Cenușăreasa – de la versiunea românească a basmului la cele inițiale, orientale
Cinderella: from the world of Romanian fairy tale to some of its Far Eastern variants

Summary/Abstract: Cinderella, the fairy tale that enchanted the childhood of many of us, commonly told by parents or grandparents, has its roots in the Far East. The first written record of it dates back to China in 860, during the Tang dynasty (618-907), the heyday of civilization in the Land of the Rising Sun. The character known as Cinderella lost her mother, but meets her again in a fish in which she was reincarnated, according to Eastern beliefs. The fairy tale then spread to neighboring areas, such as Indonesia and Malaysia (and probably Japan). While in Europe the shoe plays an important role in the story of Cinderella, in Eastern versions the magical elements are the fish, its bones, and the swing. As in most fairy tales, the modest, obedient girl, mistreated by fate, her mother, and her stepsister, manages to escape all this and, in the end, marry either a prince or a king.

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