It happened, that the king gave orders for a festival, which was to last three days.
All the beautiful young girls in the country were invited. So that his son might choose himself a bride.
When the two step-sisters heard, that they were to appear among the number, they were delighted.
They called Cinderella and said,
"Comb our
hair for us, brush our shoes and fasten our buckles.
For we are going to the
wedding at the king's palace." 
Cinderella obeyed. But she wept, because she wanted to go to the dance with them
Cinderella begged her step-mother to
allow her to do so.
"You go, Cinderella", wondered she. And
she
continued,
"Covered in dust and dirt as
you are, and you would go to the festival !
You have no clothes and shoes, and yet you would dance."
As Cinderella went on asking, the step-mother said
at last,
"I have emptied a dish of lentils into the ashes for
you.
If you have
picked them out again in two hours, you shall go with us."
The maiden went through the back-door into the garden.
She called, "You tame pigeons, you
turtle-doves, and all you birds beneath the sky."
"Come and help me to pick the
good into the pot, the bad into the crop."
Then two white pigeons came in by the kitchen window, and afterwards the turtle-doves, and at last all the birds beneath the sky, came whirring and crowding in, and alighted amongst the ashes.
And the pigeons nodded with their heads and began pick, pick, pick, pick.
And the rest began also pick, pick, pick, pick, and gathered all the good grains into the dish.
Hardly had one hour passed, before they had finished. And all flew out again.
Then the girl took the dish to her step-mother.
She was glad,
and believed,
that now she would be allowed to go to the festival.
But the step-mother said,
"No, Cinderella, you have no clothes and you cannot
dance.
You would only be laughed at."
And as Cinderella wept at this, the
step-mother said,
"If you can pick two dishes of lentils
out of the ashes for
me in one hour,
you shall go with us."
And she thought to herself, that Cinderella most certainly cannot do that again.
When the step-mother had emptied the two dishes of lentils amongst the ashes, the maiden went through the back-door into the garden.
She cried "You
tame pigeons, you turtle-doves, and all you birds beneath the sky"
"Come and
help me to pick the good into the pot, the bad into the crop."
Then two white pigeons came in by the kitchen-window, and afterwards the turtle-doves, and at length all the birds beneath the sky, came whirring and crowding in.
They all alighted amongst the ashes.
And the doves nodded with their heads and began pick, pick, pick, pick.
The others began also pick, pick, pick, pick. They gathered all the good seeds into the dishes, and before half an hour was over, they had already finished.
Then the maiden was delighted, she believed, that now she might go with the others to the wedding.
But the step-mother
said, all this will not help.
"You cannot go with us, for you have no clothes and cannot
dance.
We should be ashamed of you."
After this she turned her back on Cinderella, and hurried away with her two proud daughters.