Bedtime Story: Cinderella

A vintage fairy tale bedtime story for grown-ups! Enjoy this relaxing storytelling of a slightly modified version of the original story of Cinderella by the Brothers Grimm. This calming bedtime story for grown-ups spoken with a female voice will help you relax and unwind at the end of the day. Relax with Joanne as she tells you this lovely story, using her soothing and comforting voice that is becoming well known on YouTube for her relaxing stories & meditation to help viewers fall asleep.

Transcript

The wife of a rich man fell sick,

And as she felt her hand was drawing near,

She called her only daughter to her bedside and said,

Dear child,

Be honest and kind and the good God will protect you,

And I will always watch over you from heaven.

Soon after,

She closed her eyes and died.

Every day the maiden went out to her mother's grave and wept,

And she remained honest and kind.

When winter came,

The snow spread a beautiful white sheet over the grave,

And by the time spring came,

Her father had remarried.

The woman had two daughters who were beautiful,

But greedy and selfish.

Things became unpleasant for the poor stepchild.

They took her pretty clothes away from her,

Put an old gray gown on her,

And gave her wooden shoes.

Look at the proud princess,

How pretty she is,

And they laughed as they let her into the kitchen.

There she had to do hard work from morning till night,

Get up before daybreak,

Carry water,

Light fires,

Cook and wash.

Besides this,

The sisters were mean,

They mocked her and emptied her peas and lentils into the ashes so that she was forced to sit and pick them out again.

In the evening when she had worked till she was weary,

She had no bed to go to,

But had to sleep by the fireside in the ashes.

And because she always looked dusty and dirty,

They called her Cinderella.

It happened that the father was once going to a fair,

And he asked his two stepdaughters what he should bring back for them.

Beautiful dresses,

Said one.

Pearls and jewels,

Said the second.

And you,

Cinderella?

What would you like to have?

Father,

Break off for me the first branch which knocks against your hat on your way home.

So he bought beautiful dresses,

Pearls and jewels for his two stepdaughters.

And on his way home,

As he was riding through a green thicket,

A hazel twig brushed against him and knocked off his hat.

Then he broke off the branch and took it with him.

When he reached home,

He gave his stepdaughters the things which they had wished for,

And to Cinderella he gave the branch from the hazel bush.

Cinderella thanked him,

Went to her mother's grave and planted the branch on it,

And wept so much that the tears fell on it and watered it.

It grew however,

And became a beautiful tree.

Three times a day,

Cinderella went and sat beneath it,

And wept and prayed.

A little white bird always came on the tree,

And if Cinderella made a wish,

The bird threw down to her whatever she had wished for.

It happened that the king held a festival at the palace which was to last three days,

And to which all the beautiful young girls in the country were invited,

In order that his son might choose himself a bride.

When the two step-sisters heard that they too were to appear among the number,

They were delighted,

Called Cinderella and said,

Comb our hair for us,

Brush our shoes,

And fasten our buckles,

For we are going to the festival at the king's palace.

Cinderella obeyed,

But wept,

Because she too would have liked to go with them to the dance,

And begged her stepmother to allow her to do so.

You Cinderella,

You are dusty and dirty,

And you want to go to the festival?

You have no clothes and shoes,

And yet you want to dance?

Cinderella kept on begging to go,

And the stepmother at last said,

I have emptied a dish of lentils into the ashes for you.

If you can pick them out again in two hours,

You can go with us.

The maiden went through the back door into the garden and called.

You tame pigeons,

You turtle doves,

And all the birds beneath the sky,

Come and help me to pick.

The good into the pot,

The bad into the crop.

Then two white pigeons came in by the kitchen window,

And afterwards the turtle doves,

And at last all the little birds beneath the sky came whirring in and alighted among the ashes.

The pigeons nodded with their heads and began to pick,

Pick,

Pick,

Pick,

And the rest began also to pick,

Pick,

Pick,

Pick,

And gathered all the good grains into the dish.

Hardly had one hour passed before they had finished,

And they all flew out again.

Then the girl took the dish to her stepmother and believed that now she would be allowed to go with them to the festival.

But the stepmother said,

No,

Cinderella,

You have no clothes and you cannot dance.

You would be laughed at.

And as Cinderella wept at this,

The stepmother said,

If you can pick two dishes of lentils out of the ashes for me in one hour,

You shall go with us.

