The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-01-25
CINDERELLA IN EGYPT.

last i:ing Of the twenty-siXll<dynassy,
ties buried the originaistory Of Cinder.
ella and her slipper.
49,. There, lc>,>indeed, only one variation OF
anT~oGnseguence between the two YER
sjons. and The ancient one is certainly the
more romantic. Cinderclla's princely adj
mirer finds in her lost shoe ciew to his
vanished enchantress, but King Psam-
mcticlus falls over head and ears in love
with &c knows not whom from only see
iLg her sandal.
The ancient Cinderella was beautiful
Greek, SqppAo calls her Doricha, and that
was most likely her proper name, bnt the
Greek people, with whom fairness OF SKIN
wae one OF the highest qualities OF female
beauty. named her frola the loneliness Of
her complexion, Rhodopis, Rosy Cheeks,
and as Rosy Cheeks She IS known in his
tory.
She is mentioned by several writers, but
tho slipper story rests on the authority of
lEHan lie Ichtes it as having occurred
10 psammctlcms.
There were thrcs kings of the name,
aud he probably meant the third Psametik
III % the Sculptures, the last of the
dynasty Of the Saite kings, who was COLI
qucred and doposed by Cambyses The
Persian.
Hhodopis was originally slave and
fellow bondswoman of Esop, the writer
OF fables, in the house of Iadmon of
Saruos; end, like the heroine Of the modern
tale. q mental and a drudge, so the par
al,el holds good from the beginning Like
Cinderella, too she had fairy Sodmother,
but more powerful and lavish one, and
he name was Aphrodlte.
iais patroness procured her liberty and
heaped upon her richess; and Rhodopis,
To make her name immortal by an offer
in such as had never been made before,
dedicated with tenth part OF her prop
ertya quantity Of iron spits in the Temple
Of Apollo at Delphi and this extraordi
nnry aiit was still TO be seen there III
Hegodotus' time
Some also say that she built one Of the
Pyramids of Egypt; but, as Herodotus re-
marks, those who say so evidently know
nothing about IT, and however this may
bc ii Rhodopis was not so simple as our
own Cinderella, she was, ut all events,
mo.c lucky. and if her eoachman, and
horses, aud chariots were really rats, and
mice, and pumpkins, they never resumed
their proper shape; and no disenchanting
clock sent her hurrying back to her soul
lery, one shoe OF and one shoe on. Mid
night never struck for her, and she losl
her shoe i'll quite another way.
At the time ! speak of she was said TO
be the most beautiful woman in Egypt,
and she lived at Naucratis, port on the
Canopic branch OF the Nile founded in
the preceding reign by colonsts from
Miletus; and though born Greek, living
in Greek city, it pleased her now and
then to play the Egyptian, and to adopt
tho manners and fashions Of her new
country. And so it came about that one
morning, before the sun was yet high, she
went down, just as did Pharaoh's daugh-
ter, with her maidens to battle in the
Nile.
At short distance from the bank she
LEFT her litter, and sought secluded
creek, where, screened in by the feather
ing papyrus, she would be undisturbed
and unseen from the busy river, and there
her girls unmade her toilet Now the
banks Of the father Of rivers are hard in
places-a mixture Of sand and clay baked
by the scorching sun, and rough to
delicate feet. So f;hodopis did not quit her
sandals until the moment when she
stepped down into the still, cool water,
herself as white and rosy as the lotuses
around her
There, half wading and half swimming
she played and frolicked, happy in the
pure los Of living, like the gay butterflies
that nuttered about the rushes. She
gathered handfuls of lotuses, and threw
them away again; and then, in lazy lit,
T. 4 al,
up 10 thoughts on things In general, and
on herself in particular. But to return
TO her sandals, which she had kicked OF
on the rivers brink. They lay as she
had left them, pair Of dainty shoes lit
for such dainty feet They were en-
broidcred in gold and brilliant colors with
a quaint pattern, and with the ever
present lotus, and most curious OF all,
the upper surface Of the sole, on which |
her zoo; rested, bore the figure of cap
tive with bound arms, on one sandal an |
Egyptian, on the other a Greek-a fan |
ciful way Of suggesting the dominion Of |
their owner over the hearts of two ma
tons
Now ii CHANGED that just above, sailing |
round in his vast circle, mere speck in |
the dancing blue sky, was an eagle, and |
as the sandals glittered by the waters |
edge they caught his eye. Now, whether
be thought they were good TO eat or |
whether he was bird Of cultivated taste, |
know not, but straightway he swooped |
and seized one.
Rhodopis, reused from her reverie by |
the rush Of wings, caught sight Of the |
great bird as IL flew Off and, frightened, |
scf IN screnu1inv and then ducked By |
the time she had recovered herself and
taken in what had happened the eagle and |
her sandal were in the next parish.
OF course, directly 1t was an over, her
girls, who had been busy telling one
another secrets, began in their alarm to
hide everything away in place Of safety,
~ u they expected whole phalanx Of