Cap o’ Rushes
A girl’s choice of words sees her turned out of hearth and home.
This distinctively English tale has a lot of Cinderella in it, but in some ways it is a richer story, framed by an Aesop-like moral and not cluttered by magic.
A WEALTHY man was determined to find out which of his three daughters loved him best. So he asked the first how much she loved him, and she replied ‘Why, as I love my life!’ and the second said, ‘More than all the world!’
But the third said, ‘As raw meat loves salt.’
Now this did not sound at all respectful, so he turned her out of the house.
Thinking her fine clothes would bring trouble, she hastily made herself a hooded cloak from rushes, and then found employment as a scullery-maid in a grand house some miles away.
One night, there was a ball on the neighbouring estate. Some of the servants walked over and peeped into the ballroom, but ‘Cap o’ Rushes’, as Cook had nicknamed her, said she would rather go to bed.
So it was next morning before she heard how a mysterious beauty in fine clothes had danced three times with their own Master’s son – and quite captured his heart!
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
How did the third daughter upset her father?
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
A father asked his daughter a question. He did not like her answer. He turned her out.