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Once there was a kind and gentle girl named Ashputtel who lived with her father, stepmother, and two stepsisters. Her mother had died when she was very young, but before she passed away, she told Ashputtel to always be good and kind, and that God would bless her. Ashputtel never forgot her mother’s words. After her mother’s death, her father married another woman who had two daughters of her own. These girls were beautiful on the outside but cruel and proud inside. They made Ashputtel do all the hard work around the house, cleaning the kitchen, washing the dishes, and sweeping the floors.
Ashputtel had to sleep in the ashes beside the fireplace every night because she had no bed of her own. The soot and dust made her clothes dirty and her face pale. That is why her stepsisters mockingly called her “Ashputtel.” Though she was dressed in rags, her heart was pure, and she never complained. Her stepmother and stepsisters would wear fine clothes and eat rich food, but Ashputtel got only scraps. She endured everything with patience and prayed by her mother’s grave every day, asking for strength.
One spring day, the king announced that a grand festival would be held for three days, and all young ladies were invited. His son, the prince, would choose a bride there. The two proud stepsisters grew excited and demanded new dresses, shoes, and jewelry. Ashputtel begged her stepmother to let her go, too. But the stepmother sneered and said, “You, in your rags? You have no clothes and no shoes. How can you go to a royal ball?” Ashputtel pleaded again, so her stepmother decided to mock her. She threw a bowl of lentils into the ashes and said, “If you can pick out all the lentils in two hours, you may come.”
Ashputtel went out to the garden and cried, “You gentle doves, you turtledoves, and all birds under the sky, come and help me pick the good ones into the pot and the bad ones into your crop.” Suddenly, the white doves flew down and helped her separate the lentils from the ashes. In no time, the work was done. Ashputtel showed her stepmother the clean lentils, but the woman only laughed cruelly. “No, you have no clothes fit for the ball,” she said and left with her two daughters.
When everyone had gone, Ashputtel ran to her mother’s grave beneath the hazel tree she had planted there. She cried, “Dear mother, shake your branches and send me silver and gold.” The tree shook, and a beautiful gown of gold and silver fell down, along with tiny golden shoes. Grateful, Ashputtel quickly dressed herself. She looked so radiant that no one could have guessed she was the sooty girl from the kitchen. She went to the festival quietly and amazed everyone with her beauty.
The prince saw her at once and asked her to dance. She danced so gracefully that all eyes were on her. The prince would dance with no one else. When evening came, the prince wanted to escort her home, but Ashputtel slipped away and ran into the pigeon house behind her father’s house. The prince waited outside, but when her father came home, he wanted to know who she was. They cut open the pigeon house, but Ashputtel was gone. She had hurried back to the hazel tree, removed her gown, and laid it on her mother’s grave. Then she put on her gray clothes again and sat among the ashes as if nothing had happened.
The next evening, when the festival continued, Ashputtel again begged her stepmother to let her go. But the woman refused and poured a bowl of lentils mixed with ashes, saying, “If you can pick them all out in one hour, you can come.” Once again, the doves came flying and helped her. When her stepmother left with her daughters, Ashputtel ran to the grave and called, “Dear mother, shake your branches and send me gold and silver.” The tree dropped down an even more splendid dress, shining brighter than before, and golden shoes to match.
At the ball, the prince was again enchanted by her and would dance with no one else. He thought surely he would discover who she was tonight. But as evening came and he tried to follow her, she darted away so quickly that he could not catch her. She ran into the garden and climbed up a pear tree. When the prince arrived, he told her father to cut the tree down. But when they did, she was gone again. Back home, she had taken off her gown and shoes and placed them on the grave before returning to her place by the fireplace in her dusty clothes.
On the third day, the festival was even grander. Once more, Ashputtel went to her mother’s grave and asked for a dress. This time, the tree gave her a gown more dazzling than the others, embroidered with jewels and gold thread, and slippers of pure gold. When she appeared at the festival, the prince was awestruck. He thought, “She is the one I will marry.” They danced together all day. As evening came, Ashputtel tried to leave, but this time the prince had laid sticky pitch on the palace stairs. When she ran down, her left golden slipper stuck to the step. She fled without it.
The prince took the golden slipper and declared he would marry the girl whose foot fit it perfectly. The next morning, he came to Ashputtel’s house. The two proud sisters put on their finest clothes and waited eagerly. The eldest went into her room with the slipper, but her big toe was too large. Her mother handed her a knife and whispered, “Cut off your toe; when you are queen, you will not need to walk.” The girl did so, forcing her foot into the slipper. She came out smiling, and the prince placed her on his horse. But as they rode past the grave, the two doves sitting in the hazel tree cried, “Rook di goo! Rook di goo! There’s blood in the shoe. The shoe is too small, the true bride’s still at home.”
The prince looked down and saw blood trickling from her foot. Shocked, he turned back and told the father that this was not the right girl. Then the second sister tried the slipper, but her heel was too large. Her mother whispered again, “Cut off your heel; when you are queen, you won’t need to walk.” The girl obeyed and squeezed her foot into the slipper. She, too, went riding with the prince, smiling proudly. But again, as they passed the grave, the doves cried, “Rook di goo! Rook di goo! There’s blood in the shoe. The shoe is too small, the true bride’s still at home.” The prince looked again and saw blood on her white stockings. He turned back angrily.
At last, he asked if there were no other girls in the house. The father said, “There is only my dead wife’s daughter, the little dirty Ashputtel. But she cannot possibly be the bride.” The prince insisted she be brought. Ashputtel washed her face and hands, and when she came forward, she looked so gentle and beautiful that the prince’s heart was moved. She tried on the golden slipper, and it fit perfectly, as if it had been made for her. Then she drew out the matching slipper from her pocket and put it on her other foot. The prince knew at once that she was the one.
As they left together, the doves from the hazel tree flew down and perched on Ashputtel’s shoulders—one on the right and one on the left—and sang, “Rook di goo! Rook di goo! No blood in the shoe, the true bride rides with you.” The prince took her to the palace, and they were soon married. The stepsisters came to the wedding, hoping to share her good fortune. But as they entered the church, the doves pecked out one sister’s right eye and the other’s left. When the ceremony ended and they came out, the doves pecked out the remaining eyes. Thus, the wicked sisters were punished for their cruelty and pride, and Ashputtel lived happily as a beloved queen.
She never forgot her mother’s grave or the doves who had helped her. Often she would visit the hazel tree, which had grown tall and strong. She would thank her mother for watching over her from heaven. The people in the kingdom admired her for her kindness and goodness. Though she wore the crown, she remained as humble and gentle as she had been when she lived among the ashes. The prince loved her more each day and treated her with great respect, for he knew her heart was pure.
Every spring, the hazel tree blossomed with white flowers, and doves would sit among its branches, cooing softly. Ashputtel would smile and say, “I will always remember where I came from.” Her story spread across the land, and mothers told their children that goodness and patience always win over pride and cruelty. Even the servants in the palace, who once mocked her, now admired her gentle spirit. She forgave everyone and wished peace upon them.
The golden shoes she once wore were placed in a glass chest beside her throne, a reminder that miracles come to those who stay kind and never lose hope. The doves that had helped her still lived near the palace, and whenever she walked in the garden, they flew down and followed her lovingly. Ashputtel lived a long, happy life with her prince, surrounded by love and peace, just as her mother had promised.