Which of these stories involves people hacking bits off their anatomy and having their eyes pecked out?

This may come as something of a shock to those raised on Disney's version of the tale, but a faithful movie realisation of the one anthologised by the Brothers Grimm would more likely receive a certificate "18"!

The core of the story itself; an abused and neglected sister or stepsister, is an ancient one, and there are many claimants, including those from Egypt and China, to be the first recorded version. But in the West, at least, we tend to turn to either the version by Charles Perrault, or that of the brothers Grimm. Jacob (1785-1863) and Wilhelm (1786-1859) were also eminent lexicographers and philologists.

Their version - originally "Aschenputtel" (there is still a Scottish variant called "Ashy Pattle") contains some of the elements familiar from more sanitised versions; although instead of a fairy godmother a tree and the birds are Our Heroine's benefactors.

The controversy about the nature of Cinderella's slipper lives on - in this version it is a gold one. But in a desperate attempt to get it to fit, the Ugly Sisters (who, by the way, are not described as Ugly) hack off a heel and a toe in order to try to make it fit. Having survived such futile self-mutilation, they decide to make the best of a bad job and join Cinderella's wedding feast. But arguably worse is to come. The Birds (incidentally doves, not ravens or the like!) are still evidently enraged at the way their friend has been treated, and peck out her sisters' eyes.

Sleep well, children!