ONCE there was a gentleman1 who married, for his second wife, the proudest and most haughty woman that was ever seen. She had, by a former husband, two daughters of her own humor, who were, indeed, exactly like her in all things. He had likewise, by another wife, a young daughter, but of unparalleled goodness and sweetness of temper, which she took from her mother,2 who was the best creature in the world.
No sooner were the ceremonies of the wedding over but the stepmother3 began to show herself in her true colors. She could not bear the good qualities of this pretty girl, and the less because they made her own daughters appear the more odious. She employed her in the meanest work of the house:4 she scoured the dishes, tables, etc., and scrubbed madam's chamber, and those of misses, her daughters; she lay up in a sorry garret,5 upon a wretched straw bed,6 while her sisters lay in fine rooms, with floors all inlaid,7 upon beds of the very newest fashion, and where they had looking-glasses8 so large that they might see themselves at their full length from head to foot.