#bozena nemcova

[teosolar]

[adarkrainbow]

Yet another proof of how massively popular madame d'Aulnoy's fairytale were and how they spread all over Europe, despite everybody forgetting about her today... I can't help but compare this case to the one of a story the Brothers Grimm had collected in the first edition of their märchen, called "Der Orkelo" (or "Der Okerlo"? I can't recall exactly where the "r" was), but they promptly removed it from their second edition because they realized it wasn't a German fairytale as they had believed - but a German retelling of madame d'Aulnoy's "The Orange-Tree and the Bee", and they knew this notably because of the presence of the strange "okerlo/okerlo", a word that did not belong to the German language but was an attempt by the storytellers at adapting the French word "ogre" or "ogrelet" to the German language.

The latest series of stories I've read in Cinderella Tales From Around the World are from Eastern and Central Europe: Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary.

*In several Eastern European versions, the Virgin Mary is the girl's helper who gives her finery. She appears either from a well or from inside an oak tree or a fir tree.

*In most of these variants, the heroine goes to church. Only a very few have a ball instead.

*Several also have the stepmother give the heroine a task similar to the Grimms' lentils in the ashes – typically poppy or millet seeds to sort either from the ashes or from sand, or bushels of wheat to clean – and birds help her. Also recalling the Grimms' version (and many others, of course), the third time the heroine flees, the prince usually has the church or palace steps smeared with tar or wax, causing her to lose her shoe.

*In the one Ukrainian version, the heroine has a cow who magically finishes the impossible amount of spinning and weaving the stepmother demands she do every day. Of course the stepmother eventually has the cow killed, but in its entrails the girl finds a grain of corn, which she plants, and it grows into a willow tree. From then on, when she wants finery for church, the tree opens and ladies come out to dress her. In this version, she also loses both of her golden shoes rather than just one in the tar on the church steps.

*Two Hungarian versions, The Three Princesses and Popelusa, and one unnamed Polish version are all near-identical to Finette Cendron. Three daughters of a deposed king are abandoned in the forest, they find an ogre couple's castle, the youngest outwits the ogres and slays them, but then her ungrateful sisters treat her like a servant, etc. Since Madame d'Aulnoy's tale is a literary story, could this be a sign of French influence in Eastern and Central European culture?

*Another Polish version, The Princess with the Pigskin Cloak, combines Cinderella with themes from Snow White. A wicked queen has a magic mirror, which tells her that her stepdaughter is more beautiful than she is. So she orders her servants to kill the princess and bring back her heart, but they let her go and bring back a dog's heart instead. The princess dresses herself in pigskin and finds work as a swineherd, but she knows a certain hollow oak tree that's sacred to the Virgin Mary, and when she goes inside it, she finds a room where she receives finery for church. She finally loses a shoe, is found by the prince and marries him, and the queen dies of rage and grief when her magic mirror tells her the news.

*Several of these versions have the heroine run away from her stepfamily, but unlike most others that use this device, they don't have her work as a servant at the prince's palace, but just find farm work somewhere nearby, a la Perrault's Donkeyskin.

*This brings me to an issue that's appeared in many versions so far, but which I didn't bother to discuss until now. I suppose now is as good a time as any, because it's a theme that appears in many of these Eastern and Central European tales. In so many versions of Donkeyskin/All-Kinds-of-Fur, or any Cinderella story where the heroine leaves her home and finds work as a lowly servant at the royal palace or elsewhere, the prince tends to repeatedly meet her in her rags or animal skins, and he mistreats her. In the versions where she works at the palace, when she takes off his boots or brings him bath water, a towel, and a comb, he throws them at her. Or in versions where she works elsewhere, she meets him on the road, he drops things and she hands them back to him, but instead of thanking her, he hits her with them. Then at the ball or at church, when she's in her beautiful gowns and he's smitten with her, he asks her where she came from, and she replies with allusions to his earlier rudeness, which he fails to understand.

**This is obviously uncomfortable by modern standards. I suppose to the original audiences, it was funny, ironic social commentary: the prince pines over the "mystery princess" with no idea that she's really the scraggly kitchen maid he treats like dirt, and he's clueless when she alludes to her identity. But does it bode well for "happily ever after" when she marries a man who treated her badly? I think this goes to show that in traditional oral fairy tales, there tends to be less emphasis on finding "true love" than on simply escaping from bad situations and achieving safety, comfort, and preferably wealth and high status. It doesn't matter that the prince is a bit of a jerk, what matters is that he makes the girl a princess in the end. Still, when you want her to marry a worthy man and believe he'll make her happy, it's uncomfortable. Different adaptations obviously find different ways to handle it. For example, Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics' "The Coat of Many Colors" avoids all this and has the prince always be kind to Aleia, while "Sapsorrow" from Jim Henson's the Storyteller keeps his rudeness but gives him a small redemption arc, first by finally sharing a sympathetic conversation with "the Straggletag," then by agreeing to marry her when the slipper fits her before he learns her identity.

**Maybe this tradition partly explains why the prince in the classic movie Three Wishes for Cinderella is slightly bratty and rude at first. I know that @thealmightyemprex found that choice off-putting when he reviewed the movie, and I have mixed feelings about it too, but maybe it stems from the fact that in Europe's oral Cinderella stories, bratty princes are surprisingly common.

Speaking of which...

*This book includes the two Cinderella stories from the Czech-Austrian writer Božena Němcová's collection that inspired Three Wishes for Cinderella. One is called The Three Sisters, the other O Popelusce ("Of Cinderella").

**They both follow the same formula. The heroine's kind father (whom the movie replaces with a surrogate-father manservant) sets out on a journey, and his daughter asks him to bring her the first thing that knocks against his head. This turns out to be the branch of a nut tree, containing three nuts, which produce beautiful dresses and shoes that she wears to church three times.

*Each version is slightly different, though, and both are slightly different from the 1973 movie. In The Three Sisters, the heroine Anuska is abused by her own mother and sisters, while in O Popelusce she has a stepmother and stepsisters. Meanwhile, the movie uses a stepmother and just one stepsister. In both stories, the (step)mother cuts the sisters' feet to make the slipper fit, with the movie replaces with their stealing Cinderella's clothes to pass Dora off as her. As I said, both stories have the heroine go to church, while the movie draws on the Western European Cinderella tradition and has a ball, and unsurprisingly, neither the movie Cinderella's sassy tomboy personality nor her dressing as a boy to join a royal hunt can be found in Němcová's original tales.

*Still, it's clear that in some ways the movie draws strongly on Němcová's texts. In The Three Sisters, the second sister's name is Dorotka, which must explain why the one stepsister in the movie is named Dora. And Anuska's first church dress is rose colored with silver trim, just like the movie Cinderella's ball dress

**From now on, in Three Wishes for Cinderella, I think I'll imagine "Anuska" as Cinderella's real name, as it is in The Three Sisters. It's a Czech equivalent of "Annie," and she's definitely a spunky Little Orphan Annie type of character in the movie!

