THAT CINDERELLA'S SLIPPER WAS OF 

 GLASS 



OST people would think that glass as we know 

 it, whether blown or cast, would not make a 

 very serviceable slipper, and we have no reason 

 to believe that it was made of spun glass. But 

 all doubt in regard to the material of which the slipper 

 was made is set at rest by referring to the original French 

 version of the story, of which ours is a translation. There 

 we are told that it was a slipper of vair, the French for 

 fur. This word the translator mistook for verre, which 

 means glass, and so it has come to pass that all English- 

 speaking people believe that Cinderella's slipper was made 

 of glass. In the German version the slipper is of gold. 



The story is very old and a similar legend is told of 

 Rhodope, the famous Egyptian courtesan who was said to 

 have built the third pyramid. While she was bathing, 

 her slipper was carried off by an eagle and dropped in 

 the lap of the Egyptian king, who was so struck with its 

 beauty that he sought out the owner and made her his 

 queen. See " The Shakespeare Cyclopedia," page 258. 



214 



