The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Cinderella
heroine of one of the most famous folktales in the world. She is rescued from a life of drudgery by her fairy godmother and eventually marries a handsome prince. The story (dating back to 9th-century China) exists in 500 versions in Europe alone; it was included by both Charles Perrault and the Grimm brothers in their collections of tales.
