Sturgis advertiser. (Sturgis, Dakota [S.D.]) 1887-1???, 1891-05-14
CINDER ELLA.
Egyptian Version OF the Dear ola Fairy
Tale.
fTOnflou graphiC.l

Tale.
@ (London Graphic.)
We may find sermons ia stones, but who
would look for fairy tales In q sand heap
Nevertheless, In the lost tomb Of the last
king Of the twenty sixth dynasty Hes buried
the original story Of Cinderella and her slip
per.
There IS, indeed, only one variation Of
any consequence between the two versions,
and the ancient one Is certainly the more rO-
mantle. CinderslIa's princely admire. finds
In her lost shoe q clew to his vanished on
chantress, but King Psammetichus falls over
head and ears In love with he knows not
whom, from only seeing her sandal.
The ancient Cinderella was beautiful
Greek. sapphe calls her Doricha, and that
was most likely her proper name, but the
creek people, with whom fairness OF skin
was one of the highest qualities of female
beauty, named her from the loneliness of
her complexion, Rhodepis,D Rosy Cheeks,
and as Rosy Cheeks she is known In history.
She is mentioned by several writers, but
the slipper story rests upon the authority of
Aellan. He relates 1t as having occurred
to Psammetichus.
There were three king Of the name, and
he probably meant the third Psametik III.
Of the scriptures), the last of the dynasty of
posed by Cambyses the Persian.
Rhodopis was originally slave ara
acknowledgements OF Aes0p, the writer Of
fables, in the house of Cadmon of Samos,
and, like the heorine of the modern tale, q
mental and drudge, SO the parallel holds
good from the beginning Like Cinderella,
too, she had fairy godmother, but more
powerful and lavish one, and her name was
Aphrodite.
This patrunness procured her liberty, and
heaped upon her riches; and Rhodopis, to
make her name immortal by an Offering
such as had never been made before, dedi-
Gated with tenth part of her property
quantity of iron splits in the Temple Of
Apollo at Delphi, and this extraordinary gift
was still to be seen there In Herodotus'
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 be,
| II Rhodopis was not so simple as our own
| Cinderella, she was, at all events, more
lucky and If her coachman and horses and
chafiots were really rats and mice and
pumpkins, they never resumed their proper
shape; and no disseminating clock sent her
| hurrying back to her scallery, one shoe off
and one shoe on. Midnight never struck
| for her, and she lost her shoe In quite
| another way.
At the time speak Of she was said to be
the most beautiful woman In Egypt, and
| she lived at Naucratis, resort ON the
| Canopic branch of the Nile, founded In the
| preceding reign by colonists from Miletus;
| and, though born Greek, living I'm Greek
| city, it pleased her now and then to play
| an Egyptian, and to adopt the manners and
/ fashions Of her new country. And SO 1t 1t
| came about that one morning, before the
| sun was yet high, she went down just as
/ did Pharaoh's daughter, with her maidens
to battle in the Nile.
| At short distance from the bank she left
| her litter and sought q secluded creek
| where, screened In by the feathering papy-
rus. she would be undisturbed and unseen
| from the busy river, and there her girls un-
| made her toilet. Now the banks of the
] Father of Rivers are hard In places-a mix
ture OF sand and clay baked BY the scorch-
| Rhodopis did not quit her sandals until the
moment when she stepped down into the
stfll, cool water, herself as white and rosy
| as the IotuSeS around her.
There half wading and half swimming,
| she played and frolicked, happy Ia the pure
JOY of living like the butterflies that hut-
fuls of lotuses and threw them away again
! and then, in a lazy fit, she fioated on her
back and gave herself up to thoughts on
things in general and on herself In particu-
lar. But to return to her sandals which
4 she had kicked of on the rivers brink. They
lay as she had left them, a pair of dainty
shoes, fit for such dainty feet. They were
embroidered In gold and brilliant colors
with quaint pattern, and with the ever
| present lotus, and, most curious of all, the
upper surface of the sole on which her foot
| rested bore the figure of captive with
bound arms, on one sandal aa Egyptian, on
the other Gieek-a fanciful way of sug-
costing the domination of their owner over
the hearts OF two nations.
Now 1t CHANGED that lust 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
bird Of cultivated taste, know not, but
straightway he swooped and seized one.
Rhodopis, reused from her reverie by the
as it flew off and, frightened, set to scream.
| Ing and then ducked. By the time she had
recovered herself and taken in what had
happened, the eagle and her sandal were In
OF course, directly 1t was over, her girls
VINO had been busy telling one another Sc
crets, began in their alarm to hide every.
thing away in a place of safety, as If they
expected whole phalanx of eagles were
coming to carry off their mistress clothes
Ana no doubt they had some reason fol
riety of little ways of producing sympathy
In their slaves when things went wrong,
ana RhOdOpiS, sweet as she was to look al
was like the rest. But, after all, 1t was moi
very serious matter, for Rosy Cheeks had
cupboards full of sandals at home, and be-
SIDES, her litter was only round the corner
so, after her first establishment and frigh,
were over. she thought little more about III
NOW this event was in reality the turn
ing-point of her life, for what did thi
mysterious bird do but fly straight ava,
with Its prey, over the Delta, far up th
long river to Memphis, and there, as
his mission ended, he dropped the sanda
before the judgment seat of King Psammeti
| chus.
The king was sitting in the open air
close bd to the city Eate dispensing justice
the imaginations CT plaintiff and defendan
equally inventive and iinexhaustible, 81
PSammetichuS was bOred-his thoughts wan
dered far away. and he fell to building cas-
ties in the air Now no Oriental could evel
mistress. so he pleased himself by imag
lining for his ideal palace an ideal beauty
He pictured her with the eyes of the ga
zelle. the voice of the nightingale, Thu
litheness OF the panther. the tread of
goddess. and as his thoughts dwelt still
ground they rested on. the sandal fell from
heaven plump at his royal feet. Astonshet
out of all dignity, he jumped up, stared III
into the sky and down at the slipper, ant
then stopped and picked It up-fOr no ON,
had dared to touch it. Was it q goddess
earthly one. with the print OF i've littl,
earthly toes he had lust been dreaming OF
Then OF sudden 1t became plain to him
1T was an answer from the gods to TIL
wishes he had Just been indulging in--h,
had planned a castle. here was mstres
for It. e Let search be made.D Dried he
for her who owns this sandal. and b,
these signs shall you know her: WhOSOeve