A rich man’s wife fell ill. Before she died, she told her daughter, "Always be good, and I will watch over you from heaven." The girl visited her mother's grave every day and remained kind and gentle.
A year later, the father married another woman. She had two daughters who were pretty but mean and cruel. They took away the girl’s nice clothes and made her work in the kitchen. She had to sleep in the ashes by the fire, so she was always dusty. They called her "Ashputtel."
One day, the father went to the market. He brought back fine clothes for the step-sisters. But Ashputtel only asked for a hazel twig. she planted the twig on her mother’s grave and watered it with her tears. It grew into a beautiful tree. A little white bird lived in the tree and gave Ashputtel whatever she wished for.
The King decided to hold a three-day feast so his son could choose a bride. The sisters were invited, but the step-mother told Ashputtel she could only go if she picked a bowl of peas out of the ashes in two hours. Ashputtel called to the birds: "Help me, quick! Pick, pick, pick!"
Hundreds of birds came and finished the job in minutes. But the step-mother still said "No." She threw more peas in the ashes, but the birds helped again. Still, the step-mother refused to take her. "You have no clothes and you cannot dance," she said, and she left with her own daughters.
Ashputtel went to the hazel tree and cried:
"Shake, shake, hazel-tree,
Gold and silver over me!"
The bird brought her a dress of gold and silver and silk slippers. At the ball, she was so beautiful that no one recognized her. The Prince danced only with her. When she wanted to go home, she slipped away and hid in a pigeon-house. The next night, she did the same but hid in a pear tree.
On the third night, she wore a dress more beautiful than the others and golden slippers. As she ran away, she lost her left slipper on the stairs. The Prince took the shoe and said, "I will marry the woman whose foot fits this golden shoe."
The eldest sister tried the shoe. Her toe was too big, so her mother gave her a knife. "Cut your toe off," she said. "When you are Queen, you won't need to walk." The girl did it, and the Prince took her on his horse. But as they passed the hazel tree, the birds sang:
"Look at the shoe! There’s blood inside!
She is not the real bride!"
The Prince saw the blood and took her back. The second sister tried the shoe, but her heel was too big. She cut off a piece of her heel, but the birds sang the same warning.
Finally, the Prince asked, "Do you have another daughter?"
The father said, "Only a dirty girl called Ashputtel."
When Ashputtel put on the slipper, it fitted perfectly. The Prince looked at her face and recognized her. "This is the true bride!" he cried. They got married and lived happily, while the kind birds stayed on Ashputtel’s shoulders to protect her forever.