Over the Hedge by T Lewis and Michael Fry for November 14, 2012

I wonder if Lewis and Fry knew that, in an early version of the story, the step-sisters cut off parts of their feet to fit into the glass slippers…

You know, I always thought like that with the whole glass slipper thing

I waithing with breathless anticipation how RJ deals with no more twinkees

I recall hearing that in the original language of the tale the slipper was silk, by the time it got to the Grimms it had been mus-translated. I’m going by a 40 year memory, so I don’t know the “original” language (Chinese?) or if the tale was really imported from elsewhere.

I heard the word was an archaic french word that meant fur and was mistranslated to mean glass.

The old Märchen were never really intended for children. Even the Grimms bowdlerized the stories somewhat.

Wouldn’t be so bad if it were hard glass, maybe even bullet resistant, but that clearly wasn’t the case in the Disney animation.

http://www.snopes.com/language/misxlate/slippers.asp

The orginal Grimm stories where for Adults, they rewrote many of them to be more child friendly after they where told that people where reading them to children.

Many of us have heard the verre-vair story, but common sense should tell us the stepsisters would not be cutting off pieces of their feet to fit into fur. It would have to be something unyielding like glass, and it doesn’t hurt that its clarity symbolizes purity. Also, for a while there, it was more expensive than gold. Rich Venetians would use their goldware for everyday and save the glass for making an impression.