As the stepmother thought to herself,

There is no chance that she could actually do this.

When the stepmother had emptied the two dishes of lentils amid the ashes,

The maiden went through the back door into the garden and called out to the birds like before.

The two white pigeons came in by the kitchen window,

And afterwards the turtle ducks,

And at length all the birds beneath the sky came whirring in once again and alighted among the ashes.

Then the doves nodded with their heads and began to pick,

Pick,

Pick,

Pick.

And the others also began to pick,

Pick,

Pick,

Pick,

And gathered all the good seeds into the dishes.

And before half an hour was over,

They had already finished and all flew out again.

Then the maiden carried the dishes to the stepmother and was delighted and believed that she might now go with them to the festival.

But the stepmother said,

You cannot go with us,

For you have no clothes and cannot dance.

We would be ashamed of you.

On this she turned her back on Cinderella and hurried away with her two proud daughters.

As no one was now at home,

Cinderella went to her mother's grave beneath the hazel tree and cried,

Shiver and quiver,

Little tree,

Silver and gold throw down over me.

Then the bird threw a bold and silver dress down to her and slippers embroidered with silk and silver.

She put the dress on quickly and went to the festival.

Her stepsisters and the stepmother,

However,

Did not know her and thought she must be a foreign princess,

For she looked so beautiful in the golden dress.

They never once thought of Cinderella and believed that she was sitting at home in the dirt picking lentils out of the ashes.

The prince went to meet her,

Took her by the hand and danced with her.

He would dance with no other maiden and not once did he let go of her hand.

And if anyone else came to invite her,

He said,

This is my partner.

She danced till it was evening and then she wanted to go home and the king's son said,

I will go with you to keep you company,

For he wished to see where the beautiful maiden lived.

She escaped from him,

However,

And sprang into the pigeon house.

The king's son waited until her father came and then he told him that the unknown maiden had hidden herself in the pigeon house.

The old man thought,

Can it be Cinderella?

And when they broke down the door,

There was no one inside.

And when they got home,

Cinderella lay in her dirty clothes among the ashes and a dim little oil lamp was burning on the mantelpiece.

For Cinderella had jumped quickly down from the back of the pigeon house and had run to the little hazel tree.

And there she had taken off her beautiful clothes and laid them on the grave and the bird had taken them away and then she had placed herself in the kitchen among the ashes in her grey gown.

Next day when the festival began again and her parents and the stepsisters had gone once more,

Cinderella went to the hazel tree and said,

Shiver and quiver my little tree.

Shiver and gold throw down over me.

Then the bird threw down a much more beautiful dress than the day before.

And when Cinderella appeared at the festival in this dress,

Everyone was astonished at her beauty.

The king's son had waited until she came and instantly took her by the hand and danced with no one but her.

When others came and invited her,

He said as before,

She is my partner.

When evening came,

She wished to leave and the king's son followed her and wanted to see into which house she went.

But she sprang away from him and into the garden behind her father's house.

There in stood a beautiful tall tree on which hung the most magnificent pears.

She climbed up swiftly between the branches like a squirrel but the king's son did not know where she had gone.

He waited until her father came and said to him,

The unknown maiden has escaped from me and I believe she has climbed up the pear tree.

The father thought,

Can it be Cinderella?

And had an axe brought and cut the tree down but no one was on it.

And when they got into the kitchen,

Cinderella lay there among the ashes as usual.

For she had jumped down on the other side of the tree,

Had taken the beautiful dress to the bird on the little hazel tree and put on her great gown.

On the third day,

When the parents and sisters had gone away,

Cinderella went once more to her mother's grave and said to the little tree,

Shiver and quiver my little tree,

Silver and gold throw down over me.

And now the bird threw down to her a dress which was even more splendid and magnificent than any she had yet had.

And the slippers were golden.

And when she went to the festival in the dress,

The guests stared at her in astonishment and they were speechless by her beauty and grace.

The king's son danced with her only and if anyone invited her to dance,

He said,

This beautiful lady is my partner.

When evening came,

Cinderella wished to leave and the king's son was anxious to go with her but she escaped from him so quickly that he could not follow her.

She was in such a hurry to leave that she dropped one of her golden slippers upon the stairs.

The king's son picked it up and it was small and dainty and all golden.

Next morning he went to his father and said to him,

No one shall be my wife but whose foot this golden slipper fits.

Then the two sisters were glad for they had pretty feet.