*There's also a Hungarian version that's almost identical to Němcová's, with three dress-producing walnuts. But it has a completely different ending. The heroine doesn't lose a shoe. Instead the prince's servant follows her as far as her house, then puts a golden rose on the gatepost to mark it. Meanwhile, her loving father can't bear to let her be abused anymore and takes her to live with a childless widow in the forest – she's still poor and still has to work, but she's better off than with her stepfamily. When the prince comes to the family's house to look for her, only her stepsisters are there, but then the golden rose magically rises up and floats through the air to the forest cottage, and there she is. But then, in a different (and sadly racist) twist on the common "false bride replaces Cinderella" plot line, a Romani woman pushes the heroine into a lake, steals her magic walnuts, and dresses in her clothes to trick the prince. But the heroine survives by turning into a golden duck, then resumes her true form and finds work as a servant near the palace. But one day, the prince brings his new bride out in public and urges her to tell everyone the story of her life. The Romani woman fabricates a story, but then the real Cinderella speaks up and reveals the truth, and the prince instantly recognizes his true bride. He has the Romani woman executed, the stepmother jailed, and the stepsisters' hair cut off, while the father marries the widow from the forest in a double wedding with his daughter and the prince.

@adarkrainbow, @ariel-seagull-wings, @themousefromfantasyland

[entangledpear]

Continued character introductions

Another optional character (at least when you meet here first), who is nevertheless indispensable in a certain boss fight, is Barbara, which is the real name of Bozena Nemcova, a 19th century Czech literary figure. She wasn't a complete outlaw (like she is in our game), but she did live under Austrian police surveillance, due to her nationalist tendencies. Her life story is really interesting and at the same time sad.

Anyway, go get Barbara and beat that boss in our first game here.

[ariel-seagull-wings]

THE THREE SISTERS

By Božena Němcová

@fairytaleslive @storytellergirl @themousefromfantasyland @softlytowardthesun @princesssarisa @faintingheroine @the-blue-fairie

A couple lived in a small town with their three daughters. The eldest was called Baruška, the second Dorotka, and the third Anuška. The older two were fools; they pretended and played all day, and Anushka had to do everything for them. She didn't mind any work, she preferred to stay around the house and take care the household. Although she did not have such white cheeks and soft hands as her sisters, she was still much prettier and more pleasant than them. The mother, who should have preferred Anushka, flattered the elders, and if poor Anushka's father had not stood up, she would have survived worse than a dog. Whenever a fashion arose, the mother had to provide it for her older daughters so that they could shine; and the unjust mother had the greatest joy when the boys jumped around her older daughters, and the other girls looked at them enviously. No one knew about Anuška, except for the housekeeper and a few old beggars, to whom she gave generous alms. Once there was an annual market in a nearby capital. The father also went there. Before leaving, he asked his daughters, what should he buy for them? Baruška and Dorotka ordered it, to their horror; one brocade, the other pie, the other ribbons, the other pearls...

"And what should I bring you?" asked Anushka's father, who was carrying breakfast to the table.

“I'm not asking for much, papa; bring me whatever you lose your hat on the way.''

"That probably won't be much."

"She doesn't need quite anything, the poor thing," said the sisters, "a frilly skirt is good enough for her."

 

"She's a girl like us, and she likes to dress up just like you" replied the father with a reprimanding look.

"And who will notice her then," said the mother, and pushed Anushka out of the door. The father went to a nice fair, bought all kinds of expensive things and returned home. He walks around the wood, knocks his hat against the walnut tree; and he remembers Anushka, plucks three nuts and hides them in his pocket. When he came home, he gave his daughters expensive things, then took the nuts and went to Anushka,

"There you are, my girl, what you asked for, I brought you."

Anushka happily thanked her father for the small gift and hid it in her bosom. But in the evening, when she was drawing water from the well into buckets, she bent down hard, and the nuts splashed into the water.

"Oh, unhappy me! what did I do; now there are beautiful nuts there!" wailed Anushka and bending over the well, she tried to see the nuts at the bottom, But the well was deep, and the nuts were far away. A green frog jumps up on the wall and asks: "What happened to you, Anushka, that you cry and wail like that?"

"How can I not cry and lament when the nuts I got from daddy today fell into my well?"

"Stop crying, I'll bring them." And the frog jumped into the well, and in an instant she was up again and spit three nuts on the wall.

"Thank you again, good frog," said Anushka, and quickly grabbed the nuts.

"Then do you know what's in those nuts?" asked the frog.

"And what else would there be in them but the core."

“Oh no; each one has an expensive dress made for you, when you want, open one of them and dress yourself in it." So said the frog and jumped down, “But the frog thinks I'm too stupid to believe it. How would the whole dress fit into such a nut? I'll keep them and I won't shell a single one.'' When she went to sleep, she wrapped the nuts in a cloth and hid them in the chest. Sunday came, the sisters dressed in new clothes and rushed to church like two peacocks. Mother and father and all the house went to church, and only Anushka had to stay at home; prepare lunch and look after the house. When she cleaned everything and prepared the lunch, she sat on the chest and cried. "Oh God, if I could go to that church of God one day, it's like heaven there. But what if I could, how would I fit in those old canvas skirts? After all, people would laugh at me. If it was so prawda, what did the frog say? Well, be that as it may, I'll shell at least one, I'll have two more left." First she wiped the tears from her eyes with a cutting apron, then she took a walnut out of the chest, took out a pick from her pocket and peeled it, it just popped.

“Heavenly Father! Perhaps it's truth after all!” she exclaimed as she cracked open the nut, and something flashed in it. She sat on the chest and slowly took it apart. First, she took out a pink dress all embroidered with silver, a silver belt, a white veil like a spider's web, a pearl necklace, and white shoes embroidered with silver.

"God, God! Is it for me? How do I put it on? But somehow it will work out; lunch is being cooked, ours won't come home in two hours, I'll get ready and look at the church." And she hurried, washed herself clean, and began to dress. Everything was as if he poured it on her. At last she wove a string of pearls into her hair, threw back her veil, and went, all that was sparkling on her. At the door, she sprinkled herself with holy water, saying: "A moment behind me, a moment in front of me, the Lord Himself above me!" My little guardian angel, look after the house for me!'

In the church, people separated and went to the side so that Anushka could go to the front, because everyone thought that she was some noble princess. She sat down opposite the sisters. As soon as she entered, the sisters did not even think about their stepfather, looking only at the pearls and the beautiful dress of the unknown princess. That it was Anushka, they would not have thought until their death. Before there was anyone else in the church who caught Anushka's eye. The young prince, to whom the land belonged, was driving through the city, and when he went to the church, he saw Anushka. Although he could not make out her face well through the veil, he guessed from her height and whole figure that she must be pretty. He asked this, he asked that, but no one knew about her. He was waiting for her to leave the church; but Anushka prayed the Lord's Prayer, looked around the church a bit, and ran home. She was out of sight before the prince pushed past her.

At home, she quickly undressed, rolled up her clothes, closed the chest and hurried to the kitchen, thinking that the fireplace would be dark and the pots empty. But the fire was crackling and lunch was cooking.

"And thank God that it was so successful." Now she dusted, and everything was done in no time. The parents and sisters came home, and Anushka ran out to meet them with a sad face.

"You should have been to church today, there was a beautiful lady there," the sisters said, just to tease Anushka.

"Um, I saw her too."

"Where did you see her?"

"I was was sitting here on our pear tree when she passed by."

At that moment, the angry sisters ordered the dwarf to cut down the pear. For a whole week they talked of nothing but the beautiful lady and the young prince, how he hastened after her, and sought her everywhere.

On the second Sunday, everyone went to church again. Anuska also prepared everything here, washed herself, and went to get dressed. She cracked open the second nut, and took out a cloud-like dress, studded with pearls and diamonds, a diamond skirt, a white veil, and white shoes.

