woman asked her what had happened, but Cendula just kept on weeping without answering.

Probably because she had cried and stabilized a little, she sobbed and said, “I, I want to go to the ball in the palace so badly.”

“A ball at the palace?”

“Eh, there’s a ball being held at the prince’s palace, and I’d like to go to it, even if it’s just once, I’d like to see that nice prince everyone talks about, and the way the costumed nobleman and noblewoman look when they’re dancing under the crystal lights, it must be a completely different world.”

“That kind of thing is easy.”

Sendura lifted her sobbing face in frustration.

“But I…”

“What’s wrong?”

“I have no pretty dresses, or magnificent gems, to say nothing of carriages and carts . Who would let me walk into a palace as poor as I am?”

“Here, let me show you something.”

After saying that, she clapped her hands and summoned the maid to come in, and after saying two or three words to her, the maid nodded and walked out.

It was shortly after watching the maid leave that Cendula heard a strange rattling noise coming from the hallway.

The ground clattered, as if I heard the sound of horses’ hooves…

What the hell is it?

Sendura was puzzled.

“Looks like it’s here already, let’s see!”

The woman said, and stood up, and Sendra followed her outside… Oh, my God, there was a carriage in front of her.

The gold-built body was carved with various delicate patterns, and the interior of the car had crimson velvet texture on the seats and windows.

Four horses with glossy coats drew the car, and a car  with a decent moustache, and four other attendants in full uniform followed the car.

“It’s…”

Sendura tried to speak, but didn’t know what to say, as if the land of dreams had suddenly appeared before her eyes, much to her surprise.

“This is for you to go to the prom, how’s that? Are you happy?”

“Me? Going to the prom?”

Sendora repeated the woman’s words incredulously.

“You think you’re too shabby? Wow, then look at this.”

After that, she called the maid over and said a few words to her, after which the maid went into the other room.

A short while later, the maid reappeared from the room, holding a suitcase with soft, puffy things on it.

“Well? These are for you to nibble on.”

The woman took out of her heavenly box a gorgeous garment that Sendra had never seen before, a snow-white dress sewn with gold and silver threads and adorned with countless precious stones… as well as a necklace of pearls, earrings and a bracelet to match the dress and a pair of crystal-clear glass dancing shoes…

The women quickly sprang into action, dressing up Cendula with these gems and dresses; and the maid was not idle, she was busy fixing Cendula’s hair.

“Here, look, this is what you look like now.”

The woman handed over a mirror. Sendora looked at the image in the mirror and couldn’t believe it.

“Is this, is this really me?”

“Yes, this is you. With this outfit, you won’t be afraid of making a fool of yourself in the palace.”

“But these dresses and carriages are your most valuable possessions, Auntie, so how can you just lend them to me? If I accidentally get them dirty…”

“That’s something you don’t have to worry about, Sendura.”

The woman changed her tone and said in a serious tone: “These are all yours, as are the dresses and jewelry that I showed you before. In fact, they are all made for you, only before because the time is not yet, so did not tell you; I want to wait for the time is ripe, and then all together to give you.”

“But… but… what’s going on here?”

Sendura asked fumblingly.

“Honestly, all this stuff was bought with the money your mother left you.”

“My mom…?”

Sendra was surprised.

“How could mommy possibly have that much money? Our family isn’t exactly poor, but there’s no way we could have that much money for such a fancy carriage and gems, either?”

“Just be patient and hear me out, Cendula.”

So the woman told her everything.

“Before your mother died, she called me to her bedside, gave me a large sum of money, and told me this.

”This child is very much like me, with an innocent and stubborn personality. I’m afraid that people like this will encounter quite a lot of danger if they want to survive in this world, and I think this child will definitely suffer a lot.

But I’m sure the boy has a very tough will and will be able to overcome these trials and tribulations. Now, I entrust this money to you because I know you are a decent man.

But until that child grows up, she must not be made aware of the existence of this money. Money can do more harm than good in one’s way of growing up, and I don’t want to see this child being sensitized by money and going down the path of degradation.

Sooner or later when this child grows up, she will need this money, so please take the trouble to use it to help her then.

Though I may not be alive by then, I hope that you will be with her often enough to let her know that she is not so alone on this earth, and that I will always be watching over her from Heaven.”

That’s what she said.”

Then the woman’s expression turned bleak.

“This is the money your mother entrusted to me, but there is one more thing I must confess to you.

