"Another hard day...?" August asked with a smile as he climbed into the giant bed.
"Well, I must say raising three crazy kids is way more difficult than herding sheep," chuckled Ella.
August leaned to give Ella a kiss on the forehead but before he could reach her he heard the pitter patter of tiny feet running down the hallway. "Uh oh," he sighed, falling back into his pillow. "It looks like we have another nightmare victim on our hands."
Before he could even finish his sentence their youngest daughter Amelia came flying into the room and jumped on the bed.
"The monsters are back, daddy!" she exclaimed as she hid her face in his chest. With a laugh Ella explained to her daughter that there was not such a thing as monsters and there was nothing to worry about at all.
"Let's get you back to bed, sweetie," August said.
"Noooooooo," Amelia yelled. "Not without your story, Mommy!"
"Okay, fine" Ella responded lightly. "I suppose I can tell my story."
Once upon a time there lived a happy couple in a great castle. The couple was deeply in love and through the years tried to have children, but only had a single daughter, Amelia.
"That's my name!" squealed Amelia.
"Yes, sweetheart. Amelia was your grandmother," August said before continuing the story.
Anyways, for years the family lived in the palace full of love and joy. Eventually Amelia fell in love with a young man, and they married. Shortly after the marriage they announced that Amelia was pregnant, and everyone in castle was elated by the news. While her husband was away, Amelia gave birth to a baby girl. Unfortunately the delivery did not go as planned and even though she did not live to see her only daughter she had time to name her, Ella. In grief, Amelia's mom died of a broken heart and the lord of the castle refused to accept his granddaughter. He said that she was the reason for the death of his wife and his daughter and that she was not welcome in his castle. In his anger he told Amelia's husband not to come back to the castle, since there was no family left there for him.
Luckily for the baby girl, Ella, Amelia had a loyal nurse that took in Ella and tried to feed her and clothe her as much as she could afford.
This worked for years, but in her old age the nurse died before Ella was fully grown. Ella continued to live on the streets but never became discouraged by her situation. Ella was very generous and she often gave what little she had to other people in need. In fact, one evening Ella was walking through a nearby meadow when a stray sheep came her way. Being kindhearted, Ella leaned down to pet the sheep and told it that she would help it find its shepherd. It took a full day of walking in nearby meadows, but finally Ella spotted young shepherd tending to a flock of sheep. After Ella returned the sheep to the relieved shepherd they began to talk. The young shepherd explained that he was an orphan and offered Ella a job, helping him with the sheep. Overjoyed with the opportunity, Ella accepted and within the next few weeks the shepherd and Ella became great friends.
One day they were walking through a country town and heard of a grand ball that the King was hosting. Ella, never having been to a ball, greatly wanted to attend but was embarrassed of her dirty clothes. The shepherd was quick to reassure her and insisted that they go together. "Who cares what we wear?!" he exclaimed. "We will have fun nonetheless!"
Reassured, Ella and the shepherd began the two-day journey to the castle. Not an hour into their journey they stumbled upon a strapping young and gallant man mounted on a grand white stallion. Might I add that he was quite handsome!"
Ella started laughing at her husband's retelling of the story. Giggling she said, "Oh really, he was all that handsome? I remember him looking rather confused and lost. I'll take it from here."
So anyways, Ella offered help to the handsome young man. She gave him food and water and suggested that they travel together to the castle. There was an immediate spark between Ella and the man. Even though he was clearly wealthy, he was not too proud to ask a commoner for help or to travel with a flock of sheep.
When they reached the castle, the young man said he must go, but hoped to see them both at the ball.
After tending to the sheep, Ella and the shepherd gathered the courage to enter the ball. As soon as they walked in, the lords and ladies all began to snicker and laugh at these commoners. In embarrassment, Ella ran to the door but before she could make it she heard a familiar voice yell, "Wait!" She turned around and recognized the young man from earlier, only now he had a crown on! She assumed that he was wealthy, but a Prince!?
He ran to her and gave her an embrace before turning to the crowd to explain to them that Ella was more kind than all of them, and they should be ashamed of themselves.
Ella was impressed at the Prince's reaction, but before she could say a word the shepherd stepped forward.
"I have seen this woman choose kindness over bitterness again and again, and now her inner beauty will match her clothes.And as for the Prince, he has proven to be a kind and understanding man. The two of them will have countless blessings."
In an instance Ella's shepherd's clothing was transformed into a beautiful dress and the shepherd disappeared.
Although they never saw the shepherd again, the two truly did live happily ever after.
"Well, it looks like she has passed out," August said while looking at his sleeping daughter.
"I guess this really is our happily ever after," Amelia said with a smile.
Author's Note
In the original story, Tattercoats, an old lord loses his daughter when she was birthing his grand daughter. He was so upset at the loss of his daughter that he swore to never look at his grandchild and he neglected her. The grandchild had a nurse maid that took care of her but was ultimately forced to live on the streets where she befriended a goose herder. In the end she makes it to a ball with the goose herder and the Prince falls in love with her even though she is poorly dressed. The goose herder then turns her tattered clothes into a beautiful dress. In my version of the story I really wanted to emphasize that Ella truly had a great personality and won over the Prince with more than her looks. In accordance to this, I wanted the Prince to be appreciative of her personality and to be kind as well. Even though this is a fairy-tale I was inspired to create a version of the story that shows the happily ever after, rather than alluding to it. By adding a small narrative of a "here we are now" theme to the beginning of the story, I hoped to capture this.
Bibliography
More English Fairy Tales, Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1894) link
Banner Image: Castle Beyond the Meadow, credit to slipdem