st
maker. They called Cinderella to give them her opinion, for her taste
was excellent. Cinderella gave them the best advice in the world, and
even offered to dress their hair for them, which they were very willing
she should do.

Whilst she was busy with the hairdressing, they said to her,
"Cinderella, should you be very glad to go to the ball?"

"Alas! you only make fun of me; such a thing would not be suitable for
me at all."

"You are right; they would indeed laugh to see a Cindertail at the
ball!"

Any other than Cinderella would have dressed their hair awry, but she
had a good disposition, and arranged it for both of them to perfection.
They could eat nothing for nearly two days, so transported were they
with joy. More than a dozen laces were broken in making their waists as
small as possible, and they were continually before their
looking-glasses. At last the happy day arrived. They set off, and
Cinderella followed them with her eyes as long as she could. When they
were out of sight she began to cry. Her godmother, who saw her all in
tears, asked her what was the matter. "I should so like--I should so
like--" she sobbed so violently that she could not finish the sentence.
"You would so like to go to the ball, is not that it?"

"Alas! yes," said Cinderella, sighing.

"Well, if you will be a good girl, I will undertake that you shall go."
She took her into her room, and said to her, "Go into the garden and
bring me a pumpkin." Cinderella went at once, gathered the finest she
could find, and brought it to her godmother, wondering the while how a
pumpkin could enable her to go to the ball. Her godmother scooped it
out, and, having left nothing but the rind, struck it with her wand,
and the pumpkin was immediately changed into a beautiful coach, gilt all
over. She then went and looked into the mouse-trap, where she found six
mice, all alive. She told Cinderella to lift the door of the mouse-trap
a little, and to each mouse, as it ran out, she gave a tap with her
wand, and the mouse was immediately changed into a fine horse, so that
at last there stood ready a handsome train of six horses, of a beautiful
dappled mouse-grey colour. As she was in some difficulty as to what she
could take to turn into a coachman, Cinderella said, "I will go and see
if there is not a rat in the rat-trap; we will make a coachman of him."

"You are right," said her godmother, "go and see."

Cinderella brought her the rat-trap, in w