Story Voice

Cinderella Story

Cinderella is a classic story from Grimms' Fairy Tales, for children aged 3–8. This page has the English story with a native English narration (about 3 min), plus the Chinese version with Mandarin narration (about 6 min). Free to read and listen, no sign-up.

Grimm's Cinderella: a white bird in a hazel tree gives her a gown, and a golden shoe leads the prince to her. With native English narration, plus the Chinese version in Mandarin.

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Read Cinderella

Once upon a time, a rich man's wife was very ill. Before she died, she said to her daughter, "Be good and kind. I will always watch over you." Every day, the girl went to her mother's grave and cried.

Then her father married again. The new wife had two daughters. They were pretty, but they were not kind. They took the girl's nice dresses and gave her an old gray dress and wooden shoes. She worked from morning to night. At night she slept in the ashes by the fire. So they called her Cinderella.

One day, her father went to the market. "What can I bring you?" he asked. "Pretty dresses," said one sister. "Pearls," said the other. "Bring me the first branch that touches your hat," said Cinderella. He brought her a branch from a hazel tree. She planted it on her mother's grave, and it grew into a beautiful tree. A little white bird came to the tree. When Cinderella made a wish, the bird gave her what she wished for.

The king had a big party for three days. The prince wanted to find a wife. Cinderella wanted to go too. Her stepmother threw a bowl of beans into the ashes. "Pick them all up, and you can go," she said. The birds came to help. Peck, peck, peck! But the stepmother still said no.

When everyone was gone, Cinderella went to the tree. "Shake, little tree, shake! Throw gold and silver down to me!" The bird threw down a gold and silver dress. Cinderella went to the party. The prince danced only with her. In the evening, she ran home before he could follow her.

On the third night, she had golden shoes. The prince put something sticky on the stairs. When Cinderella ran away, one golden shoe got stuck.

The next day, the prince came to the house. "The girl who fits this shoe will be my wife," he said. The two sisters tried, but the shoe was too small for them. "Do you have another daughter?" asked the prince. Cinderella washed her face and came out. She put on the shoe. It fit! The prince looked at her face. "This is my true bride!" he said. Two white doves sat on her shoulders, and they all went to the castle.

The Chinese version: 灰姑娘

从前，有一个有钱人，他的妻子得了重病。临走前，她把女儿叫到床边，轻轻地说：“好孩子，你要一直做个善良的人。妈妈会在天上看着你，守着你。”

女儿每天都到妈妈的坟前去哭。冬天，雪给坟盖上了一层白被子；春天，太阳把雪晒化了，爸爸又娶了一个妻子。新妈妈带来了两个女儿，模样很漂亮，心肠却很坏。

她们抢走了小姑娘的漂亮衣服，给她穿上旧灰裙子和一双木头鞋，让她从早到晚挑水、生火、做饭、洗衣服。晚上她没有床，只能睡在灶台边的灰堆里，身上总是灰扑扑的。大家就叫她“灰姑娘”。

有一天，爸爸要去赶集，问三个女儿想要什么。大姐要漂亮的裙子，二姐要珍珠和宝石。灰姑娘说：“爸爸，回家的路上，哪根树枝第一个碰到您的帽子，就请您把它折下来给我吧。”回来的路上，一根榛树枝碰掉了爸爸的帽子，他就把它带回了家。

灰姑娘把树枝种在妈妈的坟前，眼泪一滴一滴落下来，浇湿了泥土。树枝很快长成了一棵美丽的榛树。灰姑娘每天到树下去三次，每次都有一只小白鸟飞来。她想要什么，小白鸟就把什么丢给她。

后来，国王要连着办三天舞会，让王子挑选新娘。两个姐姐高兴得不得了。灰姑娘也想去，继母却把一大碗小扁豆倒进了灰堆里：“两个钟头之内把豆子捡干净，你就可以去。”

灰姑娘跑到后门，对着天空喊：“小鸽子，小斑鸠，天上的小鸟们，快来帮帮我！好的放进小锅里，坏的吃进肚子里。”鸟儿们呼啦啦飞进厨房，笃笃笃，笃笃笃，不到一个钟头就捡完了。可是继母还是说：“你没有像样的衣服，也不会跳舞，不许去！”

等大家都走了，灰姑娘来到榛树下，轻轻地说：“小树呀，摇一摇，晃一晃，把金子银子撒在我身上。”小白鸟丢下来一条金银丝的裙子，还有一双绣花的鞋。灰姑娘穿上它们去了舞会，连继母和姐姐都没认出她来。王子只和她一个人跳舞，别人来请，王子就说：“她是我的舞伴。”

