Did you know, in the original story, this archetypal story of unjust oppression has been re-interpreted in various films and literature, and has even been used in psychological terminology. Though the ending remains the same in the less ‘sanitized’ versions of the lore, the existence of the glass slippers has remained an unexplained error in oral transmission; in the earlier versions, the slippers were made of squirrel fur. When the prince was seeking his elusive love he was, according to the Grimm Brothers, almost tricked by the two stepsisters, both of whom cut off parts of their foot in order to fit into the slipper; it was only through the heavenly doves that the Prince realised that the sisters were bleeding from their self-inflicted amputations. Furthermore, in a spirit of quasi-macabre comedy, some versions end with the stepsisters’ eyes being pecked out by the same doves, thus allowing evil to be justly punished.
I thought this back road deserved some caches.