An Edited Excerpt From CINDERELLA
One of my favorite fairy-tales books is Disney's CINDERELLA, retold by Cynthia Rylant:
"This is a story about darkness and light, about sorrow and joy, about something lost and something found. This is a story about Love. Cinderella was a young and lonely girl, with no father to protect her, no mother to nurture her, and no dear sister with whom she could share secrets. She lived a dark life in a dark house, with people who did not love her. She cooked and cleaned and sometimes cried and sometimes dreamed. She did her duty and kept her silence, but underneath it all, she was waiting. She had not given up on Love.
Cinderella’s two stepsisters also waited in that house, for riches. They wanted nothing else; only wealth had meaning for them. Love meant nothing, and if Love ever did come to them, it is unlikely they would even have known what it was. Like the roses, which did not bloom over the doorway, Love itself did not linger.
The king of this land had a fine son, a song with integrity and courage and loyalty and honor. He only lacked one essential thing - he lacked a wife. The prince had no wife because he had not yet fallen in love. Of all the girls he had ever known or seen, not one touched his heart. No one moved him. The king, impatient with his romantic and lonely son, invited everyone in the kingdom to a grand ball at the palace. Among them, the prince might find the young maiden who would become his wife.
The night of the grand ball arrived, and Cinderella’s stepsisters departed for the castle with their mother. Cinderella knew when they left the house, why they left the house, and what they were seeking. And she knew something more. She knew, somehow, that she was meant to go to the king’s ball as well. Her heart told her. Her heart said that Love was waiting there.
Who can say by what mystery two people find each other in this great wide world? How does a young man find his maiden? His heart leads him. He finds her in a room. He asks her to dance. And when he touches her, he knows. They do not even speak. In silence, LOVE found them."
"This is a story about darkness and light, about sorrow and joy, about something lost and something found. This is a story about Love. Cinderella was a young and lonely girl, with no father to protect her, no mother to nurture her, and no dear sister with whom she could share secrets. She lived a dark life in a dark house, with people who did not love her. She cooked and cleaned and sometimes cried and sometimes dreamed. She did her duty and kept her silence, but underneath it all, she was waiting. She had not given up on Love.
Cinderella’s two stepsisters also waited in that house, for riches. They wanted nothing else; only wealth had meaning for them. Love meant nothing, and if Love ever did come to them, it is unlikely they would even have known what it was. Like the roses, which did not bloom over the doorway, Love itself did not linger.
The king of this land had a fine son, a song with integrity and courage and loyalty and honor. He only lacked one essential thing - he lacked a wife. The prince had no wife because he had not yet fallen in love. Of all the girls he had ever known or seen, not one touched his heart. No one moved him. The king, impatient with his romantic and lonely son, invited everyone in the kingdom to a grand ball at the palace. Among them, the prince might find the young maiden who would become his wife.
The night of the grand ball arrived, and Cinderella’s stepsisters departed for the castle with their mother. Cinderella knew when they left the house, why they left the house, and what they were seeking. And she knew something more. She knew, somehow, that she was meant to go to the king’s ball as well. Her heart told her. Her heart said that Love was waiting there.
Who can say by what mystery two people find each other in this great wide world? How does a young man find his maiden? His heart leads him. He finds her in a room. He asks her to dance. And when he touches her, he knows. They do not even speak. In silence, LOVE found them."