"If the sisters recognized me in those clothes, they would crucify me. But I must also look at that prince, after all, I have never seen such a gentleman." At the door, she sprinkled herself with holy water again, saying: "A moment behind me, a moment in front of me, the Lord Himself above me. My little guardian angel, take care of the house for me!” Then she hurried to the church. People had been watching for a while to see if she would come again, and barely caught a glimpse of her, then everyone bowed respectfully and let her go. When Anushka made the cross, she glanced to the right, where the young prince was standing, but quickly turned away, and her face caught fire, as her eye met the fiery gaze of the prince. Her heart started pounding and she was so anxious that she would rather see herself in the kitchen. 

As it was after the delay, she rose suddenly, slipped through the crowd like a minnow, and hurried home. The prince pressed on his heels after her, but did not catch up with her.

"Well, did you also see the princess today?" cried the sisters when they came from church.

"Of course i saw her, she was sitting on the goal," answered Anuška.

The sisters immediately ordered the goal to be dropped. The whole week was again only about the prince and the foreign princess. Anushka was looking forward to Sunday, and at times she also remembered the handsome prince. Earlier than ever, they chose to go to church on the third Sunday. As nice as they were behind the doors, Anushka prepared everything and ran to get dressed. In the third nut there was a pearl-colored dress, expensively crumpled with gold, a gold-trimmed veil, a ruby ​​coat, and gold-embroidered boots. Back then, she couldn't braid her hair nicely and smoothly enough, and it took a long time before she braided it and decorated it with precious stones. Finally, she covered herself with a thick veil, dipped an elongated finger in the droplet on her right: "A moment behind me, a moment before me, the Lord himself above me; Little angel, my guard, take care of the house for me!" At that she hurried like a doe to the temple of the Lord.

He had been watching the prince at the door for a long time, if the princess would soon step into it. “I don't miss that time; I have to see her, I have to know who she is." He had it cleverly arranged. Dwa wozy chwoje stood closer to the church, and the pachols were ordered to block the chwoje's way when the lady entered the church. He thought the prince would catch up to her before she climbed over the bridge.

Anushka entered the church, bowed to both sides, knelt, and began to pray religiously. She prayed for everyone, for the good father, even for the bad mother and for the bad sisters, then also for the young prince who looked at her so longingly. After praying, she made the cross, looked at the prince with one eye and hurried home. Here they see a pile of wood in front of the church. But what did Anushka make of it, she was used to jumping over the fence! He cuts off his pearl dress, and as if flying, he finds himself on the other side. Before one of the dogs remained in the house.

The prince pushed his way out of the church, and when he saw a tiny little dog embroidered with gold, he sadly picked it up and hid it.

Then an old beggar lady sneaks up to him and whispers: "Merciful prince, that lady is the daughter of that house, I know her." At the same time, she pointed her finger at the house of Anushka's father.

Before the prince looked back, the beggar was gone. "Does the old woman think I'm crazy? Before it can be enough that the lady hid there, and that they know her there." Saying this, he started on his way to the house.

Meanwhile, Anushka was folding her clothes, and one tear after another rolled down her cheeks. "Okay, daddy says, let everyone wear what suits them! Why did I crack those nuts, and gave myself up to those jewels; what's in it for me? That nothing in the world will make me happy. The unfortunate little frog who advised me!  What do I think the handsome gentleman will do? Oh my God! God! It's no use thinking about him!" With such sighs and lamentations, the poor girl undressed and went to the kitchen. The sister came home, but she neither asked nor they answered her.

They were just about to eat, when a beautiful carriage with four horses and the prince himself arrived at the court. The father runs out, but the prince enters the candlestick.

"Is it true that you have a daughter?" he asked when he was greeted.

"We have, gracious prince!" replied the woman, winking at the man to keep quiet.

"When I was walking from church today, I found a shoe and made a promise to myself that the one who wears the shoe will be my wife. Where is your daughter?'

“Forgive, gracious lord! She is very shy, and would hardly put on her clothes in front of you; put it in my hand, I will go to her chamber.'

The prince gave it to her, and thought he had already won.

The clever mother took her hat and went into the chamber, where the daughters were eagerly waiting for her to call them, "Girls!" said the mother, "get your wits together! One of you will be a princess." Here she told them everything and held her head up. Barushka runned and sit to put the shoes first; but the foot was almost half a heel larger.

"Nothing valid, if you want to be a princess, get a piece of your heel cut off!" advised the mother.

"I'll give it," answered Baruška determinedly. Her mother cut off a piece of her heel, and she put on a shoe. Then she dressed herself and went to the prince. When the prince was convinced that she had put on the shoes, he could not say anything, although it seemed to him that she was a little smaller, and not as pretty as the strange lady he had imagined. With joy, the parents blessed her, and the prince got into his wagon with the bride and her mother. But he had a small dog that went with him everywhere. When they had gone a little way, the dog began to bark: "Haf, haf, haf, our master has taken a heelless wife!"

"What do you say, dog?" he asked the prince and called him to him.

"Haf, haf, haf, our master is getting a heelless wife!" barked the dog for the second time.

Here the prince turned to Baruška and ordered her to take out the dog. All pale, the bride did as the prince welel, and showed a bound heel.

"You hypocrite, did you want to trick me? Get out of my sight for a moment. And you," he turned to her mother, "tell me where the lady is, to whom the house belongs. They say she is hidden in your house?'

“Oh forgive, gracious prince! I am not to blame, she did not want to go, and sent her sister; if she's shy, there's an even shyer one. Than when you command, it must be according to your will.'

She took off her coat and went to Dorolka, thinking that maybe she would do better the second time. But Dorotka could not put her thumb in the gut.

"Even if it's an inch, I'll cut it off," said the mother.

"I'll only be happy to have it done when I'm a princess," said Dorotka, she had her thumb cut off and her mother took her to the prince. Although she seemed to be the same size as the stranger, and with a more beautiful face than Baruška, the prince still did not like her. Before he took her with him in the process.

Here the unfortunate dog starts again: "Haf, haf, haf, our master has married a fingerless woman!"

"What's that dog barking again?" asked the master, calling the animal to come closer.

 "Hal, haf, haf, our master has married a fingerless woman," repeated the dog.

Here again, the prince was upset at the news, and he had to leave his feet again. I saw the truth that her thumb was missing.

"You tricksters, so me are you cheating? Now the measure is finished, and you will not escape punishment. Who are you hiding?”

“O gracious prince! There is no one here except a few serving girls.'

"And where they are, bring them here."

The father was running, shaking all over, for the chase, he would also like to bring Anushka, but he was afraid of his wife.

When the prince saw the chubby, stocky girls, he immediately shook his head that there weren't any. "And you don't have another woman in the house?" he finally asked, annoyed and thinking that the beggar had made a joke of himself.

"We have another daughter, gracious prince!" said the father in a timid voice, "but she is always so depressed and so stupid that she does not even go among the people."

"Where is her? bring her to me.'

"Maybe she's hiding somewhere, I'll go get her."

Anushka was neither in the kitchen nor in the yard, she sat in the attic on a chest and cried until her heart stopped. Why, she didn't know that herself! — When the prince arrived and put Baruška in the wagon, it stung her heart, and unable to stand it downstairs, she ran to the attic and cried. She would like to run away from the world if she knew where to go. Them she heard someone coming. It was daddy. "Anushka, you should go down, the prince wants to see you too."

"Prince, are you saying that he wants to see me? Didn't he leave with Baruška?"

“Of course not; who knows who wrote it to him that the lady he saw in the church is in our house. Mama was such a fool, and she took the girls one by one for her, but he recognized it; now he is angry and wants to see all the women. Just come, and don't be shy.'

