Yeh Xian and the Golden Fish - A Chinese Cinderella
Wu had two wives. Each of the wives had a daughter. The first daughter was called Yeh Xian. She was sweet, kind, helpful and very talented.talented. The other daughter, Jun Li, was very selfish,selfish, mean and jealous.jealous. One day Yeh Xian’s father and mother died.
She lived with her stepmother and half-sister. They treated her like a slave. She had to clean the house, wash the clothes and cook food for them. One day she saw a beautiful golden fish. The fish was really a guardianian spiritspirit left by her mother.
One day Jun Li followed Yeh Xian. She saw Yeh Xian talking to a big golden fish. She told her mother of what had happened and her mother said, “Go to her closetcloset and wear her raggyraggy dress and go and catch the fish. It will think that you are Yeh Xian.” Jun Li did what her mother told her to do and caught the fish. They cooked the fish and ate it for dinner.
Yeh Xian was really sad. She was walking in the garden and she saw a man spirit who told her to put the left-over bones into four pots and put them under her bed in the cornerscorners so her wishes could be granted.
The next day an invitationinvitation arrived.arrived. It was to the New Year festivalfestival when girls could meet their futurefuture husbands. Yeh Xian said to herself, “I can’t go because I don’t have any nice clothes.” Suddenly a beautiful sea green silk dress and an unusual feather cloak appearedappeared in front of her, alongsidealongside a tiny pair of slippers.
Yeh Xian put on her dress and went to the ball. The prince thought she was a beautiful princess when he was dancing with her. Suddenly she saw her sister and ran down the steps quickly in case she recognisedrecognised her. She accidentallyaccidentally dropped one of her golden slippers. When she got home the fish bones were really angry because they had told her to bring all the clothes back.
Yeh Xian was really sad so she went to the garden and slept there. The prince wanted to find the person that had small feet to fit in the tiny golden slipper. He displayeddisplayed the slipper in the palace. Lots of girls went to try the shoe on but the slipper kept being too small to fit. Yeh Xian went to get her golden slipper back but the prince saw her and thought she was a thief. She told him about her story and he asked her to marry him. They lived happily ever after.
Retold by Amy
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