The eldest went with the shoe into her room and wanted to try it on and her mother stood by but she could not get her big toe into it and the shoe was much too small for her.

Then her mother said,

Never mind dear,

When you are queen you will no longer have any need to go on foot.

And so the silly maiden cut her toe off,

Forced the foot into the shoe,

Swallowed the pain and went out to the king's son.

Then he took her on his horse as his bride and rode away with her.

They were however obliged to pass the grave and there on the hazel tree sat the two pigeons and cried,

Turn and peep,

Turn and peep,

Look within the shoe.

The shoe is much too small for her,

Your true bride waits for you.

Then he looked at her foot and saw that she had tricked him.

He turned his horse round and took the false bride home again and said she was not the true one and that the other sister was to put the shoe on.

Then this one went into her chamber and got her toe safely into the shoe but her heel was too large so her mother squeezed her foot into the shoe.

The daughter swallowed the pain and went out to the king's son.

He took her on his horse as his bride and rode away with her but when they passed by the hazel tree two little pigeons sat on it and sang as before.

Turn and peep,

Turn and peep,

Look within the shoe.

The shoe is much too small for her,

Your true bride waits for you.

The king's son looked down at her foot and saw that she too had tricked him and so he turned his horse and took the false bride home again.

This also is not the right one,

Said the prince.

Have you no other daughter?

No said the man,

Except there is a little kitchen servant which my late wife left behind but she cannot possibly be the bride.

The king's son said he was to send her up to him but the mother answered,

Oh no,

She is much too dirty,

She cannot show herself.

The prince absolutely insisted on it and Cinderella had to be called.

She first washed her hands and face clean and then went and bowed down before the king's son who gave her the golden shoe.

Then she seated herself on a stool,

Drew her foot out of the heavy wooden shoe and put it into the golden slipper and it fit like a glove.

And when she rose up and the king's son looked at her face,

He recognized the beautiful maiden who had danced with him and cried,

This is my true bride.

Then he took Cinderella on his horse and rode away and as they passed the hazel tree,

The two little pigeons cried out,

Prince,

Prince,

Take home your bride for your true love now sits by your side.

And so Cinderella married the handsome prince and they lived happily ever after.

Reviews

Lovely Lovely 🧚‍♀️🧚‍♀️🧚‍♀️🧚‍♀️🧚‍♀️

But your voice was a bit muffled
I'm not sure if this was just me but other wise it was...

🌸🐓AMAZING🐓🌸

I still don't understand why the father called her a "kitchen servent". Like who's dad would do that!
How RUDE o(*≧д≦)o
　 ∧🎩∧ ∧👒∧
　(´・ω・) (・ω・ `)
　||(つ☕D O☕と)||
🌷||￣|UU　 UU|￣||🌷

Edit: it was most likely my end because I had bad earphones at the time I wrote this! Thank you though

That was great and did Cinderella still go to her mother’s grave

Amazing Joanne I love your voice and stories it’s justsooo awesomely cool👍💜🖤🤍🤎💙💚💛🧡❤️💗💖💝💞💕

I really like the way you expressed how Cinderella felt when the stepmother said she can not go to the palace ball!😌💃🕺

I loved it not based off the version I heard but I loved it ❤️

I really enjoyed the Brother’s Grimm version of Cinderella. I fell asleep right after she got her dress so I’ll definitely listen again 🤗

Awesome love it so good 👍P.S. do you like cookies?🍪

I've listened to this several times in the last couple of months. It always puts me to sleep before I hear the end. I used to listen to 1 hour podcasts and I'd still be wide awake. I'm loving meditation and sleep stories.

Very nice put me right to sleep Love it!! 😴😴😴💤💤💤

It was great 😊 I LOVED it 🥰😍🤓🎆🤓🤣💗

I really liked this. I fell asleep listening to the story. The part that stuck with me most was when she had the animals help her clean, so she could go to the prince. Also, her mother dying and she went to her grave.

I love that story! Thank you so so much!

Amazing!! I loved it!! 😄

I really enjoyed this non-Disney version. Unfortunately, I did not hear the end as it did a great job at helping me fall asleep. Thanks

The picture chosen really drew me in and during the story I really enjoyed the calming and pretty voice. I also really liked how it was different from the Disney version I am usee to.

Thank you so much for the wonderful bedtime story! Put me to sleep right away! 🙏😴🌙

Lovely thank you