"Well, wait downstairs, Dad, I'll get ready."

The sisters blushed like peonies with anger, and the old woman said in a wheezing voice: "Your father has no sense, and he only brings shame to us, like the bumbling goose; I don't even want to look to her as a mother."

Father went out, and Anushka began to dress herself in a dress of pearls, embroidered with gold. Her heart was pounding, fear and hope reflected on her angelic face. "What will he tell me? Will he not punish me that I, a poor girl, dressed up in such a dress and deceived him?" She walked downstairs with such contemplation.

"For all the swatters!" Dad shouted when he saw her. "Where did you get those clothes, Anushka?"

"Just come, I'll tell you." She covered herself with a veil and went with her father to the court, where the prince was waiting like a thorn.

"Where has the beautiful lady gone?" cried the sisters, looking at each other as if in a vision. But the prince was one step away from Anushka.

"Why do you hide your face, maiden, and run away from me? I don't want to hurt you, because I long for your sight, like a pilgrim wandering in the dark after the sun's rays.''

“Oh, gracious prince! don't talk to me like that.That's my father, and I'm just a poor girl." At that, Anushka revealed her veil, and a dark brown eye shined in that innocent, loving face for the prince, the lightning of which pierced his soul like a bullet.

"I don't believe what you say, the poor girl can't wear such an expensive dress."

"That she is our daughter, that is God's truth," the mother jumped into the prince's speech, because everything in her was burning with anger that the hated daughter might become a princess. "But I don't know where she got those clothes. Now you wretched creature, who gave you those clothes?'

“Forgive, sir! My father brought me three nuts from the fair, and the dress was in them. I took them to church, thinking no one would recognize me. I didn't think such an outrage would come out of it."

"Don't worry, dear, don't worry, nothing will happen to you. Here you have my hand, if you like to come with me?'

Anushka blushed at those words, as if he covered her with scarlet red, and tears sprinkled her heavy robe; but when the prince gave her his hand, she willingly put her hand into it.

The sisters, seeing that the despised Anushka had become a princess, began to cry and threw themselves around her neck, as if God knows how much they hated to lose her, but for now they were crying out of sheer anger. Only the father blessed her with joy and wished her happiness from a sincere heart. When Anushka was sitting in the wagon, the dog ran up, started barking and barking: "Haf, haf, haf, our master is taking our beautiful lady home!"

"That animal was wiser than I," said the prince, flattering the clever dog. Then he sat down next to his beautiful Anuška, the coach slammed into the horses, and they rode home in one gallop.

When Anushka disappeared from the eyes of the family, the anger of the sisters and mother turned on the poor father, and a stream of poisonous words poured from their mouths like a malignant torrent.

"That's nice," said the old woman, supporting her hips, "you laughed at me for flattering the two of them, and what's better than them? He will buy such an expensive dress for that dirty clumsy wretch who brought us nothing but shame, and forget about the ones everyone looks at, everyone talks about. Are you their father?'

"Just calm down if you don't know how it happened," soothed the man. "How did I know there were dresses in nuts? God bestowed it upon her for her rank and for her goodness. You have put up with her enough, and she has endured everything patiently. She is happy now!”

"Just you wait that soon enough you'll see that the prince will bring her back. That would be a smart prince. But now you have to provide just such clothes for Baruška and Dorotka, if you know about the bush where such expensive nuts grow."

"But God, what do you ask of me? After all, I told you that—”

"Nonsense," interrupted the old woman, "we are not so stupid that you can't show us the magpies on the willow tree. If you don't bring us the clothes, then go to your beloved daughter and don't talk to us anymore."

If he didn't have to listen to the barking any longer, poor father would rather leave the house, and he decided to bring them nuts, whatever they were. So he went again to the bush against which he had first quarreled and plucked three nuts. At the same time, however, he immediately decided that he would go to Anuška, as he would kindly give the nuts to his daughters. When they saw their father coming, they ran to meet him, thinking that he must be carrying their clothes. In a hurry, the nuts were snatched from his hand, and each one was shelled. But come on! A snake three cubits long leaped from each nut, wrapped itself around each one's neck, and suffocated them. With blue faces they fell to the ground,  collapsing, and not even a trace of them remained. No one shed tears for them! —

The prince loved Anushka deeply, and he did not regret choosing her as his wife.

[ariel-seagull-wings]

@thealmightyemprex @themousefromfantasyland

Before Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, there was the french movie La Belle et la Bete released in 2014, the czech movie The Seven Ravens and the Disney live action remake of Cinderella (the last two both released in 2015).

La Belle et La Bete, while mixed with critics, was a huge comercial hit, keeping the basic meat of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale intact while also incorporating some action scenes and turning the relationship between Belle and the Beast more erotic.

The Seven Ravens, based on the Bozena Nemcova fairy tale, becamed one of the biggest international hits of czech cinema.

And 2015 Cinderella, while very lucrative, gained a following over the years for being a sincere dramatic portrayal of the fairy tale's themes of kindness in a cruel world.

And in the end of 2022 we had Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio, not a faithful adaptation of the Collodi novel, but still a passionate sincere retelling of the story with the themes of what makes a human being and what it means to be a good person.

And while not adaptations of fairy tales, still fantasy, there are Dreamworks's own How to Train Your Dragon and Kung Fu Panda being their own sincere fantasy movies with a sprinkle of comedy.

All this zeitgeist context of what was popular with critics and comercially successfullmust have been an influence on Dreamworks filmakers deciding to do a sincere movie with Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

Theory time:

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish made such a huge critical success because it delivered a straightforward sincere story with tropes that the public were missing in the few animated films.

No plot twists, deconstructions, forced tragic or sympathetic villains, and cheap attempts to be deeper than it actually is.

Just a sincere story with charismatic characters, villains, and relatable themes.

This is all reinforces my theory that audiences are tired of irony and meta commentary and just want sincerity, and it's insane that a movie from the Shrek franchise managed to deliver that.

@ariel-seagull-wings @thealmightyemprex

[gingeroyalty]

What is Czech literature good for? Czech speaks only maids and servants. That’s exactly what needs to be changed.

Božena 1x01 (2020, dir. Lenka Wimmerová)

[spacelessbian]

Czech Woman A Day (64) : Božena Němcová (novelist)

[fashion-librarian-philatelists]

[angrycrabeyes]

(via Gridllr)

The Disobedient Kids and other Czecho-Slovak Fairy Tales by Bozena Nemcova

1921

Artist : Artus Scheiner

« The Little Stars of Gold »

[barunko]

[fairytaleslive]

Hello! thank you for your answer about SnowWhite and SleepingBeauty. A russian version of SleepingBeauty is in Morozko: the main character has a sleeping beauty arc when she fall asleep near the end of the story. I don't know if this part of Morozko is based on Russian folklore or not. Do you know more? In Czech adaptation, the Pricess pricks her finger on a rose and not on the spindle of a spinning wheel. Why this choice? is it based on Bozena Nemcova version of the tale?

Hi again, thank you for your question.

MOROZKO

You are right, in Morozko, the heroine falls into "eternal" sleep, though it's not a curse (she is tricked into touching Father Frost's magic staff) and she is awaken by the hero's love (represented by a tear), not a kiss.

