In the Brothers Grimm tale “Cinderella,” two pigeons help Cinderella sort the lentils.
The task is imposed by Cinderella’s stepmother, who mixes lentils with ashes and orders the girl to separate them before she may attend the royal festival. Cinderella’s birds answer her call and complete the work quickly, allowing her to ask for permission to go.
The Grimm version, titled “Aschenputtel,” differs from many modern film adaptations. Its supernatural helpers are birds associated with Cinderella’s dead mother, rather than a fairy godmother who simply transforms her clothes and carriage. The birds also return at the wedding and punish the stepsisters by pecking out their eyes.
Readers sometimes confuse this scene with later retellings in which a flock of many birds performs the task. The canonical Grimm wording specifies two white pigeons, although translations can vary slightly in how the birds are described.