M4 discussion
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Some fairy tales have many extant versions. These different versions provide insight into a specific culture, teach a specific lesson, or represent a particular point of view. Sometimes, the tales are merely updated to make them more relevant to the modern world. The link below provides a small sampling of the many different versions of “Cinderella” available in print form. For this discussion post, read any two different versions of “Cinderella.” Then, discuss the way the two texts explore the values and attitudes of the cultures reflected in each. Think about the following:
What qualities does the heroine possess?
What is the nature of the consequences for the evil character?
What are the explicit and implicit morals of each text?
Here are the two Cinderella Stories below to compare in an essay form.
The Indian Cinderella
Native American On the shores of a wide bay on the Atlantic coast there dwelt in old times a great Indian warrior. It was said that he had been one of Glooskap’s best helpers and friends, and that he had done for him many wonderful deeds. But that, no man knows. He had, however, a very wonderful and strange power; he could make himself invisible; he could thus mingle unseen with his enemies and listen to their plots. He was known among the people as Strong Wind, the Invisible. He dwelt with his sister in a tent near the sea, and his sister helped him greatly in his work. Many maidens would have been glad to marry him, and he was much sought after because of his mighty deeds; and it was known that Strong Wind would marry the first maiden who could see him as he came home at night. Many made the trial, but it was a long time before one succeeded.
Strong Wind used a clever trick to test the truthfulness of all who sought to win him. Each evening as the day went down, his sister walked on the beach with any girl who wished to make the trial. His sister could always see him, but no one else could see him. And as he came home from work in the twilight, his sister as she saw him drawing near would ask the girl who sought him, “Do you see him?”
And each girl would falsely answer “Yes.”
And his sister would ask, “With what does he draw his sled?”
And each girl would answer, “With the hide of a moose,” or “With a pole,” or “With a great cord.”
And then his sister would know that they all had lied, for their answers were mere guesses. And many tried and lied and failed, for Strong Wind would not marry any who were untruthful.
There lived in the village a great chief who had three daughters. Their mother had long been dead. One of these was much younger than the others. She was very beautiful and gentle and well beloved by all, and for that reason her older sisters were very jealous of her charms and treated her very cruelly. They clothed her in rags that she might be ugly; and they cut off her long black hair; and they burned her face with coals from the fire that she might be scarred and disfigured. And they lied to their father, telling him that she had done these things herself. But the young girl was patient and kept her gentle heart and went gladly about her work.
Like other girls, the chief’s two eldest daughters tried to win Strong Wind. One evening, as the day went down, they walked on the shore with Strong Wind’s sister and waited for his coming. Soon he came home from his day’s work, drawing his sled. And his sister asked as usual, “Do you see him?”
And each one, lying, answered “Yes.”
And she asked, “Of what is his shoulder strap made?”
And each, guessing, said “Of rawhide.”
Then they entered the tent where they hoped to see Strong Wind eating his supper; and when he took off his coat and his moccasins they could see them, but more than these they saw nothing. And Strong Wind knew that they had lied, and he kept himself from their sight, and they went home dismayed.
One day the chief’s youngest daughter with her rags and her burnt face resolved to seek Strong Wind. She patched her clothes with bits of birch bark from the trees, and put on the few little ornaments she possessed, and went forth to try to see the Invisible One as all the other girls of the village had done before. And her sisters laughed at her and called her “fool”; and as she passed along the road all the people laughed at her because of her tattered frock and her burnt face, but silently she went her way.
Strong Wind’s sister received the little girl kindly, and at twilight she took her to the beach. Soon Strong Wind came home drawing his sled. And his sister asked, “Do you see him?”
And the girl answered “No,” and his sister wondered greatly because she spoke the truth.
And again she asked, “Do you see him now?”
And the girl answered, “Yes, and he is very wonderful.”
And she asked, “With what does he draw his sled?”
And the girl answered, “With the Rainbow,” and she was much afraid.
And she asked further, “Of what is his bowstring?”
And the girl answered, “His bowstring is the Milky Way.”
Then Strong Wind’s sister knew that because the girl had spoken the truth at first her brother had made himself visible to her. And she said, “Truly, you have seen him.” And she took her home and bathed her, and all the scars disappeared from her face and body; and her hair grew long and black again like the raven’s wing; and she gave her fine clothes to wear and many rich ornaments. Then she bade her take the wife’s seat in the tent.
Soon Strong Wind entered and sat beside her, and called her his bride. The very next day she became his wife, and ever afterwards she helped him to do great deeds.
The girl’s two elder sisters were very cross and they wondered greatly at what had taken place. But Strong Wind, who knew of their cruelty, resolved to punish them. Using his great power, he changed them both into aspen trees and rooted them in the earth. And since that day the leaves of the aspen have always trembled, and they shiver in fear at the approach of Strong Wind, it matters not how softly he comes, for they are still mindful of his great power and anger because of their lies and their cruelty to their sister long ago.
Source: Cyrus Macmillan, Canadian Wonder Tales (London: John Lane, 1920), pp. 116-19.
The Baba Yaga
Russia (Aleksandr Afanasyev)
Once upon a time there was an old couple. The husband lost his wife and married again. But he had a daughter by the first marriage, a young girl, and she found no favor in the eyes of her evil stepmother, who used to beat her, and consider how she could get her killed outright. One day the father went away somewhere or other, so the stepmother said to the girl, “Go to your aunt, my sister, and ask her for a needle and thread to make you a shift.”