Morozko ("Father Frost", 1964) is kind of special movie – as far as I know, it's not a direct adaptation of one fairytale, more like a combination of several fairytale themes into a one original screenplay. Its basis is a fairytale Father Frost about two sisters: one is kind and polite when she encounters Father Frost and he rewards her, the other is mean and rude to him and she is punished. (like in Diamonds and Toads, Frau Holle or in The Twelve Months) In Morozko/Father Frost movie, the writers added various other motifs to make the story more interesting/adventurous: there is brave Ivan who is punished for his pride and has to redeem himself, Baba Yaga, band of robbers and a playful dwarf "Starichok-Borovichok".

So to answer your question, in my opinion the writers of Morozko were not necessarily inspired by Sleeping Beauty when they added the “eternal sleep” motif. They simply needed a device to make the climax of the movie more suspenseful and to demonstrate the hero’s character improvement.

(if there are any Russian followers, feel free to correct me/add your views; personally, I’ve never encountered “eternal sleep” theme in Russian fairytales I’ve read, but my knowledge is limited)

pictured: Natalya Sedykh as Nastenka in Morozko/Father Frost (1964)

And to be fair, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White are not the only fairytales that feature a sleeping heroine. See for instance fairytales such as Water of Life or The King of England and his Three Sons. (Btw, the Water of Life has been recently adapted as a part of 6 auf einen Streich series and it's a lovely film! You can watch it here.)

SLEEPING BEAUTY

No, Sleeping Beauty pricking her finger on a rose thorn is not from Božena Němcová’s retelling, simply because Němcová never collected this tale :).I think the story, as we know it in the Czech Republic, has mostly come here from the Brothers Grimm’s version (which is heavily based on Perrault’s version), which is called “Briar Rose” (Dornröschen). I didn’t manage to find a written fairytale variant which would explicitly state the thorn being the cause of the curse.

I am thinking that maaaybe the person who changed it from the spinning wheel to a rose thorn was the screenwriter of How to Wake a Sleeping Beauty (1977), Bohumila Zelenková, and later Czech adaptations simply copied it from this movie. But that’s just my thought, I will definitely keep the matter of origin of the rose thorn in mind and write a post about it if I manage to find a source of this idea in the future!

[ariel-seagull-wings]

@themousefromfantasyland

Three Wishes for Cinderella (1973)

This czech movie adaptation of Bozena Nemcova's Cinderella variants is set in winter with a Renaissance aesthetic, and is considered a staple of the hollidays, shown on TV every Christmas in the Czech Republic and other European Countries.

Libuse Safrankova is a charismatic lead who is a precursor for various tomboy warrior Cinderella portrayals that followed, and probably my favorite of the kind.

Now that my semester is almost over, it means I finally have a little more time to enjoy the holidays.

I want to open my Christmas movie repertoire this year, so I need help, @tamisdava2 , @ariel-seagull-wings , @natache , @thelittlehansy , @amalthea9 , and especially you @thealmightyemprex

I want recommendations of Christmas Fantasy movies, or at least, winter fantasy films. They can be both normal holiday films, or more different, like the Krampus film. The only rule is that they need to have elements of fantasy or science fiction.

Growing up religious, but not that religious, I never felt a connection to the holiday in the way my parents celebrated it. I always felt more comfortable in the Rankin Bass Christmas, with yetis, elves, talking snowmen, winter witches, than Jesus Christmas.

Normie holiday films, like romcons always felt disappointing, because I always kept expecting Santa, ghosts, angels, and things like that.

So, please, give me recommendations. They can be creepy, sad, wholesome, from the US, from Europe, from Asia. I just want some new movies to enjoy this season.

[ariel-seagull-wings]

THE STORY OF POPELKA

By Božena Němcová

@softlytowardthesun @themousefromfantasyland @princesssarisa @the-blue-fairie @fairytaleslive @storytellergirl

Once upon a time, there lived a poor man in a small town who had three daughters. They weren't grown yet, but you could see from them, at least the two older ones, that they would be pretty girls. The youngest was in the kitchen all day doing rough work, so they always called her just Popelka, because it was impossible to tell if she was pretty or not because of the ashes. The older two, Kasala and Adlina, were trained in women's arts, but they did nothing and left the care of living to their parents, so that they, unable to manage it otherwise, spent what they had for living. Their acquaintances and neighbors, and especially one aunt, a vivacious and considerate woman, thought it was bad for them that they wouldn't let them go anywhere among people. But what if the girls didn't want to? They walked all day with folded hands, Popelka had to bring everything to their mouths, for which they still tormented her constantly.

One night, the man said to his wife: "Dear woman, things can't stay like this with those girls if we don't want to come to beggars as soon as possible." They don't want to go into service here, so I have to make up my mind and trick them into taking them somewhere where they wouldn't be able to find their way home." It seemed strange to the woman, but need is bad; and so trusting in the honesty of the man, he would take his daughters away the next day. Popelka, who was sleeping by the fireplace and immediately noticed everything moving, also heard the parents' conversation. As soon as it was dawn, she got up quietly and hurried to her aunt's for a meeting.

"I will give you advice, but on the condition that you don't take your sinister sisters back with you." Then she gave Popelka a ball of thread and said: "Stay behind and tie the end somewhere near a tree, put the ball in your pocket and you will pull the thread behind you, and after it you will find your way home again.'

Popelka thanked her good aunt and went home with the ball.

Early in the morning, when the father got up and woke up the girls, he said to them: "I have a lot of work in the forest today, so I'm not even enough by myself, so all three of you must come with me."

The capricious girls didn't like it, only Popelka had already prepared breakfast long before they were even ready. When they had eaten, they went with their father. Popelka had the string ball in her pocket and was still pulling the string behind her. The father led them through the forest until he came to a thicket, where he told them to wait until he saw a place where it would be best to cut first. Without thinking about anything, the girls waited as they were told, only Popelka knew where it was going; and when the father did not come after a good while, she said to them: "It seems to me that the father will leave us here, and therefore we had better go to the forest to look for him."

"You wise one always knows something."

"Alright, if you don't want me, I'll go alone."

The girls didn't want that either, so they followed her. Popelka was kind-hearted, she wouldn't leave them alone in the forest, she couldn't do that to her sisters. After following the thread, which she again twisted into a ball, they came home happily, albeit late in the evening. Grudgingly, their father opened the door for them as they knocked; but he apologized that he had lost his way in the forest, and when he came out of it late, he thought that he had better go home, thinking with certainty that they would come after him.

But Popelka heard it well that night, as he said to the woman: "I don't know how those girls found their way from the forest." Well, it doesn't matter, tomorrow I'll take them even further, it would be easier for them to come to the castle, where I want to put them to work." — It wasn't even dawn yet, and Popelka was already at her aunt's; but she had to promise her that she would never bring the sisters back again. She then told her that she would collect the ashes wherever she could and scatter them along the way, so that she would find her way back.

She thanked her aunt and went home. Again, the father woke the daughters to get up quickly and get ready to go with him to the forest for donuts.

When they had breakfast, Popelka took a basket, put a scarf and a piece of bread on top of it, but only ashes underneath, as well as in her pockets. As they walked, she always scattered a little, except for the place where her father led them and where there were a lot of pine cones. Then the father said to them: "We collect here and I will go there w that side; when you're full, call me.'

When the girls were full, they screamed for their father, but the father was there.

"Now we must go home in the sleigh, dear sisters," said Popelka, "perhaps father has lost his way again." At that time, the sisters obeyed without hesitation and went home with her. Happily, they got there after the ash road. Their father was already asleep when they came to the cottage.

"Did you run away from us, daddy?" the girls asked.

