The second sister chops off a part of her own heel in order to fit the shoe. The theory is that the daughters will not have to work if they become Queen. Even though the path they take to get there is paved with lies and deceit, they will never have a need to walk again. So sacrificing a part of themselves now, or their well-being, is acceptable because of what they may get in return, a cozy life as queen of the land, in which they will no longer even need to walk. In America today you can see this mentality in many facets of our society.
Many small businessman start their companies on very shaky grounds.
They make personal sacrifices by putting their entire expense account onto their personal credit cards. They take out loans from banks, and as many friends as they can get to give them the money they need. This may not seem like such a problem, however there is no guarantee that they will succeed in their ventures. Many of them will fail, and be permanently damaged by their sacrifices. This is not unlike the story in many ways.