Compare & Contrast - Egyptian, Korean, Persian

Egyptian, Korean, Persian

"Long ago", is how children's fairy tales begin if not with once upon a time (Climo 1). Cinderella is full of creatures, magic, and jealousy filled road blocks. Cinderella is a tale that has been written in many different ways and by many different people, but with the same story line. Known to be a servant, maiden or slave this character undergoes the same trials in each diverse novel.

All three novels begin with a plot stating to let you know that it took place in the past and not the present. In the Persian tale, Settareh never knew her mother because she died right after she was born. Her name was unique because it meant star, which they named her that because of the star shaped birthmark on her left cheek (1).Egyptian Cinderella was taken as a small child from Greece and was sold as a slave. She was different from the other servants because the beauty of her green eyes and her skin burned red under the rays from the sun ( 2). Her name was Rhodopis meaning rosy cheeks in Greek (2). Rhodopis was the only slave when all the other women were household servants. In Korean Cinderella there lived an old gentleman and his wife. They longed for a child and a daughter was born. The old gentleman planted a pear tree to celebrate the day. And from there her name pear blossom was also born. A couple years later her mother died and her father remarried. As pear blossom grew so did her beauty followed by jealousy. Hatred from the stepmother and the incredibly difficult tasks that not any one person could complete alone (9-13).

In each version of Cinderella they have their own type of magic to help them through their journey of cruelty. In the Persian story she had a magical blue jug that she would command to give her what she needed or wanted. So one day Settareh was shopping for "No Ruz", the New Year, and instead of buying cloth to make new clothes she bought toasted almonds, since she had not eaten that day. Then she gave some of her money to an old lady on the corner. "You are more in need of new clothes than I, grandmother, Settareh said (6). She counted her money again and only had enough for a sash. Then she saw a small blue Jug. She asked the seller if it was for sale. He said, "It is worth much..."(7). But he sold it to her anyway. One day she rubbed the pot and said, "I wish you were filled with jasmine blossoms"(10). When it filled with the flowers she realized it was a magic pot. The Korean Cinderella on the other hand did not have an object but had living animals as her magic that helped her through the difficult task that her stepmother made her do. The first animal that helped her was a frog that helped her fill a pot of water that had a whole in it. The second were sparrows that helped her clean the garden that was covered in rice. The last animal that helped her was a black ox which helped her weed the garden.

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