Reading Notes: English Fairy Tales, Part A

Rushes (Pixabay)

 Out of all the stories for Part A of the English Fairy Tales, I thought that the story "Cap o' Rushes" was the most interesting.  Overall, it mostly followed the storyline of the more popular and well-known fairy tale "Cinderella," but it diverged from the Disney classic at several key moments.  It begins with a rich man who has three daughters.  Possibly feeling insecure, he decides to test them to see how much they love him.  The first two daughters respond satisfactorily to his question, but the third tells him that she loves him "as fresh meat loves salt."  The father, misunderstanding the third daughter's sincere affection for him, sends her away bitterly, believing that she doesn't love him.  On her own now, she makes a hooded cloak using rushes to conceal her fancy clothes, and goes to a nearby house seeking work.  There, she is hired as a maid and earns the name "Cap o' Rushes" because of her cloak.  Eventually, a fancy ball takes place, and all of the servants are invited as well.  Pretending to be too tired to go, Cap o' Rushes sneaks away after everyone has left and shows up to the ball in her fancy clothes (no one recognizes her).  The master's son dances with her and falls in love, but Cap o' Rushes runs away and pretends that she didn't go to the ball the next morning.  This deception continues for the next two nights when balls happen again.  By the end of the third night, the master's son is determined to find out who the mystery girl is.  But after asking around for a while, he still can't find her, and he becomes sick with longing.  Cap o' Rushes makes a gruel for him and places the ring he gave her into it.  When he sees the ring and finds out who made his gruel, she reveals herself to him and they decide to get married.  At the wedding, Cap o' Rushes instructs the cook not to salt the meat.  When Cap o' Rushes's father (who doesn't recognize his daughter) tastes the bland meat, he realizes what his daughter's expression of affection meant, and immediately regrets banishing her.  Cap o' Rushes reveals herself to him, they reconcile, and all live happily ever after.

If I were to retell this story, I think I would primarily keep the plot the same.  One thing I would like to alter would be the fact that none of the characters have names except for Cap o' Rushes's nickname.  I think it would help give the characters a little more depth, and to make the story a little easier to keep track of.

Bibliography: "Cap o' Rushes," English Fairy Tales unit, Joseph Jacobs.