This
is Tabitha Dunham and I am here reporting live from Palermo, Italy with
Cinderella woman Isabella. She is here to tell us her story and show us
why she is the best Cinderella woman.
"It all started when I was seventeen years old," began Isabella, "and
it was
just like any other day. It had been my father, my two sisters, and I
for quite sometime, since my mother died last fall. My father was
having to work two jobs just to make ends meet, and my sisters and I
were responsible for everything that was to be done at home. I was the
youngest so you can imagine who was doing all the work around the house
and preparing all the meals. Every day I resented my sisters more and
more. My father began working as a merchant and was being sent on a
trip into the city of Palermo. He asked us if he could bring us
anything back from the city. My sisters then began shouting what it was
they desired from the city; they both wanted him to bring them back new
petty coats. I told my father that I needed nothing and he went on his
way.
"On his way into Palermo, My father's horse was stopped by a beggar who
would not let him pass. My father then gave him my salutations and the
man gave him a box to give to me that he must not open. My father then
continued into Palermo for business and to purchase the coats for my
sisters. My father then returned a couple days later with our gifts and
told me about the man and the box.
The following week my father was
called into Palermo again for business and again asked us if he could
bring us anything back. My sisters wanted new dresses to wear to the
upcoming ball. I knew that my father could not afford to buy us all new
dresses, so I told him I desired nothing. My father was on his way and
was again stopped by the beggar that he had seen the week before. The
beggar that gave my father a stone that was in the shape of a heart and
asked if he would give it to me. My father agreed reluctantly and
continued on his way. He then completed his business, bought the
dresses for my sisters and returned home. He gave me the heart-shaped
stone and told me it was a gift from the same man who had given me the
box."
Cinderellas shoes.Web source:Bazzar
"The day came for the ball and my sisters put on their new dresses and
prepared to leave. I knew I had nothing to wear and they left without
me. I then took the heart-shaped stone and held it tightly in my fist.
I wondered why my sisters had everything while I only had a box and a
stone so I threw the stone against the wall. It was then that
everything changed, suddenly maids appeared and began fixing my
hair. I then took the box in my hands and opened it to find the most
ornate silk dress and shoes that looked like stars. I then left for the
ball looking fit to be queen."
"On the way, I lost one of my shoes, but dared not to look back since I
was already so late. The shoe was then picked up by the beggar, but the
beggar to everyone's surprise was the prince. The ball was being held
for the prince to select a wife, even though he had already made up his
mind
that the woman who owned this shoe was to be his wife. He then searched
the ball to find his queen. Just when he was about to give up, he then
went to the garden and there I was, wearing only one shoe, sitting next
to the fountain. He then knelt before me, slipping the shoe on my foot.
It was
a perfect fit and love at first sight. I then told him of the stone and
the box, and he said that he was the beggar, who had crossed paths with
my father. It was in this way, posing as a beggar, that the prince
could find his one true love. The prince then told me to return home
and that all would be
revealed tomorrow."
"Once I returned home, I took off my clothes and returned them to the
box. The next day I told my father to come to supper and he seemed
surprised when he entered the door and found my maids preparing the
meal. It was then that a knock was heard at the door. My father then
opened the door only to find the beggar that he had seen before. The
beggar then announced himself as the prince and that I was to be his
wife. I
then left to be with my true love and I never looked back."
"This is an incredible story, Isabella! The perfect fit really is
everything, isn't it? But what is it that makes you the Best Cinderella
Woman?"
"What makes me the best Cinderella woman is that love comes to those
who wait. I lost my shoe and the love of my life found his way to my
heart. I really owe it all to the shoe and the perfect find that it
brought!"
"The search continues to find the best
Cinderella woman."
Author's
Note: In the Original Sicilian story, Cinderella is the youngest of
three daughters and they are being raised by their father due to their
mother's death. Their father does bring his daughters back gifts from
town, though in the original story the presents he brings his older
daughters are
fans and aprons and for his youngest a nut and an almond. The nut then
transforms to maids and the almond to a beautiful dress and shoes. The
sisters then go to a feast in which Cinderella loses her shoe and the
prince finds it. He then searches for the woman who is missing the shoe
and finds Cinderella and places it on her foot. The next day Cinderella
joins her sisters at mass and is unnoticed by them due to her rich
appearance. Her sisters then request a flower from her and she gladly
gives them flowers, if they will let her give them a box on the ear.
The sisters then return home and tell their father who they had met.
Cinderella then reveals that she was the woman they had met. I left out
this part in my story retelling because I added the shoe element into
my story to be able to connect all my stories within my storybook. The
story
then ends with the prince showing up for dinner and taking Cinderella
as
his queen.
Back to Cover
page
"SA CONTANSCIA
DE CHIGNERA" as summarized by Marian
Cox, from Cinderella:Three Hundred and
Forty-five Variants of
Cinderella (1883). Web source: surlalunefairytales