There was a very dark period in my life when my husband was bedridden due to a serious illness and the family was living from one meal to the next; I used the money even though I knew it was not right to do so.

Thanks to this money, my husband was cured and we resumed our old, poor but happy life.

However, the guilt of having used the money remained in my heart and could not be erased, so later I exchanged the coins for grains, then for beer and wine, then for a horse, a field… Gradually, my possessions grew larger and larger.

After a long period of time, the property your mother left you has increased quite a bit, as in, let me put all this money here…”

So the woman led Cendula into another room, and in one corner of the room there was a wooden chest; when she opened it, it was stacked with countless gold coins, so dazzling that Cendula couldn’t open her eyes.

“All this belongs to you; it’s just not time to use it yet. In a few years’ time, when you have entered society, this money will have been of some use to you; until then I will keep it for you.”

“It’s unbelievable, Auntie, but I can’t take all this, it’s Auntie’s hard work in business to increase it to this much.”

“No, Sendra, this money has helped me in my most difficult time, and for that I have always been deeply grateful to your mother… Please accept it graciously, as my husband and I have already set aside a share, which is enough to cover our needs. In addition, we also have a small field that produces enough to cover our needs. The fact that I’m standing here talking to you today is all thanks to this money in your name…”

She went on, “But, Shindulra, listen carefully, you must not stay in the city until midnight, your mother wants you to remain pure until you are married, so no matter what, you must come back before the clock strikes twelve at midnight, and I want you to promise me this…”

“I understand, and I’ll be sure to leave the palace before twelve.”

Cendula obliged her with hot tears, thanked her continually, kissed the woman’s hand again and again, and then, with infinite pleasure on her face, got into her carriage and went to the city.

“I wonder if the prince is really that handsome? I wonder if he’ll set his eyes on me? I wonder what he’ll say to me?”

After a long time, the carriage drove through the brightly lit streets and arrived at the entrance to the Imperial City; the guards at the gate shouted, “Welcome guests…” as the carriage passed by

When the carriage came to a stop, the servants assisted Cinderella as she stepped out of the carriage and led her into the banquet hall.

A high trumpet sounded and the orchestra played music to announce the arrival of a new guest.

Under the crystal lamps, the dressed-up guests were mingling and talking; Cendrilla plucked up her courage and took a step into the hall.

Instantly, the entire hall became silent, everyone stopped talking and gazed at this beautiful princess that they had never seen before.

“What a beautiful girl!”

“Never seen her before. I wonder which noble family’s daughter?”

In the midst of the silence, everyone held their breath, and the only sound heard was the chatter of exchanging words.

No one had ever seen such a beautiful girl, not even the aged king and queen; they had seen I don’t know how many beautiful women in their lives, but still they couldn’t help but be captivated by Cinderella’s beauty.

“Whose girl is she? She’s so elegant; if only I could matchmaker for the prince to marry a girl like that…”

Until now, the prince’s life-affirmation had remained undecided; and the aged king and queen could not help looking at each other, and saying thus in private.

And the prince too, from the first moment, had his soul taken by Cendula.

What a beautiful girl, dressed in a white gown with a pearl necklace on her chest, so simply dressed, she showed her infinite splendor and mysterious charm…

In fact, Sendora’s beauty comes from within her, but people around her don’t realize it.

No matter how gaudy the dress, how extravagant the diamond jewelry, or how high the heels are covered in jewels, nothing compares to the serene beauty that Cinderella exudes.

It was a far cry from the pretense-filled, foolish beauty of the noble family daughters who clustered in the palace.

Those girls from noble families always keep changing one set of dresses and jewelry after another, hoping to attract the prince’s attention so that they can be promoted to a prince’s consort.

Despite their pretense of elegance, what difference is there between them and cheap whores at heart?

“May I ask what your name is and where you are from?”

The prince asked this in a small voice while dancing with Sendura.

“I’m sorry, that’s the only question I have to keep confidential, so please forgive my rudeness.”

Sendora replied with a melancholy smile.

That beautiful face and lonely figure, on the contrary, made the prince’s heart more moved.

She must have some unknown past?

Where exactly does her beauty, which is both attainable and transcendent of anything, come from?

And yet her eyes seemed to be filled with all the sadness in the world.

Nevertheless, she remained like a noble lily, not in the least defiled by grief.

“I’ve been in love with you since the first moment I laid eyes on you.”

