Once upon a time there lived a prince whose wife had died, leaving him with an only daughter, whom he loved so much that he saw everything through her eyes. The princess had a governess who taught her all kinds of needlework and other womanly accomplishments. Now this governess was always very affectionate toward the princess, more affectionate than words can express.

The prince married a second wife after awhile, and she was a bad-tempered woman, who disliked her lovely stepdaughter, treating her harshly, so much that the sorrowful princess complained to her governess, saying, "Oh God, I wish that you could have been my stepmother, you who love me!" So often did the princess say this that the teacher finally gave in to the temptings of the devil, and said to her, "If you will do everything I tell you, I will become your stepmother, and you will be as dear to me as are my own eyes."

She was just about to finish speaking, when the princess, whose name was Zezolla, interrupted her by saying, "I know well that you love me, so speak no more, only tell me what I must do to accomplish what we both wish. Write it down, and I will sign it." The teacher replied, "Listen well, and you shall have bread as white as snow. When your father goes hunting, tell your stepmother that you would like to wear some of the old clothes which are kept in the large storage chest, because you want to save your good clothes for special occasions. Your stepmother, who loves to see you poorly dressed, will say yes immediately, and will go and open the chest, and will say to you, ‘Hold up the lid.’ Then you come and hold it up, and when she leans into the chest to search for clothes, let the lid fall on her and break her neck.. You know your father will do anything to please you, so after a time, plead with him to marry me, and then you will be happy and fortunate, because I will be your stepmother."

When Zezolla heard this, she could hardly wait until she could carry out her governess’s plans. After a time she did as her teacher had directed, and when the mourning for her stepmother had passed, she began to speak to her father, saying that she would be so happy if he would wed the governess. At first the prince wouldn’t hear of doing it, but his daughter kept after him, till finally he gave in and married the governess, whose name was Carmosina. While the wedding feast was going on, Zezolla was looking out one of the palace windows. A dove flew around the window and finally setted on the sill, where it spoke to her in a human voice, "When you have need, send for the dove of the Sardinian fairies, and you will have your wish."

For a few days after the wedding the new stepmother was very affectionate toward Zezolla, putting her in the best place at the table, and feeding her the choicest food, dressing her in the finest clothes, but then she forgot what Zezolla had done to gain her her position, and even produced six daughters of her own whom she had kept a secret before. She was so clever with her new husband that she induced him to favor her own six daughters over his own child, so that gradually he lost all affection for and interest in Zezolla. Zezolla was sent from the family rooms to the kitchen and put in coarse clothes, and set to watch the spit turn in the fireplace. Everyone ceased calling her Zezolla, and began to call her Cenerentola, the Cinder-girl.

One day her father had to go on affairs of state to the island of Sardinia, but before he left he asked each one of his daughters what they would like for him to bring them. One asked for jewels, one for fine clothes, one for cosmetics, one for toys, one fruit, and one flowers. Finally he contemptuously asked Cenerentola if she wanted him to bring her anything. She answered, "I want nothing, but please greet for me the dove of the fairies, asking her to tell them to send me something. And if you should forget to do what I ask, may you not be able to move forward or backward from your place."

The prince journeyed to Sardinia, concluded his affairs, bought all the presents for his stepdaughters, but completely forgot what Cenerentola had asked for. He got on his ship to return, but try as the sailors might, the ship would not move either backward or forward; it seemed somehow fixed to its mooring. The ship’s captain was in despair. In the evening he was so tired he went to sleep, and in a dream he saw a fairy, who said, "Do you know why your ship will not move? It is because the prince you have on board has not kept his promise to his daughter. He remembered all his stepdaughters, but he forgot his own flesh and blood."

The captain awoke and told his dream to the prince, who admitted his fault at once, and set out for the fairies’ grotto. When he arrived he sent greetings from his daughter, and begged that they would send her something. Out of the grotto came a beautiful young woman, who told him that she thanked his daughter for her greeting, and that he should take her these gifts from the fairies: a date tree, a little spade, a golden bucket, and a silk napkin. She advised that his daughter should plant the tree and use the other gifts to cultivate it. The prince was astonished at the present, but he said farewell to the fairy, and took the ship home to his own country. When he arrived he gave his stepdaughters their gifts, and then gave to Cenerentola her gifts from the fairy. She took them joyfully, and transplanted the tree, watered it, cultivated it, and dried it with the napkin. In four days the tree grew to the height of a woman, and one morning the fairy herself came out of it, asking, "What do you wish?"

The princess answered, "I would like to go out of the house when I wish, but I don’t want my stepsisters to know about it." The fairy replied, "Each time you want to go out and enjoy yourself, come to the date tree and say,

My tall golden date tree

With a golden spade I cultivated you,

With a golden bucket I watered you,

With a silk napkin I dried you,

Undress yourself and clothe me.