天黑了，灰姑娘要回家，王子想跟着她，看看她是谁家的姑娘。她一转身就跑了，钻进鸽子房，又从后面溜出去，把裙子放回榛树下，换上灰裙子，躺回了灰堆里。第二天也是这样，她穿着更美的裙子去跳舞，回家时爬上一棵梨树，又悄悄溜走了。

第三天，小白鸟给她的裙子比哪一天都华丽，鞋子是纯金的。这一回，王子让人在楼梯上抹了一层黏黏的东西。灰姑娘跑下楼梯时，左脚的金鞋子被粘住了。

第二天，王子拿着金鞋子来到她家：“谁能穿上这只鞋，谁就是我的新娘。”两个姐姐抢着去试，可是一个脚趾太长，一个脚后跟太大，怎么也穿不进去。王子问：“家里还有别的女儿吗？”爸爸说：“只有一个灰扑扑的小丫头，她不可能是新娘。”王子说：“请她出来吧。”

灰姑娘洗干净手和脸，走了出来，把脚轻轻伸进金鞋——不大不小，正合适！王子看着她的脸，认出了那个和他跳舞的姑娘：“她才是我真正的新娘！”王子扶灰姑娘上了马。经过榛树时，两只白鸽子飞下来，一只落在她的左肩上，一只落在她的右肩上，陪着她去了王宫。

Cinderella Story: the moral of the story

Stay kind even when life is hard. Real beauty is in how you treat people, not in fine clothes.

Chinese words in Cinderella

Play the Chinese narration and listen for these words. The pinyin shows the tones.

  • 灰姑娘huī gū niang

    Cinderella (the ash girl)

  • 继母jì mǔ

    stepmother

  • 善良shàn liáng

    kind, good-hearted

  • 榛树zhēn shù

    hazel tree

  • 小白鸟xiǎo bái niǎo

    little white bird

  • 舞会wǔ huì

    ball, dance party

  • 王子wáng zǐ

    prince

  • 金鞋子jīn xié zi

    golden shoe

Bedtime storytelling tips

  • Read Cinderella's words to the tree, "Shake, little tree, shake!", in the same soft voice every time. Children pick up the rhyme quickly and say it with you.
  • Pause when the prince arrives with the golden shoe and ask, "Who do you think it will fit?"
  • The Chinese version is longer and keeps more of Grimm's details, such as the pear tree Cinderella hides in on the second night. It makes a good second listen for children learning Chinese.

Things to talk about afterwards

  • Why did Cinderella ask her father for a branch?
  • Why do you think the birds helped Cinderella?
  • How did Cinderella act when her stepsisters were unkind to her?

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Cinderella Story: common questions

What is the moral of Cinderella?
Stay kind, even when life is hard. Cinderella keeps her promise to her mother to be good and kind, and in the end she is helped and found. Real beauty is inside, not in a fine dress.
Who wrote Cinderella?
Cinderella is an old folk tale with many versions. The Brothers Grimm published theirs, Aschenputtel, in 1812 as no. 21 of their Children's and Household Tales. Charles Perrault published a French version in 1697. Our retelling follows the Grimm version.
Is there a fairy godmother in the Grimm Cinderella?
No. In the Grimm version, Cinderella plants a hazel branch on her mother's grave, and a little white bird in the tree gives her a gold and silver dress. The fairy godmother, the pumpkin coach, midnight and the glass slipper come from Perrault's 1697 version, which the 1950 Disney film also follows.
Does Cinderella lose a glass slipper in the Grimm version?
No, her shoe is gold. On the third night, the prince has something sticky put on the stairs, and one golden shoe gets stuck as she runs away. The next day he looks for the girl it fits.
How does the Grimm Cinderella end?
In our retelling, the shoe is too small for both stepsisters. Cinderella washes her face, tries it on, and it fits. The prince knows her as the girl he danced with, and two white doves sit on her shoulders as they go to the castle. The original has a harsher ending for the stepsisters, which we left out.

Source and how we retold it

From the Brothers Grimm, Children's and Household Tales, no. 21, Aschenputtel, first published in 1812 and now in the public domain. Our retelling follows the Grimm plot and keeps the hazel tree on her mother's grave, the helpful birds, the three nights of the ball and the golden shoe. In the original, the stepsisters cut off parts of their feet to fit the shoe, and at the wedding doves peck out their eyes; we left both out and only say the shoe did not fit them. The stepmother twice throws lentils into the ashes to keep Cinderella home; we made that one test. The glass slipper, the fairy godmother and the pumpkin coach come from Charles Perrault's French version of 1697, not from Grimm.

The narration on this page is AI-generated: the English is read by 英伦绅士 and the Chinese by 温柔妈妈. The audio files are labeled as AI-generated.

If you liked Cinderella Story, there are more stories in Grimms' Fairy Tales. You can also read this one to your child in your own voice.

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