cinderfella

In one kingdom there lived a rich and noble man who had a beautiful wife and a wonderful son. But one day trouble came to his house, and his wife died. After a while, the widower remarried, only his new wife turned out to be an arrogant and grumpy woman. She had two sons from her first marriage, "resembling a mother in everything - the same arrogant wicked ones."

The stepmother immediately disliked the good boy, because next to him her sons seemed more disgusting. To make the boy's life unbearable, the evil stepmother put all the hard work on him.

The boy slept "in the attic, under the   roof, on a thin bedding," while her half-brothers basked on downy featherbeds in luxurious rooms. He did not dare to complain about his life to his father, who obeyed his new wife in everything.

By the end of the day, having redone all the work in the house, the boy was tired and sat on the floor near the hearth, right in the ashes, which is why they began to call him sinderfella . However, even in a soiled suit, he was much nicer than his brothers.

One day the news spread around the kingdom - the princess decided to arrange a magnificent ball and invite all the noble people to it. The sinderfella brothers also received an invitation, and they were incredibly happy about this. They began to choose outfits, and sinderfella only had to "iron trousers and starch shirts for the brothers."

When the long-awaited day came and the family drove off in a carriage to the palace, Cinderfella wept bitterly. His aunt, a kind sorceress, approached him and offered to help. She asked cinderfella to bring a pumpkin, which she immediately turned "into a gilded carriage." Touching the mice in the mousetrap with a magic wand, she turned them into wonderful horses. A large mustachioed rat became a coachman, and nimble lizards became servants in beautiful liveries.

Auntie conjured for cinderfella an "outfit of black trousers and a silver shirt" and gave her a pair of crystal slippers. Strictly, she ordered the happy boy to return home no later than midnight, otherwise all the magic will disappear: the carriage "will again become a pumpkin, horses will turn into mice, servants into lizards, and a beautiful outfit into old things."

In the middle of the ball, the princess was informed that some unknown prince had arrived at the celebration.