Once upon a time, there was a wealthy merchant whose name was Mr. Smith. He owned a small boutique in town and had a curly mustache. Mrs. Smith was a gentlewoman of exceptional disposition and sweetness of temper, who often helped out her husband in their boutique or stayed at home to manage domestic affairs. The benevolent couple had a daughter whom they named Cindy Ella Smith, after her great grandmother. Cindy was a beautiful and sweet little girl with golden hair and large round eyes, just like those of her mother.
Nevertheless, a consumptive illness snatched away the life of benevolent Mrs. Smith when Cindy was merely seven years old. Mr. Smith, whose love for his wife prevented him to fall in love with another woman, did not remarry, thus leaving the father and daughter alone in the world with no one to depend upon except for one another. In consequence of her mother's death, Cindy began binge eating uncontrollably to suppress her forever melancholy mood. Feeling pity for his daughter's misfortune, Mr. Smith commenced to spoil Cindy and often connived at her unreasonable behaviour. As a result, Cindy grew up to become a bad-tempered, overweight girl whose only hobby was eating. Cindy became so fat that she could not even utter her own name clearly, so when she announced herself as "Cindy Ella Smith", people often mistook it to be "Cinderella Smith". Therefore, gradually, people started calling her Cinderella as a nickname.
One autumn evening a few days after Cinderella's eighteenth birthday, Mr. Smith fell ill in bed and was informed by the family doctor that he was slowly consumed by a similar disease which had taken the life of Mrs. Smith. Only after learning that he had but a few days left in this world did Mr. Smith start to ponder about his daughter's future life without him, after which he resolutely arrived upon a conclusion. Mr. Smith summoned his lawyer and the most famous dietician in the country - a spinster named Ms. Vandertramp, to draw up his will.
"Ms. Vandertramp, I will leave all my inheritance to you if can successfully make my daughter slim," said Mr. Smith to Ms. Vandertramp.
"That's a piece of cake!" responded the confident dietician. "I have made many people fatter than her as slim as a model before."
"And the most important thing is: you have to let the Prince marry her," answered the merchant.
"But what's the significance of all this?" questioned the bewildered lawyer.
"That's because only the prince is rich enough to support her immense appetite!" responded Mr. Smith. "According to my calculations, the inheritance that I will leave for Cindy is only enough to feed her for twenty years if she continues with her current habits. It's all my fault! I shouldn't have spoilt her! Cindy doesn't have any skills other than eating, so she won't be able to find an occupation. Without one, Cindy will likely to starve to death one day. Poor girl! I cannot possibly let this happen."
"Challenge accepted," replied Ms. Vandertramp, who had hitherto never failed to make anyone slim. "As long as all this is written in the will, I will do my utmost best to accomplish my mission."
~To be Continued~
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