cinderella
There are many different versions of the Cinderella tale, but in all of them, there is a prince who takes the Cinderella away with him, and they live happily forever. “Aschenputtel” is a German folktale written by the Grimm brothers, and “Yeh-Shen” is the Chinese version written by Ai-Ling Louie. They are both stories about two young beautiful maidens who are treated badly by their stepmother and stepsisters. The story’s message is to teach people that goodness is always rewarded in the end. In the stories “Aschenputtel” and “Yeh-Shen” both share the same sad background. They both lost their mother when they were young, leave them to been raised by their evil stepmothers. As the two beautiful young maidens grow older, their stepmothers become more jealous with their beauty and grace so they are force to do hard chores. They are not allowed to go to the festival, but they have help and support from their Magical animal friends. At the end of the festival they both lose a golden slipper and later married royalty. They both have help from their special magical friends, Yeh-Shen friends were her fish and its bone, and Aschenputtel friends are doves and a magical hazel twig. Without their friends’ help they may not got to the festival. Just as Aschenputtel maintained her dream of going to the prince’s ball, Yeh-Shen also had her dream to go to the Spring Festival, where young women met their husbands. There are many differences between these two Cinderella folktales. Aschenputtel gets wishes from the tree and doves while Yeh-shen gets wishes from her only best friend, a fish which ended up being cooked by her evil stepmother. Aschenputtel marries a prince while Yeh-shen marries a king. Aschenputel lives in a normal, regular house while Yeh-shen lives in a cave. In the no, Achenputtel sees her stepmother and stepsisters’ eyes being plucked out by doves while Yeh-shen her stepmother and stepsister are stoned to death.
The German verison Aschenputtel and the Chinese
The German verison Aschenputtel and the Chinese