Now that aunt was a Baba Yaga. Well, the girl was no fool, so she went to a real aunt of hers first, and says she, “Good morning, auntie!”
“Good morning, my dear! What have you come for?”
“Mother has sent me to her sister, to ask for a needle and thread to make me a shift.”
Then her aunt instructed her what to do. “There is a birch tree there, niece, which would hit you in the eye — you must tie a ribbon round it; there are doors which would creak and bang — you must pour oil on their hinges; there are dogs which would tear you in pieces — you must throw them these rolls; there is a cat which would scratch your eyes out — you must give it a piece of bacon.”
So the girl went away, and walked and walked, till she came to the place. There stood a hut, and in it sat weaving the Baba Yaga, the bony-shanks.
“Good morning, auntie,” says the girl.
“Good morning, my dear,” replies the Baba Yaga.
” Mother has sent me to ask you for a needle and thread to make me a shift.”
“Very well; sit down and weave a little in the meantime.”
So the girl sat down behind the loom, and the Baba Yaga went outside, and said to her servant maid, “Go and heat the bath, and get my niece washed; and mind you look sharp after her. I want to breakfast off her.”
Well, the girl sat there in such a fright that she was as much dead as alive. Presently she spoke imploringly to the servant maid, saying, “Kinswoman dear, do please wet the firewood instead of making it burn; and fetch the water for the bath in a sieve.” And she made her a present of a handkerchief.
The Baba Yaga waited awhile; then she came to the window and asked, “Are you weaving, niece? Are you weaving, my dear?”
“Oh yes, dear aunt, I’m weaving.”
So the Baba Yaga went away again, and the girl gave the cat a piece of bacon, and asked, “Is there no way of escaping from here?”
“Here’s a comb for you and a towel,” said the cat; “take them, and be off. The Baba Yaga will pursue you, but you must lay your ear on the ground, and when you hear that she is close at hand, first of all, throw down the towel. It will become a wide, wide river. And if the Baba Yaga gets across the river, and tries to catch you, then you must lay your ear on the ground again, and when you hear that she is close at hand, throw down the comb. It will become a dense, dense forest; through that she won’t be able to force her way anyhow.”
The girl took the towel and the comb and fled. The dogs would have rent her, but she threw them the rolls, and they let her go by; the doors would have begun to bang, but she poured oil on their hinges, and they let her pass through; the birch tree would have poked her eyes out, but she tied the ribbon around it, and it let her pass on. And the cat sat down to the loom, and worked away; muddled everything about, if it didn’t do much weaving.
Up came the Baba Yaga to the window, and asked, “Are you weaving, niece? Are you weaving, my dear?”
“I’m weaving, dear aunt, I’m weaving,” gruffly replied the cat.
The Baba Yaga rushed into the hut, saw that the girl was gone, and took to beating the cat, and abusing it for not having scratched the girl’s eyes out. “Long as I’ve served you,” said the cat, “you’ve never given me so much as a bone; but she gave me bacon.” Then the Baba Yaga pounced upon the dogs, on the doors, on the birch tree, and on the servant maid, and set to work to abuse them all, and to knock them about.
Then the dogs said to her, “Long as we’ve served you, you’ve never so much as pitched us a burnt crust; but she gave us rolls to eat.”
And the doors said, “Long as we’ve served you, you’ve never poured even a drop of water on our hinges; but she poured oil on us.”
The birch tree said, “Long as I’ve served you, you’ve never tied a single thread around me; but she fastened a ribbon around me.”
And the servant maid said, “Long as I’ve served you, you’ve never given me so much as a rag; but she gave me a handkerchief.”
The Baba Yaga, bony of limb, quickly jumped into her mortar, sent it flying along with the pestle, sweeping away the while all traces of its flight with a broom, and set off in pursuit of the girl. Then the girl put her ear to the ground, and when she heard that the Baba Yaga was chasing her, and was now close at hand, she flung down the towel. And it became a wide, such a wide river! Up came the Baba Yaga to the river, and gnashed her teeth with spite; then she went home for her oxen, and drove them to the river. The oxen drank up every drop of the river, and then the Baba Yaga began the pursuit anew. But the girl put her ear to the ground again, and when she heard that the Baba Yaga was near, she flung down the comb, and instantly a forest sprang up, such an awfully thick one! The Baba Yaga began gnawing away at it, but however hard she worked, she couldn’t gnaw her way through it, so she had to go back again.
But by this time the girl’s father had returned home, and he asked, “Where’s my daughter?”
“She’s gone to her aunt’s,” replied her stepmother.
Soon afterwards the girl herself came running home.
” Where have you been?” asked her father.
“Ah, father!” she said, “mother sent me to aunt’s to ask for a needle and thread to make me a shift. But aunt’s a Baba Yaga, and she wanted to eat me!”
“And how did you get away, daughter?”
“Why like this,” said the girl, and explained the whole matter. As soon as her father had heard all about it, he became wroth with his wife, and shot her. But he and his daughter lived on and flourished, and everything went well with them.
Source: W. R. S. Ralston, Russian Folk-Tales (London: Smith, Elder, and Company, 1873), pp. 139-42.
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