The Egyptian Cinderella, by Shirley Climo - Traditional Tale

I am not ashamed to say that as a child, Cinderella was my favorite book character. I wanted to be her, marry Prince Charming, and live in a huge castle ("Happily Ever After" - of course) for the rest of my days. Well, as with all thoughts and understandings that pass from childhood, I began to realize that Cinderella really was not living as glamorous a life as I would want (at least not in the beginning), that Prince Charmings can all have very bad breath in the morning, and that the huge castle comes with a morgage payment! Still, my romantic daydreams as a child really haven't been squished so completely (my husband brushes his teeth and takes me to visit castles in England!). Therefore, the though of reading three Cinderella books was like a present from a long past childhood instead of a required reading.

The Egyptian Cinderella follows much the same way as many of the Cinderellas, with the young, beautiful girl being treated badly by others who are jealous of her and eventually finding the love and devotion of a person who is "king" of their land. In this version, Rhodopis (our Cinderella character) was kidnapped as a child from her home in Greece and taken to Eygpt, where she was sold as a slave. She was treated nicely by her master, but the other servant girls were jealous of her and made her life terrible. Her only friends were the animals she would entertain with her dancing and singing in the evening, some birds, a monkey, and a hippopotamus. She is given golden shoes by her master when he sees her dancing one day, and this further evokes the wrath of the jealous servant girls. They tell her to do all the work and one day don't let her go to see the Pharaoh. Of course, one of the shoes ends up in the Pharaoh's hands. Pharaoh, in turn, searches the entire empire for the only girl whose foot will fit in the golden shoes. Upon finding Rhodopis, Pharaoh marries her and makes her his queen.

The illustrations, done by Ruth Heller include a lot of pastels and lighter colors when Rhodopis is around. She almost seems to blend into the scenery that surrounds her - comparing her beauty with the landscape. The animals that appear in the books are always "larger than life", specifically the falcon that delivers the golden shoe to the Pharaoh. This seems fitting, as the ancient Egyptians thought of birds as messengers from Gods. All of the pictures of the Egyptian girls are very dark and situated towards the side (to capture the look of the Egyptian complexion), which reminded me of Egyptian pyramid drawings and paintings.

I really don't see any violence in the story, which most fairtales seem to have. However, with most Cinderella stories, Rhodopis is confined to be a slave or destined to be rescued by a man. She never takes up for herself and never tries to convince the master to let her go to see the Pharaoh. This girl is definetly confined by a sexist world. The themes of kindness, patience, and endurance are present throughout, with Rhodopis treating other servants and animals with love and gentleness. The story moves quickly from beginning explanation, to rising action, to climax, and finally to happily ever after.

I really found this version of Cinderella enchanting and when I finished reading the book and read the Author Notes, I was further entranced. This story actually, in some form, is true. There actually was a slave girl, who was kidnapped from her home of Greece who ended up marrying Pharaoh and becoming his queen. This story had been passed down orally from generation to generation until someone had finally written it down. Rhodopis, a Greek slave girl did marry Pharaoh Amasis and became his queen. Wow! Who would have thought a Cinderella story really did exist in time somewhere? That is impressive! Also impressive is that one of her fellow slaves was believed to have been Aesop who told her funny stories about animals. Very interesting to find out how so many stories in children's literature fit together. Maybe there really is a "happily ever after", after all!