Mother Holle

A widow had two daughters: her own, who was lazy, and a stepdaughter, who was kind and worked hard.The stepdaughter did all the work. Every day she sat by the well and spun thread until her fingers hurt.One day the spindle slipped from her hand and fell deep into the well.

She was afraid of her stepmother, so she jumped into the water to bring it back.She woke in a bright meadow full of flowers, with a path running through it.Soon she passed an oven full of bread. "Take me out, or I will burn!" it cried, and she took every loaf out.

Next an apple tree called, "Shake me! My apples are ripe." So she shook it until every apple was down.At last she came to a little house where an old woman with very big teeth looked out.The girl was frightened and wanted to run away.

But the woman said kindly, "Stay with me. If you keep my house well, you will be happy here. I am Mother Holle.""Most of all, shake my feather bed hard, so the feathers fly. Then it snows in the world."The girl stayed and worked hard, and Mother Holle was always good to her.

But after a while she grew sad and missed her home."You have served me well," said Mother Holle. "I will take you home myself."She led her to a great gate. As the girl walked through, gold rained down and covered her from head to foot, and the lost spindle was handed back.

When she came home shining with gold, her stepmother wanted the same for her own lazy daughter, and sent her to the well.But the lazy girl let the bread burn, left the apples on the tree, and soon would not work at all.So Mother Holle sent her home. At the gate, a pot of black pitch poured over her instead of gold, and it never washed off as long as she lived.