The prince thus confided in her: “Whence comes the dark cloud upon thy brow? Where does the sadness in your eyes come from? Tell me, let me comfort you, let me bear it for you…”

“We shouldn’t talk about this, let’s think of something happy tonight; we can keep dancing and dancing and dancing, Your Highness…”

The thought that she could only answer like that made Sendura feel sad.

It was the first time a man had ever shown her love, and it was directed at a prince.

Mom, what the hell am I supposed to do?

However, the prince and I were too far apart; I was just a Cinderella at the beck and call of my stepmother and sisters, so how could the prince continue to like me if he saw how dirty I looked?

He must have turned away right away.

Sendura danced with such grace that everyone around him looked dumbfounded.

Finally the music ended and the servants served snacks and refreshments.

But at this point the prince was still unwilling to let go of Sendora’s hand and just kept gazing at her fondly.

The prince hands Cendula precious lemons and oranges and invites her to enjoy the delicacies of the palace.

Sendora took the orange from the prince to her sisters who were talking and laughing in the corner of the hall.

The sisters, of course, didn’t recognize her as Cendula, but just stared straight at her in surprise.

(Where is this princess from? Why is she so kind to us?) But she looks familiar, who does she look like…)

The sisters looked sideways, unable to figure out who the girl in front of them really looked like.

All they knew was that they didn’t have such a noble princess friend; and with that thought, they shook their heads and didn’t pursue the matter any further.

Whenever Cinderella crossed the hall, the noblewomen and daughters on the scene always looked at her with wide eyes, unable to look away.

What a beautiful dress, what detailed embroidery, what an elegant skirt, and the curves of the evening gown…

Despite the simplicity of the form, it was immediately obvious that it was the work of a first-rate artist, and the transparent rose color of the pearl necklace was so beautiful that you couldn’t begin to describe it… Just as Cinderella was enjoying her time with the prince, she suddenly heard the chime of 11:45am.

“It’s almost time for me to leave…”

Sendora suddenly stood up and ran out of the banquet hall without even saying goodbye, not caring that the prince behind her was looking surprised.

As soon as he sat in the carriage, the car  waved the horse whip and galloped away.

Cinderella first rushed back to the woman’s house, thanked her sincerely, and described the ball to her, then returned the dress, the gems, the jewelry, and the carriage to the woman.

However, Cendula said that the prince had invited her to the money had again tomorrow, and she hoped to be at the ball again tomorrow.

It didn’t take long to get back to the house before my stepmother and sisters returned.

Sendora opened the door to the entranceway and put on a sleepy face to greet them.

“Was the ball fun? I bet it was fancy, huh?”

“It was so much fun and a beautiful princess appeared and became the center of attention. She wasn’t condescending at all, greeted us graciously, and gave us precious oranges and lemons.”

Sendura was very happy inside.

She put on an uninformed face, and inquired what was the name of that princess; to which her sister replied that no one present knew it, not even the prince, and was much troubled about it.

They said that if the prince had found out whose daughter she was, he would have gone to marry her immediately.

Sendra smiled: “Is there such a beautiful lady? I’d love to see it…”

The next day, my stepmother and two sisters went to another dance.

This time the woman dressed Cinderella in a beautiful pale rose-colored evening gown.

Set against earrings and jewelry made of crushed diamonds and gemstones, Cinderella was as beautiful as a rosebush.

Her cheeks, red with excitement, were as soft as peaches, and her feet were still in those glassy, high-heeled dancing shoes…

Upon arriving at the palace, the prince happily led Cinderella onto the dance floor, saying softly, “Mysterious girl, please tell me your name, tell me where you live, as long as there is a place for you, no matter whether it’s the end of the world or the corner of the sea, I’m willing to follow you and accompany you.”

But the more affectionate the prince became, the more saddened Cinderella became.

“I live very, very far away.”

“A place you can’t get to even on horseback?”

“Eh, even on a horse that can fly, I don’t know how many years of work it would take to get to the place.”

“But in spite of that, you still come to the ball every day. Don’t you come because you want to see me? Don’t you have any feelings for me at all in your heart?”

Sendora lowered her head sadly.

Do you really want to know my heart?

My heart is so excited to be beating so wildly for you that it’s about to drip blood.

I am saddened by my fate because no matter how much I love, I can’t be with you forever.

“Tonight is the last night, I’m about to leave and there’s no chance we’ll see each other again in the future.”

