Once
upon a time, yes we are having another one of those stories. Why? Because
that’s how they always start and it is just a way of telling you that you are
about to hear a story, so that you settle down and listen.
Once
upon a time there was a castle in the middle of a big town where Lord and Lady Avarici
lived with their family. They had three daughters, Isabella, Coronella and
Cinderella. So you think now you’ve heard the names that you know the story?
Well, maybe so, but you’re probably wrong so keep listening.
The
three sisters were all of marriageable age, which in the case of this type of
story means anything over about twelve, but Isabella and Coronella were twins
and they were a year older than Cinderella. That meant that the two older girls
were expected to share everything and dress alike but she had lots of new
clothes and shoes and jewellery all to herself.
Cinderella was also naturally blonde and rather pretty, which she was
quite fond of pointing out to people.
Like
everyone who gets things without much effort, Cinderella really did not
appreciate what her clothes and finery were worth and she spent a lot of time
in the castle kitchens sitting around the fireplace and filthy as well as getting
in the way of the staff who all hated her. The exception was a page boy who
fancied himself and thought if he sucked up to the boss’s daughter he might
make a bit of money out of it.
Well,
one day lady Avarici heard that there was going to be a huge party and the
Prince was going to be invited. Of course she needed her daughters to meet some
eligible bachelors if she was ever going to get them married off. She bought
them all lovely new clothes with matching outfits for the twins but
Cinderella insisted on something much more elegant and expensive.
On
the day of the ball Cinderella was hogging the bathroom when there was a
“whoosh” and a very strange woman appeared in the twins’ bedroom. She wore
ragged, black clothes and was the hairiest person the girls had ever seen. She
even had a beard!
“Who
are you?” the twins asked, together, and the woman said: “I’m your Furry
Godmother, of course!”
“Erm,
shouldn’t you be more sort of, sparkly and wearing posher clothes?” said
Coronella.
“That’s
PR for you. It’s all image these days isn’t it? Well no, I’m a real magic
worker and real magic isn’t pretty and twinkly, it’s hard-working and
practical. I am here to grant you each a wish, so what do you want?”
The
twins asked for five minutes to think it over. They huddled in a corner and
compared notes then came back and announced: ”We would like to meet two nice
young men tonight who will love us and make us good husbands.”
“Sounds
simple enough,” the Godmother said and waved her stick over their heads.
Nothing happened and the girls thought perhaps it was some sort of joke that
Cinderella had arranged but they were polite and said thank you and the
Godmother went away.
Later,
at the party, Cinderella shone and caught the eye of the Prince who danced with
her all evening and ended up asking her to marry him and she accepted without a
moment’s thought.
The
twins, however, spent a lot of time talking to two young lords from a
neighbouring city, who were also twins and would one day share their parents’
wealth. They were not particularly handsome but they were kind and funny and
fell instantly in love with the girls.
And
so the twins got their wish. Within a year they were both married and living in
a very large castle in the nearby town and they lived contentedly ever after
with husbands who loved them and cherished them and believed them both to be
beautiful.
Cinderella
got her Prince and went off to live in the Palace in the capital city but it
was a cold place and the Prince’s grandfather had gambled away much of the
family wealth so there was no money to improve it.
And
what did the Prince get? He married a beautiful but spoiled child who became
very bitter when she realised he could not afford to buy her fine clothes and
shoes and jewellery. And when she became
bitter she was rather ugly. So the Prince took up with the page boy, who,
against all the odds, loved him for what he was and not what he owned.
17/3/2011
(I assume there's a Once Upon a Time 1, somewhere!) - July 2015
