Cinderella

European The oldest known oral version of the damsel-in-distress story is the ancient Greek story of Rhodopis, a Greek courtesan living in the colony of Naucratis in Egypt, whose name means "Rosy-Cheeks". The story is first recorded by the Greek geographer Strabo in his Geographica: "[The Greeks living in Egypt] tell the fabulous story that, when [Rhodopis] was bathing, an eagle snatched one of her sandals from her maid and carried it to Memphis; and while the king was administering justice in the open air, the eagle, when it arrived above his head, flung the sandal into his lap; and the king, stirred both by the beautiful shape of the sandal and by the strangeness of the occurrence, sent men in all directions into the country in quest of the woman who wore the sandal; and when she was found in the city of Naucratis, she was brought up to Memphis, and became the wife of the king." The same story is also later reported by the Roman orator Aelian ( – ) in his Miscellaneous History, which was written entirely in Greek. Aelian's story closely resembles the story told by Strabo, but adds that the name of the pharaoh in question was Psammetichus. Aelian's account indicates that the story of Rhodopis remained popular throughout antiquity. Herodotus, some five centuries before Strabo, records a popular legend about a possibly related courtesan named Rhodopis in his Histories, The resemblance of the shoe-testing of Rhodopis with Cinderella's slipper has already been noted in the 19th century, by Edgar Taylor and Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould. Aspasia of Phocaea A second predecessor for the Cinderella character, hailing from late Antiquity, may be Aspasia of Phocaea. Her story is told in Aelian's Varia Storia: lost her mother in early childhood and raised by her father, Aspasia, despite living in poverty, has dreamt of meeting a noble man. As she dozes off, the girl has a vision of a dove transforming into a woman, who instructs her on how to remove a physical imperfection and restore her own beauty. In another episode, she and other courtesans are made to attend a feast hosted by Persian regent Cyrus the Younger. During the banquet, the Persian King sets his sights on Aspasia herself and ignores the other women. Le Fresne , the author of , from a medieval illuminated manuscript The twelfth-century of ("The Ash-Tree Girl"), retold by Marie de France, is a variant of the "Cinderella" story) The infant is discovered by the porter, who names her , meaning "ash tree", Outside Europe ======== The tale of Ye Xian first appeared in Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang written by Duan Chengshi around 860. In this version, Ye Xian is the daughter of the local tribal leader whose mother died when she was young. Because her mother died early, she is now under the care of her father's second wife, who abused her. She befriends a fish, which is the reincarnation of her deceased mother. Variants of the story are also found in many ethnic groups in China. Later after marrying the king, Tấm was killed by her stepmother and sister, and reincarnated several times in form of a bird, a loom and a gold apple. She finally reunited with the king and lived happily ever after. Cám asked her about her beauty secret. Tấm led her to a hole and told her to jump inside. She then commanded the royal guards to pour boiling water on Cám. Her corpse was used to make a fermented sauce, to which she sent to the stepmother. The stepmother ate it with every single meal. After she reached the bottom of the jar, she looked down only to see her daughter's skull. She died of shock. There are many variations for the ending of this story, with the family friendly version one usually ending with the stepmother and Cám being exiled, and then struck by lightning, killing them both. Other versions either have a different ending for the story or simply omit the revenge part entirely. Kongjwi and Patjwi Originating from Korea, Kongjwi and Patjwi is a tale similar to Disney's Cinderella, with two distinguishing characteristics: the degree of violence and the plot's continuance past the marriage to the prince charming. The protagonist, Kongjwi, loses her mother when she was a child and her father remarries a widow. The widow also has a daughter, named Patjwi. After her father passes, the stepmother and Patjwi abuse Kongjwi by starving, beating, and working her brutally. Kongjwi is aided by animals and supernatural helpers, like a cow, a toad, a flock of birds, and a fairy. These helpers aid Kongjwi in attending a dance in honor of a magistrate. On her way back from the dance, Kongjwi loses one of her shoes, and the magistrate searches the towns to find the one who can fit the shoe. When he finds Kongjwi, he marries her. Where the story usually ends, Kongjwi's hardships continue into the marriage. Patjwi, envious of this marriage, pretends to ask for Kongjwi's forgiveness and then drowns Kongjwi in a pond. Patjwi then pretends to be Kongjwi and marries the magistrate. Kongjwi is then reincarnated into a lotus flower, burned by Patjwi, and reincarnated once more into a marble. With help from additional characters, Kongjwi is able to inform her husband of Patjwi's doings. As punishment, Patjwi is ripped apart alive, her body made into jeotgal, and sent to her mother. She eats it in ignorance, and when told that it is Patjwi's flesh, she dies out of shock. There are 17 variants of this tale known in South Korea. Kongjwi takes ownership of the principle of () and accomplishes her vengeance herself. The violent degree of the punishments stems from the increased violence (starvation, beating, betrayal, and ultimately murder) that Kongjwi suffered compared to the abuses other versions went through. Other East and Southeast Asian versions There exists a Cambodian version (called "Khmer" by the collectors) with the name Néang Kantoc. Its collectors compared it to the Vietnamese story of Tam and Cam. Another version was collected from the Cham people of Southeast Asia, with the name ("The Golden Sandal") or ("The tale of the ladies Hulek and Kjong"). In Indonesian and Malay folklore there is a similar story with the name Bawang Merah dan Bawang Putih ("The tale of Shallot and Garlic"). 20th century folktale collector Kenichi Mizusawa published an analysis of Japanese variants of Cinderella, separating them into two types: "Nukabuku, Komebuku" (about rival step-sisters) and "Ubagawa" (about the heroine's disguise). West Asian versions The Iranian version of the story is called Moon-Forehead or in Persian, Mahpishooni (). The story is very similar to the German version but the girl is described as having been born with a shining moon on her forehead and after losing her natural mother, was forced to live under the ashes, to block her shining moon that could overshadow the two daughters of her stepmother. The contrast between the shining moon and ash denotes potential, similar to fire under the ashes. The location of the shine on the forehead could be a reference to superior knowledge or personality. German scholar listed the Iranian variants of Cinderella under tale type *510A, "Aschenputtel", and noted that, in Iranian tradition, the type only exists in combination with type 480, . One Thousand and One Nights Several different variants of the story appear in the medieval One Thousand and One Nights, including "The Second Shaykh's Story", "The Eldest Lady's Tale", all dealing with the theme of a younger sibling harassed by two jealous elders. In some of these, the siblings are female, while in others, they are male. One of the tales, departs from the happy endings of previous variants and reworks the plot to give it a tragic ending instead, with the younger brother being poisoned by his elder brothers. ==Literary versions==