Once upon a time there was a girl whose father and mother were rich. They lived in a beautiful house and had everything that they could want. They loved each other very much and lived happily together.
But one day the mother became very sick and, as she grew worse and worse, she knew that she was going to die. She called her daughter to her and said: “My child, I am going to leave you. When I am gone, remember that I have tried to teach you to be good and kind and loving.”
The daughter promised that she would never forget what her dear mother had taught her. They kissed each other lovingly, and not long after the mother died.
After a while the father brought a new wife home. He thought that this lady would be a kind mother to his daughter.
But he was mistaken. The new wife was not at all kind. She was proud and bad-tempered. And she had two young lady daughters who were even worse than their mother.
One day, not long after the new mother and sisters had come to the little girl’s home, they were all sitting together in the parlor.
One of the sisters said: “Mother, must we have her sitting with us all the time? We don’t want her here. Send her into the kitchen and let her do the work.” And the mother said to the little girl, “Yes, go into the kitchen and work. We do not want you here. Go quickly.”
So the daughter of the house went into the kitchen and began to work. The sisters came out after a while and looked at her as she worked. One of them said, “That dress is altogether too pretty for you; give it to me.” The other sister said, “Take off those pretty shoes and give them to me.” She gave her pretty shoes and dress to her sisters, who threw a ragged old dress and wooden shoes to her saying, “Here, take these; they are good enough for you.”
Then they said to her, “Your bedroom is too nice for a girl who works in the kitchen. We want that room for ourselves; you may sleep here.” As she had nowhere else to sleep, the poor girl slept in the kitchen.