od and there died.

165

"Cinderella" is one of the world's greatest
romantic stories. Its theme is a favorite in
all folk literature. Young and old alike have
never tired of hearing of the victories won by
the deserving in the face of all sorts of
obstacles. Perrault in his verse moral observes
that "while beauty is a rare treasure for a
woman, yet a winning manner, or personality, is
worth even more." Still further, as if
conscious of the part influence plays in the
world, he says that "while it is doubtless a
great advantage to have wit and courage,
breeding and good sense, and other such natural
endowments, still they will be of no earthly
use for our advancement unless we have, to
bring them into play, either godfathers or
godmothers." One should not, however, take too
seriously any moralizing over a fairy story
whether by Perrault or another.

In one of the most thorough studies of a single
folk tale, Miss Roalfe Cox's _Cinderella_, with
an introduction by Andrew Lang, some three
hundred and fifty variants of the story have
been analyzed. The thing that marks a
Cinderella story is the presence in it of the
"slipper test." The finest versions are those
by Perrault and the Grimms, and they are almost
equally favorites with children. The Perrault
form as found in the old English translation is
given here for reasons stated by Ralston in his
study of the Cinderella type: "But Perrault's
rendering of the tale naturalised it in the
polite world, gave it for cultured circles an
attraction which it is never likely to lose. . . .
It is with human more than with mythological
interest that the story is replete, and
therefore it appeals to human hearts with a
force which no lapse of time can diminish. Such
supernatural machinery as is introduced,
moreover, has a charm for children which older
versions of the tale do not possess. The
pumpkin carriage, the rat coachman, the lizard
lacqueys, and all the other properties of the
transformation scene, appeal at once to the
imagination and the sense of humor of every
beholder." (_Nineteenth Century_, Nove