“What a sad fate, can’t we change that?”

“Please think of all this as a beautiful dream and forget it quickly, I will also think of meeting the prince as a dream.”

“If it’s a dream, I hope this more never wakes up.”

The prince said this, hugging Cinderella tightly, and Cinderella leaned her head against the prince’s chest.

The loud noises and music around them were far away, and it was as if they were caught up in a world where it was just the two of them, enjoying the intoxicating moments to the fullest.

But, in the next instant, Cendula snapped back to her senses.

I can’t, if I keep this up I’ll lose my grip.

It’s true that we are too far apart to ever amount to anything, and I shouldn’t let my dead mother and that woman grieve and be sad for me.

Just then, the clock struck twelve midnight, and Cendula sprinted away.

She ran out of the palace in a panic, without saying goodbye to the prince.

The prince scrambled to catch up, but was unable to do so, only picking up a glass slipper on the floor behind Cendula.

The prince cupped the glass slipper in his hand and burst into tears…

On the other hand, Cendula returned to the woman’s house, returned the carriage, dress and jewels, and told her, with tears in his eyes, that he would never need them again.

“Please put these away where I can’t see them, I understand that this is all very kind of you, Auntie, but I really don’t need them anymore.”

The woman didn’t ask anything further, but just looked at Cendula silently and hugged her tightly; which calmed Cendula’s mind quite a bit.

When her stepmother and sisters returned to the house, Cinderella, as usual, inquired if she had had a good day.

“Eh, it was fun.”

Sister answered so.

“But a strange thing happened, that beautiful princess I mentioned last time, when the clock struck twelve at midnight, she ran away in a hurry, as if there was some hidden agenda behind her. However, in her haste she left a glass dancing shoe, which was picked up by the prince, and until the ball was over, the prince kept staring at the glass shoe, as if he were suffering from lovesickness. But the princess didn’t leave her name, so I wonder what she was hiding…”

After a few days, the prince sent his servant into the marketplace to announce that the prince would marry the daughter of any family whose daughter could fit into a glass slipper as the prince’s consort.

In the beginning, those who came to try on the shoes were the princesses of various countries, followed by the duchesses’ daughters, the counts’ daughters, and the noblewomen who frequented the court.

Although everyone tried enthusiastically, just about no one could fit their feet into the glass slipper because it was a very small shoe.

Upon hearing such news, Cendula’s sisters were very happy, for although they were ugly, their feet were smaller than the average girl.

So the prince took his attendants to Cinderella’s house, and first took the glass slippers to his big sister’s room so that she could try them on.

But no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t tuck it in, and it turned out to be too big for her toes.

At this point, the stepmother, who was watching very anxiously, rushed to the kitchen and brought a kitchen knife: “In that case, cut off the toes, anyway, you will soon be the prince consort, the prince consort wherever you go in a carriage, no longer need to walk.”

So the big sister cut off her toes and forced her foot into a glass slipper, then walked to the prince through the pain.

But the prince saw at a glance the blood oozing from the tips of his toes through the glass slipper; her ploy had failed.

Then it was time for the second sister to try on the shoes; she took the glass slippers back to her room to try them on.

Although the toes can be stuffed in, but this time it is the heel is too wide, so the stepmother again brought the kitchen knife: “Cut off the heel a little bit, although it will be painful, but you just put up with it, when you become the crown princess, you do not have to walk.”

So the second sister cut off her heel, made every effort to cram one foot into a glass slipper, and then, gritting her teeth and enduring the pain, managed to walk to the prince.

But this time, the prince saw traces of blood seeping from the heel of the glass slipper, so the ruse failed again.

“Are there any other daughters in your family?”

“Yes, there’s another one, a maid left behind by my ex-wife, but there’s no way she’s a match for you, Your Highness, and besides, she’s still young and dirty all over…”

“It doesn’t matter how old she is or if she’s dirty, it’s always a girl right? Why don’t you bring it out quickly.”

“I beg the Prince’s pardon, a girl as unpleasant as that is not fit to come out to meet guests.”

The stepmother still pushed again and again.

But the prince’s mind was made up and he had to see him, and his stepmother had no choice but to call Sendula.

Sendura washed his face and hands before he walked up to the prince and bowed and honored the individual.

Then took the glass dancing shoes and sat down first, taking off the heavy wooden shoes and putting on the glass ones.

It was amazing how well the glass slipper matched her foot.