"Even you fools, why would I have run away from you? I went further into the forest, and got so busy with my work that I quite forgot about you, and then when I wanted to come back for you, you were already gone; what was i supposed to do so I took the nearer paths home.'

Kasala and Adlina believed it, but Popelka knew what she knew. At night, the father said again: "They will certainly not return to me tomorrow!"

His mother begged him to drop it and not take them anywhere else, but he didn't even want to do otherwise. It hadn't even spread yet when Popelka was at her aunt's again and told her everything; but at that time her aunt was really angry with her for bringing the sisters back again. And out of anger she deliberately gave her pea seeds, whatever she could carry, she would have them scattered behind her. After the sun rose, the father woke up his daughters, telling them to go with him to their home. They had breakfast and left. Popelka stayed behind, still scattering peas behind her. At that time, Dad scolded them even more, and after showing them where to break theirs, he went elsewhere. The sun was already very high, when they looked for their father with a pile of broken leaves. They called, they searched, but all in vain. Here Cinderella offered them to go home alone again; she looked for peas on the way, but there were no peas anywhere. She saw a flock of wild pigeons sitting on the road, and she easily thought that they had collected the peas. It was bad; only now did she tell her sisters what her father intended. What were they supposed to do? They made beds out of reeds and moss, and when they were hungry they lay down under the open sky. They got up in the morning and picked strawberries for breakfast, and then they walked like lost sheep in the forest. Here Popelka gave them advice.

“I'll tell you, girls, what we'll do; I'll climb a tree, and where we're guarding some construction, I'll go that way." At that she climbed like a wewerka on a borowica, and looked in all directions where she would guard some human dwelling. And oprawdu widěla w further welky castle. She remembered well which way it was, then she went down, told her sisters, and they all soon walked the way to the castle.

It was already dusk when they came to the green meadow where the castle stood. They circled him three times, but there was not a living soul to be seen. So they took courage and knocked on the wrat. Then a woman appeared to them, so ugly that they were terrified of her. Her head was like an opal, her eyes were bulging, her hair was spiky, and her body was so thick that all three of them could not contain her.

"What are you doing here?" she shouted at them, making their hearts tremble with fear.

"Oh, dear grandmother," replied Popelka, we would only beg you for a little something to eat, we are terribly hungry.

"Stay away from here for a while if you don't want my man to eat you."

"Oh, what will we do if you don't accept us under your roof? the night is upon us, we don't know where to go, and the last time your man would meet us and eat us; have mercy on us and hide us somewhere; we will do everything for you.''

"Oh yes, yes!" shouted Kasala and Adlina in unison.

"I will sew you clothes, embroider hats and make all kinds of jewelry."

"I will stroke you and comb your hair to make you prettier."

"And I," said Popelka, "will cook you the best meals and arrange everything for you so you don't have to do the laundry."

Baba, softened by those words, let herself be told and led them to the castle. She gave them raw meat and fruit. When they had eaten their fill of fruit, they went with the grandmother to the cellar; there was a large empty barrel, so she hid all three of them in it and went upstairs. Her husband was knocking on her door. Full of fear, she went to open it for him.

The cannibal who walked into the house was three times as big as a woman. As soon as he turned around in the sitting room, he shouted in a thunderous voice, so that everything shook, so that it could be heard in the cellar: "I smell a human being here; woman, who have you here?'

"And who would I have here, little man? Then she brought him a good dinner, she would calm him down.

But after a while he asked her again: "Tell me, grandma, who do you have here?"

"Oh you dummy, none."

After a while, when he had eaten, he began again: “You must have someone here; say."

The woman, fearing that she would anger him by denying it longer, told him everything, and finished: “But I would have thought you would let them live; when I learn from them everything they can do, then, if you want, you can kill them now.''

When the cannibal unfolded it, he did it to her will. Then the grandmother took him to the cellar. The poor girls thought that the weta was after them, that he was already coming for them to eat them. As soon as they saw him, they fell on their knees and begged for their lives.

"I'll let you live, but you have to do everything as you said, although it will be bad for you.

They were happy to promise. Early in the morning, Popelka was already up and preparing breakfast; but the sisters had to help her, because the cannibals ate thirty people. When they got up, breakfast was already on the table. They liked that, especially the cannibal lady, when Kasala and Adlina combed and braided her mane and made her pretty. The old man said that he would give them everything they needed to say. But for the time being, they lacked nothing. Each of them was looking after their own work, and that's how time flew by. The further, however, the more it got bored there; but there was no help, no redemption.

They once resolved to kill their masters if it were somehow possible. But how? That was the question they pondered day and night. Luckily for them, the ogre wanted to learn how to bake bread from Popelka. They wanted to use that opportunity, believing that it would be easier with the old one. That day, in the morning, Popelka lit the oven, which, because many loaves were being baked, was also very hot. The man-eater settled down by the stove, and kept watching until the fire burned down, so that he could then dig into it and put in the bread. However, completely fainted from the heat, he lay down on the ground and fell asleep. It was what the girls wanted. How sweetly they heard him snoring, they brought large dykes, leaned them against him, and with all their might suddenly threw him into the fire. In an instant he was a dead cannibal. So they had one by the neck; but what about the other one?

When the grandmother got up, the girls flocked to her and told her to hurry up, that her husband would soon return from the forest, and that he would be very angry if he saw her disheveled for so long. So Baba sat down on a stool, and the girls began to comb her hair.

"Lower your head, Grandma, so I can smooth your back hair," Kasala said.

Baba bowed her head, and Kasala threw her hair over her eyes, took the ax that Popelka handed her, and cut off her head with one blow. Then they cleaned everything and buried the body. Being now full-fledged mistresses of the castle, they searched everything where it lay, and found many expensive and beautiful things, which all suited them well. But poor Popelka was struck by having to work all day out. Like before, when she was still at home, she had to do everything, clean, wash, cook, which until now the young sisters were still just pretending and busying themselves with tedious work. Popelka was certainly used to it, and it would not have seemed abominable to her if the sisters had at least not tormented her; so they didn't care what she did, they paid her a lot for every work, for every service. But what was the use of all that feinting if there was no one to like them? That also blew their minds the most. So they agreed that they would once look at the city where the cannibals used to go for food. One day they did so, and went to a town which was not as far as they thought. There they bought all kinds of jewelry and other necessary things, then bought a horse and a cart, hired servants so that in the future they would not have to go to the city just like that. Popelka got more work; although there were more people in the house now, that's why no one helped her, because they all had something to do with the ladies. When they went to the city for the second time, they heard that the prince there was going to give a great feast, to which everyone would have access. That was something for the vain sisters. They immediately bought clothes so that they could dress up as best as possible. There was discussion and talk when they arrived home, as if the whole world depended on them. Popelka didn't even know where her head was for running. She would also like to dress up in such clothes one day and look somewhere, but she was always afraid to mention it to her sisters. But when she saw such a preparation and kept hearing only about the handsome prince, she took courage and asked her sisters to take her with them.

"You?" they both looked at her; "Well, we would have won beautiful honors."

"Just give me some of your worn-out clothes, and you'll see that if I dress cleanly I'll look better."

"What does Popelka think of herself! Perhaps not quite that she will be prettier than us? Nothing will come of it. You just stay at home and look after the economy, and for that we will tell you what is possible in the city.''

