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Once there was a kind gentleman who lost his wife. After years of raising his only beloved daughter alone, he decided to remarry. His new wife had two bossy and proud daughters of her own. They all lived together in a small cottage. One day, the new wife began to show her own bossiness by telling the man's beloved daughter what to do. She gave her the meanest work of the house and the coldest room to sleep in.
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The man's daughter worked and worked and the mean step sisters called her Cinderella. They called for her to help them with even the silliest of things like pulling up their socks and brushing their teeth! The kind sister Cinderella did as she was told for she had no other choice. Until one day...
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The king's son, the prince, decided to throw a fancy ball and invited every lady of the land to come. The step sisters were delighted and asked Cinderella to help them pick out the fanciest dresses and the most expensive jewels to wear. "Too bad for you, Cinderella, you will have way too much work to do the night of the ball! It seems you will not be able to join us!" The sisters laughed and Cinderella ran to the garden and cried.
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Off in the distance a magical woman appeared. It was Cinderella's fairy god-mother. "What on earth is the matter, dear one?" the fairy god mother asked. "I wish I could - I wish I could -" Cinderella was not able to speak from all the tears and sobbing. "Oh, you wish you could go to the ball. Is that so?" asked the god-mother. "Yes!" cried Cinderella with a great sigh.
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"Well," said her god-mother, "since you are such a sweet and kind girl, you deserve to go most of all!" She pulled out a magical wand and asked kindly, "Can you find me a pumpkin in this garden?" "Why of course," replied Cinderella and she ran to fetch one right away. Her godmother took her wand to the pumpkin and "poof," she magically turned it into a beautiful carriage to carry Cinderella to the ball.
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"Can you find me six mice and one plump rat?" inquired the godmother. "I'll look and see!" said Cinderella excited. Sure enough there were all the mice and the one big rat waiting for a magical change! When Cinderella brought them to her godmother, she placed her wand upon each one and turned the mice into brilliant white horses and the rat into a handsome coachman.
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"Well, now we have everything we need to go to the ball. Are you happy?" "Why yes!" exclaimed Cinderella. "But can I go in these old rag clothes?" "Of course not," said the godmother, and she touched her magic wand to Cinderella's clothes. Her old dress was turned into cloth of gold and silver and her dirty shoes became the most beautiful glass slippers she had ever seen!
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Cinderella was ready for the ball and climbed into the carriage. Before she left, the godmother had one more thing to say, "Do not stay at the ball too long. If you wait to come back until after midnight, all of the beautiful things will return as they were before, and you will be left at the ball in all your old rags." Cinderella promised her godmother she would return before midnight and she headed quickly to the palace.
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The king's son was told that a great princess, that no one knew, had arrived and he ran out to meet her. He gave her his hand and he led her into the hall. A silence came over the crowd as they entered. The king himself could not believe how beautiful she was! The prince asked for the first dance to be with her and she gladly accepted.
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Cinderella's sisters saw her but did not recognize her in all her beauty. She danced and danced with the prince, and then all of a sudden the clock struck eleven and three quarters. She immediately made a last curtsy to the prince and his company and then ran away as fast as she could. The prince was surprised and ran after her calling, "Princess, princess wait! Wait!" As she ran down the steps to her carriage she lost one of her glass slippers, but she had no time to fetch it back.
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The prince kept the glass slipper and was determined to find the beautiful princess the next day. He made an announcement to all of the people that he would look for the woman whose foot fit into the slipper perfectly. In the morning he sent out his best advisers to find her. He reminded them to check in all houses and in all businesses.
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The men set out to look for the woman whose foot fit the slipper. Meanwhile, the mean and bossy step sisters had Cinderella helping them to look their best for the prince's men. They had her dress them and brush their teeth as usual, but Cinderella said nothing about the slipper. When the prince's advisers came to Cinderella's house the step sisters answered the door.
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The men offered to try the slipper on their feet but no matter how they tried to squeeze and push the slipper did not fit. The men asked if any other woman lived in the house and the sisters replied, "Only our wretched sister, and she wasn't even at the ball!" "Bring her here!" exclaimed the men. So Cinderella sat and offered her beautiful foot. Sure enough her foot fit perfectly into the slipper!
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When the men realized that she was the missing princess they were relieved. They offered to bring her to the palace where the prince would be waiting for her. She accepted the offer with joy! When she arrived at the palace, she reunited with the prince. They were married and princess Cinderella, who showed her beauty and kindness in many ways, gave her two step sisters rooms in her palace and that very same day matched them with two great lords of the court.