The prince and his entourage were startled.

That’s when Cinderella took the other glass slipper out of her apron pocket, and everyone was even more surprised.

After putting both pairs of glass slippers on, Cendula stood up.

Though she was dressed in rags and filth, her innate aura made her radiant.

The prince was then certain that, despite her soot-covered face and tattered clothes, Cinderella was indeed the beautiful princess he had met at the ball.

“Ah, you’re the…”

The prince didn’t say anything more as he approached Cendula step by step.

“We finally meet again. I’ve searched so hard…”

Off to the side, the stepmother and both sisters were furious, but the prince didn’t notice because things around them had suddenly gotten so far, so far away from them that only Cendula and the prince were staring at each other.

“Actually, I knew you had a problem, but I didn’t think it would be…”

“I beg your pardon, I didn’t think I’d have the chance to meet His Royal Highness…”

Sendura reveled in the happiness, but then sobered up.

That’s right, the prince is so far removed from who I am, who am I to bring him happiness?

Cinderella thought so and so never dared to accept the prince’s proposal.

However, the prince had now seen his dirty appearance, but did not look displeased in the least; and only then did Cendula change her mind.

She knew now that the prince’s love for her was not fake and his determination to marry her would not waver.

At that moment, Prince Xian then showed a cheerful expression and took Sendora’s hand, and together they rode away in the carriage, leaving behind the furious stepmother and sisters, as well as the bewildered father.

It didn’t take long for the prince and Cinderella to get married in a lavish ceremony at the palace.

At this point her stepmother and sisters could do nothing but weep with regret.

If I had known that this day would come, I should have loved Cendula; if I had known that this day would come, I should have cared for Cendula.

The mother and daughter are truly remorseful.

But as the saying goes, bad women always have a thick skin, and they still wish they could have gone to Cinderella’s wedding until now.

They thought that Cendula, being a good-natured person, might forget the abuse she had suffered in the past and re-accept her stepmother and sisters, and if she was lucky, she might even be rewarded.

But when the three of them were properly dressed for the journey, they met three little birds on the road; they suddenly flew up to them and pecked them in the eyes.

These are all the little birds that the woman has been feeding.

The three, mother and daughter, were wailing and running away, but they just couldn’t escape the bird’s attack.

Soon after, the bird gouged out their eyes, and as a result, the three of them were left blind for the rest of their lives…

After marrying the prince, one of the first things Cinderella did was visit the woman to thank her for her past care and help.

The woman, on the other hand, greeted with a kind smile and picked up Cendula, who had come in a luxurious royal carriage.

She didn’t say anything, but it seemed obvious from her smile that she had expected this to happen.

“Thank you very much indeed, it’s all because of your help, Auntie, that I’m here today.”

“No, Cinderella, you should be thanking your mother, she’s the one who’s been watching over you.”

Cendula wanted the woman to accept the inheritance left by her mother, but the woman refused to do so, so Cendula had to bring her gifts of silk, spices, wine, etc., of equal value on every visit; so that before long, the woman became rich too.

As for the prince and Cinderella, they have been living happily ever after.

The prince was right when he first thought about it, Sendora was a completely different type of person from the other noblewomen who frequented the court, she was not interested in extravagant and wasteful socializing, but she was very fond of reading and playing musical instruments, she should be said to be a talented woman that type of person.

Though she was not fond of parties and balls, she was an attentive wife; and a tender mother to her children.

Although she didn’t speak often, she always had the courage to speak her mind whenever a major decision needed to be made.

On the death of his father, the prince succeeded to the throne; and with the intelligent aid of Sendra, he became a wise king.

It didn’t take long for her generosity of heart, her keen insight, her majesty and her love to be widely spread among her subjects…

Hazel tree branches

The generally familiar story with fairies helping Cinderella to conjure up carriages, evening gowns, and glass slippers for her me to attend the ball is actually not from Grimm’s Fairy Tales, but from Charles Burrough’s Fairy Tales, a seventeenth-century French compilation.

In the first edition of the Grimm’s Fairy Tales, the dresses and carriages came from the branches of the tree that Cinderella planted by her mother’s grave, and fell from the tree, with no fairy appearances.

Also, Cinderella’s request for her father to bring home a piece of a tree branch as a gift is taken from the Charlie Burrows Fairy Tales.

In Grimm’s Fairy Tales, her mother’s last words to Cinderella were, “Plant a tree on my grave, and if you shake the tree, what you want will fall.”