And when you wish to undress, change the last line, and say, "Undress me and clothe yourself."

Now it happened that a great festival was held by the king of that country, and the governess’s daughters went to it in beautiful clothes and jewellry, in ribbons and expensive shoes, with real flowers in their hair and on their dresses, wearing fine perfumes. As soon as they left, Cenerentola ran to the date tree, and said the verse, and all at once there she was dressed in clothes fit for a queen, on a splendid horse, followed by twelve little pages. She went to the festival, but she was so grand that her stepsisters did not know her, and they were green with envy. The king came to the festival also, and he took one look at Cenerentola and fell madly in love with her. He instructed one of his trusted servants to find out who this lovely woman was and where she was from. The servant followed the princess when she left, but she noticed him, and threw a handful of golden coins on the ground, which the fairy had given her. When the man bent down to pick up the coins, she ran into the house and undressed herself as the fairy had told her to.

When her nasty stepsisters arrived home, they praised the festival to the skies, and told Cenerentola all the things they had seen and done, just to hurt her feelings. In the meantime, the king’s servant had returned to him and told him how he had been distracted by the coins and had lost sight of the lovely lady. The king was very angry, and said that the servant’s greed had lost him his heart’s desire, but that he would forgive him if only he would make sure to follow her closely the next time and find out who she was.

On the next day of the feast the stepsisters attended again all dressed in their finest clothes, and left Cenerentola turning the dirty spit. As soon as they left, she ran to her date tree, said the verse, and immediately a number of fairy maidens come forth, one with a mirror, one with a curling iron, one with a comb, one with hair pins, one with lovely clothes, one with a fine necklace, and one with flowers, and they dressed her like a bride, and placed her in a carriage with six horses, and footmen, and servants, and pages in beautiful uniforms. She arrived at the same place as before, and her stepsisters were ready to die with envy, and the king’s heart was even more full of love and desire for her.

When she departed, the same servant followed her as before, and this time she threw at him a handful of gems and precious stones, so that he could not withstand the temptation to pick them up; they were simply too valuable. Cenerentola thus had time to reach her home and undress as usual. The servant returned sorrowfully to the king, who cursed him and shouted, "By my ancestors’ bones, if you don’t find that beautiful lady I’ll give you more kicks on your ass than you have hairs in your beard!"

Well, the third day of the festival came, and when the stepsisters departed, Cenerentola went to the date tree, and said the charmed verse, and she was immediately clothed like the sun, and seated in a golden carriage, and followed by many servants and pages. Her stepsisters were wild with envy at the sight of her, but this time when she departed, the servant stuck by her so that she could not get rid of him. The princess, seeing him always close behind her, called out to the coachman to hurry, and the horses raced so fast that she was thrown about, and one of her slippers flew out of the carriage.

The servant, who was unable to keep up with the speeding carriage, picked up the slipper and returned with it to the king, and told him all that had happened. The king took the slipper, and said, "If the foundation is this beautiful, what must the house be like? He held the slipper to his bosom and exclaimed over it further, calling it the ‘candlestick which held his consuming flame,’ and other such endearments. Finally he called to his secretary and commanded him to publish an invitation to all the women in the country to come to a banquet given by the king.

And when the day came, heavens what a banquet it was, what amusements, what happiness, what food: pastries and pies, roasts and mincemeats, macaroni and ravioli, enough for an army! All the women came, aristocrats and peasants, rich and poor, young and old, married and unmarried, beautiful and plain, and the king, dressed in splendid garments, tried the slipper on the foot of each, hoping to find his beautiful maiden, but it fit none of them, and he was ready to despair. Finally he called for complete silence, and he said, "Return tomorrow, and leave not a single female in any house, but make sure all come to the banquet." The prince, Cenerentola’s father, spoke up, and said, "I have a daughter who is a dirty turn-spit, but she is not worth anyone’s notice and should not disgrace your table." The king said, "Let this kitchen maiden approach me first tomorrow. This is my command."

The next day everyone came to the banquet again, and this time Cenerentola was among the prince’s daughters as had been commanded. The prince recognized her immediately, even without her fairy clothes, but he pretended not to. This banquet was even more lavish than the first, and when everyone was full, the king began to try the slipper on the ladies again. But no sooner did he approach Cenerentola than the slipper leaped onto her foot like steel to a magnet, and the king put his arms around her, and led her to the throne, putting a crown on her head and ordering everyone to do homage to her as to their queen. The stepsisters, when they saw this, were ready to burst with envy and humiliation. They couldn’t bear to look any more, so they left the banquet quietly and went back to their home, saying, "It is folly to interfere with what is in the stars."