12. She forgets her godmother’s warning, and after midnight rushes back home, leaving a single slipper behind her.
13. The prince finds the slipper and searches for its owner.
14. The sisters fail in trying on the slipper, which is then fitted to Cinderella’s foot.
15. The fairy godmother restores to Cinderella the appearance of a princess.
16. The prince marries Cinderella, and she forgives her stepsisters.
A summary of these main incidents may be given in a few words, which will contain the skeleton of the plot. To say that a certain little girl who is shamefully treated by her stepsisters is aided by her fairy godmother to attend a ball given by a prince, who finally marries the little drudge, is to give the plot and really to tell all that the lax and superficial reader gets from the story he peruses.
There are in this little story, however, a large number of minor incidents which contribute to the interest, and if sought and placed in their relation to the main events will be found to have added materially to the charm of the narrative.
For instance, when the fairy godmother sends Cinderella to the ball for the first time, children are led to a vivid interest in the event by a series of fascinating incidents, as follows:
1. The fairy sends her into the garden for a pumpkin.
2. The godmother, scooping out the inside of the pumpkin, leaves the rind, which she taps three times, and immediately it becomes a golden coach.