In fact, the branch carries the meaning of “sharing”.

According to Western European custom, a mother’s dowry was later left to her daughter, so it was extremely reasonable for a mother to leave her property to Cendula to be administered by a trustee until Cendula came of age.

Mr. Mori Yoshinobu pointed out that planting a twig in front of his mother’s grave, which grows into a large tree after a few years, is actually an allusion to the fact that the client, who manages his mother’s property for her, employs various tactics to make the property multiply several times over.

And according to the Frankish Kingdom’s Code of Sharīga and the late medieval Saxon-Hubigal Code, when ceding ownership of land, the original landowner would take clods of earth, grass, trees, or branches and give them to the new landowner, symbolizing the transfer of property.

Thus, the father’s gift of a branch to Sendura can also be interpreted as his ceding his wife’s dowry and property to his daughter.

Since ancient times, trees have symbolized human life and happiness, and people have often planted fruit trees for the healthy growth of their newborns.

The Germans regard the hazel tree as the “tree of life”, every year festival or Easter, children will take the hazel tree branches to slap the girl’s buttocks, the flowers and fruits to transfer the life force to the woman, and through such a ceremony, to pray for a good harvest, fruitfulness and happiness.

According to Bettikhan’s interpretation, the planting of the hazel tree in front of his mother’s garden by Cendula actually carries the meaning of “nurturing motherhood in the human heart”.

A person receives his mother’s love as a child, and develops within him a basic trust in mankind and self-confidence in life.

The reason why people are able to cross the layers of hardships in life is actually the mother’s love that remains in their memories as the driving force for their endeavors; even after the death of their mother.

And the cultivation of the branches of the hazel tree into a large tree symbolizes the transformation of the image of the mother in the heart.

Sendura cannot grow within herself if she remains immersed in the grief of losing her mother, and it is only by transforming her grief into constructive strength that she can have new hope in her life.

When the sadness dissipates and the memories of a mother’s love come back to mind, the basic trust in people is reawakened, and it is through this trust that effort and hope can be regained.

glass slipper

According to Bettikhan, a perfectly fitting shoe symbolizes a “vagina”. The glass slipper, on the other hand, is very tight and not malleable, which suggests a hymen, so that Cinderella’s early escape from the ball was a sign that she was trying very hard to keep her virginity intact.

Mr. Mori, on the other hand, raises the possibility that there was already a sexual relationship between Sendora and the prince.

In the May 1 festival in the German region of Westphalia, there is a ritual for girls to jump over the fire.

If a girl’s shoe falls off when she jumps over the fire, it means she is no longer a virgin, and Cinderella also lost a shoe and fled home barefoot.

In addition, Shunichi Ikegami’s book, The History of the Body, describes the act of the clergy washing the feet of the poor as an act of purification from the sin of sexual desire.

Churches in the south of France and Spain have a number of bas-reliefs left over from the Middle Ages, in which a woman with one bare foot would indicate considerable sexual depravity, a violation of canon law.

Still, it is the Charlie Burrows Fairy Tale Collection that appears to have glass dancing shoes.

According to the first edition of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, on the first night of the ball, it was silver dresses and silver dancing shoes that fell from the trees, while on the second night it was gold dresses and gold dancing shoes that fell.

What happened to the stepmother and the two sisters?

As with this story, Grimm’s Fairy Tales have stepmothers appearing with great frequency.

The method of analyzing fairy tales has a historical side to it, in addition to the rather prevalent psychoanalytic method.

As an example, historical scholars such as Rob Dutton point out that fairy tales are also a historical source, and that the basic story is based on reality, albeit sometimes with a fantastical twist.

The high frequency of stepmothers in fairy tales also reflects the social situation in Europe at the time: “In eighteenth-century France, half of all children died before the age of ten, and those who survived most often lost one of their fathers or mothers before reaching adulthood.”

As for the poignant episode of the two sisters cutting off their toes and heels with knives themselves, it was included in both the first editions of the Charlie Burrows Fairy Tales and the Grimm’s Fairy Tales.

However, the passage at the end of the story, in which the stepmother and sister are blinded by a bird, did not appear in the first edition of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, but was added separately in later editions.

At the end of Charles Burrough’s Fairy Tales, the kind-hearted Cinderella, nevertheless, brings the two sisters into the palace and finds good homes for each of them.

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