Popelka left in silence, but her eyes filled with tears for the unkindness of the proud sisters. On the day appointed for the celebration, the sisters got up early in the morning. There was shouting and commanding; rveryone, wherever they were, had their hands full when they left. When Popelka got a little rest, she took the broom and went to the sitting room to sweep and clean. As she bends down and looks to make sure no powder is left anywhere, she sees something flashy in one corner. She opens it and see that it is a golden key. What is the key from? she thinks to himself, and rushes off to find where he belongs. But there was no cupboard, no door, no chest for which the key would fit. After checking everything upstairs, she turned on the light and went to the basement. She saw a door in the corner with a small lock attached to it. This included a golden key. She opened it, and was not afraid of anything, but eagerly entered the dark corridor she saw in front of her. A few steps further there was another door that could be opened with the same key. But how startled she was when, entering the hall, she saw the light reflecting off the walls like a thousand flashes of lightning! There were heaps of silver on the floor, and in the middle stood a table artificially made of pure silver, with a silver chest on it. From the first hall one could see through an open arch into the second. It was made of gold, and in the middle was a golden table with a golden chest on it.

This led to the third. The two former ones were, however, nothing against this one; here the walls were studded with the most precious stones, as when the sky is most densely studded with stars;  an iron table stood in the middle, an iron chest on it. After Popelka had walked through the hall one more time and peeked around enough, she went and opened the iron chest first. As she lingered, she saw written on it in golden words: "Whoever steps in here first and opens the iron chest, belongs to them what she finds in all three, as well as everything that stands here." At the head of this hall is the biggest stone, whoever pushes it, the wall will open. A white horse grazes there, whoever sits on it must say: 'Mha zamnou, mha zamnou,' and the horse will carry him wherever they like. But all this wealth is only three times, and it only gives to the good to happiness, but to the bad, unhappiness."

When Popelka read it, she looked at what else was in the closet, and there she took out a white dress, embroidered all around with gold and decorated with precious stones. Everything that belonged to the magnificent structure lay under the dress; finally she pulled out lovely golden slippers as well. Popelka wasn't vain, but that wonderful suit was so tempting to her that she finally had to dress up in it. So she ran quickly back, and taking off her ashen clothes, washed herself clean, and hurried back to the cellar. There she took a dress from the closet and dressed in it. From head to toe with a tiny slipper, everything fit her as well as if it had been poured. "And now," said she, looking about herself fondly, "I will sit on my horse, and look also at the glory and at the handsome prince. That the sisters will not recognize me, of that I am sure; for it would be easier for them to dream of death than to see a dirty Popelka in such a dress." So she went, pushed the stone, which was the largest and glittered in the front, and went out into the green meadow. A horse was grazing there, white as snow. She took him by the bridle, and, swinging boldly at him, said, “Take me, hobby, to town; mha zamnou, mha premnou!” And like a wind, the obedient horse flew with her to the city. After a while they were in the princely castle. Popelka got down, tied the whites to the pillar and went up to the banquet hall. Everyone looked in awe at the beautiful maiden. The prince, who had just been playing with Kasala and Adlina, quickly left them and curiously approached the unknown maiden. "Who are you, beautiful maiden," he asked her, "that comes to grace the feast with your presence?"

"If it pleases you that I stay here for a while, don't ask to know my name."

The prince didn't ask her any more about those words, but led her to the table. She was a little afraid that the sisters would recognize her, but even though they didn't take their eyes off her, they didn't even think about Popelka. They danced around the blackboard; but the prince had neither eyes nor mind for anything else but the beautiful stranger. He did not admire the beautiful dress, the brilliant diamonds, he only saw her beauty, he only listened to the sweet sounds that blended so sweetly with her lips. But Popelka honestly wondered to herself where it had come from. What the prince asked her, and there were quite a lot of questions, she answered everything as sensibly, wittily and seriously as if she had been taught at universities. When she put on the royal dress, she was completely different.

It was getting late when she remembered that she had to go home. However, she could not get rid of the prince in any way and had to go down with him, but there she slipped out of his hand, and quickly jumping on her horse, she was there. In vain the prince raced after her on his fastest horse, trying to catch up with her — Popelka was nowhere to be seen. When she got home, she took off her clothes and put them back in the chest, then put on her ashen skirt and hurried upstairs so that everything would be ready when the nurses arrived. However, she didn't get along that time, so she still had a lot to do when the two sisters returned. But they didn't even notice such little things back then, because they had enough to do with themselves.

"Then tell me how you were there, and did you like it?"

“We had a good time, you may think; and we liked it so much that we're going there again tomorrow?'

“Oh! you will take me with you.'

“Don't even think about it; you don't fit in the kind of company that noble princesses go to.'

"Then what kind of princess was there? at least you can tell me.”

"Well, you can't even tell; we have never seen such beauty before. And what a dress she had! Well, we just have to thank her that there will be such a feast again tomorrow. The prince fell in love with her, and she escaped him; now he does not know how he would be reunited with her, and he thinks that she will certainly come to the feast again tomorrow.'

Those words confused Popelka's head all night. In the morning, as soon as the sisters were out of the house, she would run to the cellar to look in the other chest. There lay a dress of pink color, heavily embroidered with silver, as well as everything else necessary for a decent outfit; she had to take the only slippers from the first box. She liked herself as she looked at her reflexion on the shiny silver wall. Then she went to her horse, who soon brought her to the city.

The prince sat at the table as if on a thorn; whenever the door opened, he thought it was the expected stranger. At last the doors flew open, the silken robe rustled in them, and the blissful look of the princes revealed who was coming.

"Oh, how you made me sad yesterday by leaving so suddenly!" said the prince when he was alone with her.

"I can't help it," replied Cinderella, "and if you want me to visit you one more time, you mustn't keep me here."

“You don't know how difficult this task is for me; but I will submit to your will with the exception that you come again tomorrow.''

"I will certainly fill in the given word."

And so, when it was time for her to return, the prince did not delay her any longer, nursing the hope that he would take care of her again tomorrow. When she arrived home, she quickly undressed and went to her work; when she was done, both sisters camed back.

"Then how did you get along?" Cinderella asked them. "Was the princess there again?"

“Of course she was, and more beautifully arranged than yesterday; tomorrow there will be a feast again, and it won't slip away so easily. My God! what does the prince see in her? Of course she's pretty, but there are plenty of other pretty girls in the world, and he didn't have to be that crazy about her."

"If it wasn't for her, who knows if you wouldn't have become a princess?" said Popelka.

"And why are you getting involved in such talk? mind your own business and don't worry about us," Adlina reprimanded Cinderella's sister. She left quietly and thought to herself: 'You fools, I wouldn't change my happiness for yours!'

On the morning of the third day, the sisters left in great spirits, and Cinderella, barely cleaning up a little, hurried back to the cellar. That time she opened the silver chest. There was a blue dress, embroidered with silver and pearls. When she got dressed, diamonds sparkled around her neck and on her head. Thus equipped, she rode to the castle for the third time on a horse. The prince gave the order that when the porter caught sight of the princess (for whom everyone searched) to come and tell him. He hadn't been sitting at the table for long when the porter ran up to tell him that he saw someone in white clothes coming from afar. The prince flew down, but Popelka had already come to meet him. He was satisfied and happy, because he believed with certainty that he would not succeed at that time. Everyone was eager to know how it would turn out. The prince kept begging her not to leave, to tell him who she was, and to became his wife.

But to everyone's fervent pleas, he got the answer: "Don't ask me, because it's possible that you wouldn't even like it. Take comfort in the fact that I am here at your will.'

“But how long do you want to stay? And then where should I look for you?'

"Let fate take care of that."

