Crow Cloak - the Swedish Cinderella
Once upon a time there lived an orphan girl called Crow Cloak who was a servantservant on a farm. She was treated more like a slave by the farmer's family members. Crow Cloak had to do the most horriblehorrible jobs around the house. She had to sit and sleep in the ashesashes of the hearth (harth). All the farmer's family went off to church every Sunday but Crow Cloak had to stay at the farm. She was wishing that her parents were still alive.
There were rumoursrumours that a foreign (forrin) prince was coming to their church. All the local girls were terribleterribly excited and wanted to be his new princess. The farmer's wife was hoping that her daughter would be the chosen one. Crow Cloak was sad because she had to do jobs around the house and knew that she couldn't attend.attend.
One day that bad luck changed. There was a mountainmountain troll that was willing to comfortcomfort her. The day that the prince came to the church the troll gave her a beautiful white dress so she could go meet the prince and not look like a joke. Everyone was looking at her with amazement.amazement. Suddenly she realisedrealised that she had to go and said a quote: White before me, black behind, nobody shall see whitherwhither I go, and she ran out of the church and disappeared.disappeared. When the farmer's family came home they found her in her usualusual place in the hearth. All they could talk about was how beautiful the mysterymysterious girl was.
The following Sunday, historyhistory repeateded but this time with a silver dress, and next Sunday the same happened, this time with a golden dress, but on her way out the door, she lost a slipper.
The prince was fed up with the girl leaving every Sunday so he started a search to find this young woman. He decidedd that the person who could fit the slipper would be chosen as his new bride. He was looking all over the town till he came to the farm where Crow Cloak was living at the time. The farmer's daughters were so excited that they might be a princess.
The prince tried the shoe on one of the daughter's foot but it was way too small so the mother said, "Hack your big toe off, you won't need to walk once you're a princess." There was blood everywhere but the prince didn't notice. As he passed, a little bird was chirping a most peculiarpeculiar song that actually said, "You've made the wrong decision mate, check out the well."
The farmer's wife had hidden her there so she wouldn't get a chance to try on the shoe. When the prince lifted the well cover there she was. Of course the shoe fitted and they married and lived happily ever after. The chopped off toes had all been for nothing!
Retold by Charlie
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