So she served the poor prince. The time had finally come for her to go home again. When the prince kindly observed that she was about to depart, he gave a secret sign to one of the servants, and he ran away. After a while he escorted Cinderella downstairs, still begging and delaying her. But she quickly left him and hurried to her white horse. But then she suddenly felt her feet on the ground. She looked and saw that the ground around the wheel was smeared with some kind of resin. She still helped herself to it; but when she suddenly caught sight of the prince behind her, she started and sprang up on her horse; he quickly jumped over everything, and no one saw him again. However, a golden slipper remained in the pawn shop. The prince wished that his stratagem had not succeeded; but he was glad that at least he had something by which he could find an unknown lover.

Popelka's heart ached no less. For as long as she could remember, no one had given her such pleasant and loving names, no one had treated her so gently and so kindly, in short, no one had loved her as much as that beautiful prince. What a wonder when Popelka, despised by everyone, wished she could be with him until death. She sadly said goodbye to the hobby; she put the sadly beautiful dress in the box. "Oh, how God has punished me for my vanity," she said as she put away the single slipper. “Now I have lost my heart and my slipper; I could be happy, but can I believe it all? Isn't that some kind of magic? And for the last time I will be punished for my vanity and the lost slipper!”

So lamenting, she went upstairs again after her work. The sisters came home, but she didn't ask them anything that time. Before these went without any questions. "We expected that would happen to tim," Kasala said as Popelka made their beds. "Why did he go crazy for such a witch and not stay with us instead?! Now he can kiss a slipper,”

"What do you know," replied Adlina, "if he doesn't come in tomorrow?"

"She would have stayed there today."

“Then who will argue about it; we will go there, and if it suits us, one or the other will become a princess.''

"Then what's with the slipper?" asked Popelka.

“You also want to know everything; Well, I can tell you. Yesterday, therefore, the princess came again to the court; the prince didn't even notice anyone all day and just kept messing with her. When she was about to leave, he smeared the place where her horse was standing with colomza so that she would get stuck there. But she wasn't that stupid and slipped out smartly, only leaving the slipper there. The prince immediately had it announced that tomorrow all the maidens and ladies from the whole neighborhood were to meet at his castle, and whichever one of them put on the slipper, she, if she was free, would become his wife. He thinks that she is unknown from his country, and that no one can have such a small foot as hers. But perhaps he will miss it and disappoint himself.'

"After all, you also have small feet, maybe enough to put on a slipper," said Popelka.

"We'll see how tomorrow goes,"

In the morning, before they left, each of them pulled her feet until tears of pain flowed down her face, just so she could get into the slipper.

Poor Popelka did not know what to do: whether to go to them or stay at home. However, love won over fear. She went to the cellar, put on a blue dress and wrapped the slipper in a scarf. Then she threw on her everyday clothes, and so she set out with the Lord God. Happily, she came to town in half a day. She took the straight path to the castle. There, however, she could barely squeeze through, because a large number of women had gathered. On every face one could read either hope and trust, or sorrow or the anger of a disappointed heart. She was looking forward to wearing the slipper, she was sorry that it was too small for her. When she entered the hall, she also saw her sisters sitting in a niche. They fell out like sour apples, which made her think they didn't get into the slipper. That tiny, pretty thing, the cause of the general indignation of the female sex, was lying on a fine rug in the middle of the hall. The prince sat on the throne and gazed sadly at the throng; he did not look at the legs, but only at the face, but he did not find what he was looking for. One of the last ones was Popelka.

"Adlina, please look, isn't that our sister Popelka over there?"

"You're right it is."

"What is she doing here? Come on, we'll go get her. Let her be happy! he leaves everything at home and comes here to the spectacle.'

They wanted to say more and fulfill the threats immediately; but the words remained in their mouths when they saw that Popelka was also approaching the carpet and putting on her slipper.

"Maybe it's her!" they all shouted in unison when they saw that Popelka slipped into the slipper like it was nothing.

The prince, who was thoughtful and didn't even notice the last scene, flew off the throne like a missile at that exclamation and approached Popelka to make sure that her slipper was just enough. Here she threw off her everyday dress and showed the other slipper.

"Is that you, my beauty?" wondered the prince. "Oh don't torment me any longer," he pleaded kneeling before her. "Hear my pleas, be my wife."

"Well, I want to be at your will," said Popelka, "if you are not ashamed to accept a filthy girl as your wife."

"Whoever you are, you shall be my wife."

Thereupon he placed her beside him on the throne, and declared her a princess. The two sisters did not burst out in anger. But she was not so angry and she was not ashamed of them, as they were of her. So she told everything to her groom and went to meet them. When they saw that the anger was worthless to them, they appeared in her eyes like angels, they would also get a little glory. The blessed prince arranged a splendid wedding, at which the bride shined like the brightest star. When the young couple were alone, Popelka confided in her husband the secret of the great wealth and begged him to go there with her. Obedient, the prince marveled at the beauty and splendor of those underground halls. For this they took what they both could gather, so that they loaded the wagon with ten times as much as the whole land was worth. They did this three times.

Kasala and Adlina, who were now constantly around the princess, had no idea how the sister had come to this. So they did everything in their power to see to it.

The princess, in all her kindness, thinking that their joy is sincerity, also confided about the treasure to them once. From that moment on, they had no place in the city, and they soon left for their castle. They just wanted to look into the secret treasure. So when they arrived home, their first job was to search for a door in the cellar; and they were lucky to find them. Since they didn't have the key, they had to force the door open. When they saw so much wealth, they remained as if in a daze, and began to take silver, gold and precious stones into aprons, pockets, and wherever they could. When they had enough, they would go upstairs and dump it out. However, it seemed to them that this was still not enough, so they went once more; but it was tyring for them. As they approached the dwers, two large black cats jumped on them, hung on their necks, and wherever they grabbed them, they scratched them with their sharp claws, until they both fell to the ground without each other. When they regained their senses, they crawled up from the cellar in immense pain. But what was their surprise when they looked at each other and saw that their smooth faces were permanently wrinkled and scratched! Then they remembered that they had left the jewels in the room, and hurried there. But instead of gold, silver, and precious stones, there was nothing but a pile of rocks. Those were huge blows! Beauty gone, riches gone! The hairs on their heads twitched whenever they thought about it, until finally they fell into a serious illness, from which they escaped only through the intervention of the young princess.

When they were healthy, all three went to the city to receive their parents. The poor people were already old and had to live by begging. What wonder that they almost went crazy with joy when such a noble lady came for them, in whom they recognized their daughter. She took them with her. Once again, Popelka and her husband went to the cellar to look, but could not find the door anywhere; everything was gone forever. Here she was surprised, and she couldn't even explain it, until one day the sisters confessed to her what they had done, and how the ghosts had punished them for their avarice. However, Popelka knew better for what fault they were punished. But the young couple did not feel sorry for it, and they had plenty of wealth. They lived contentedly and happily, they did good to their subjects, and the heavens blessed them for it.

[gingeroyalty]

Betty got educated at Chvalkovice castle. She knows how to do needlework, bake, cook, take care of children. She can also make five course meal.

BOŽENA 1x01 (2020), dir. Lenka Wimmerová

[normwerner]

How can any good come of this?

How can any good come of this?

You might be tempted to think or even say that in the midst of life’s calamities or misfortunes. Pastor Freed used this quote today to explain how that might work – “The soul is purified by misfortune and sorrow, as gold by fire.”  (Bozena Nemcova) But, how, you may ask, does misfortune and sorrow work to purify my soul and make me a better person? How is living through what we’ve experienced…