Adapted from an old tale
There was once a widow who had two daughters. One of them was kind and industrious, while the other was idle and thoughtless. The widow was much fonder of the idle one, for she was much like herself. This daughter was the widow’s true child, while the kind, industrious daughter was only a cousin.
The industrious girl was forced to work all day, doing all of the household tasks from morning until night. When the work in the house was done, she had to sit outside next to a well by the road, spinning wool until her fingers were so sore they bled.
Now it happened one day when her fingers were bleeding, they bled all over the shuttle. She dipped it down into the well to get it clean, but it dropped out of her hand and fell to the bottom. She began to weep, and ran home to the widow to tell her what had happened. But the woman scolded her sharply, saying, “Since you let the shuttle fall in, you must also get it out again!”
So the girl went back to the well. She didn’t know how to get the shuttle out, so in the end she jumped into the well, hoping to swim down to the bottom to fetch it. Instead, she fainted. When she awoke, she found herself in a lovely meadow where the sun was shining and many thousands of flowers were growing. Across this meadow she went, and at last came to a baker’s oven full of bread. As she passed, the bread cried out, “Oh please, take me out! Take me out! I shall burn if you do not take me out, as I have been baked a long time!” The kind girl’s heart was moved, and she took out all the loaves, one after the other.
Then she went on, until she came to a tree that was covered with apples. As she passed by, the tree called out, “Shake me! Please shake me! All my apples are ripe, and they are so heavy. I’m afraid my branches will break if you do not shake me!” So the girl stopped to shake the branches of the tree until the apples fell down like rain. When she had gathered them all into a heap, she went on her way.
At last she came to a little house. A little old woman peeped out, and she had such large teeth that the girl was frightened and started to run away. But the old woman called out to her, “What are you afraid of, dear child? Stay with me. I will not harm you. Please stay with me and work for me – if you will do all the work in the house properly, you shall be the better for it. Only you must take care to make my bed well and to shake it thoroughly until the feathers fly, for then there is snow on the earth. I am Mother Holle.”
As the old woman spoke so kindly to her, the girl took courage and agreed to enter her service. She attended to everything that needed to be done in the house and her mistress was pleased with all her work. She always shook the old woman’s bed vigorously so the feathers flew about like snowflakes. The two had a pleasant life together, and never spoke an angry word to one another.
The girl stayed some time with Mother Holle, but finally she became sad. At first she did not know what was the matter with her, but eventually she found that it was homesickness. Even though her life with Mother Holle was much better, she still had a desire to visit her old home. At last she said to the little woman, “I have a longing for home. You have been so kind to me, and I am very well off here, but I cannot stay any longer. I must go back to my own people.”
Mother Holle said, “I am pleased that you have stayed so long, and I understand your wish to see your home once more. You have served me truly, and I myself will take you up again.” Thereupon she took the girl by the hand and led her to a door. The door was opened, and just as the maiden was standing beneath the doorway, a heavy shower of golden rain fell. All the gold clung to her, so she was completely covered with it.
“That gold shall be your payment, because you have been so kind and industrious,” said Mother Holle. And at the same time she handed her back the shuttle that had fallen into the well so long ago. Thereupon the door closed, and girl found herself up above upon the earth, not far from the widow’s house.
As she went into the yard of her childhood home, the rooster was sitting on the well and it cried,
Cock-a-doodle-doo!
Your golden girl’s come back to you!
The girl went into the house, and as she arrived covered with gold, the widow and her unpleasant daughter were very glad to see her once more.
The girl told all that had happened to her. As soon as the widow heard how she had come by so much wealth, she was very anxious to obtain the same good luck for the lazy, thoughtless daughter. She had to seat herself by the well and spin, and in order to make herself bleed on the shuttle, she stuck her hand into a thorn bush and pricked her finger. Then she threw her shuttle into the well and jumped in after it.
Just as the other girl had done before, she came to the beautiful meadow and walked along the path that brought her to the oven. The bread cried out piteously, “Oh, take me out! Please take me out! I shall burn if you do not take me out, as I have been baked a long time!”
But the girl said, “I am in much too big a hurry, and besides, I don’t want to get dirty. Find somebody else to take you out!” And on she went.
Soon she came to the tree that was covered with apples. As she passed by, the tree called out, “Shake me! Please shake me! All my apples are ripe, and they are so heavy. I’m afraid my branches will break if you do not shake me!”
But the girl said, “I am not your servant! What if one of your apples fell on my head?” And she walked on. When she came to Mother Holle’s little house, she was not afraid because she had already heard all about the little old lady and her big teeth. She walked into the house without so much as knocking, and demanded that Mother Holle let her stay.
The first day she forced herself to work diligently, although she had never worked in her life. She obeyed Mother Holle as best she could, for she was thinking about the gold she would receive. She even shook Mother Holle’s bed so the feathers flew like snowflakes. But on the second day, she started to get lazy. She did only a few of her tasks and forgot to shake Mother Holle’s bed. On the third day she did nearly nothing at all, and on the fourth day she would not even get out of bed, but wanted Mother Holle to serve her.
Mother Holle was soon tired of all this, and told the girl it was time for her to leave. The lazy girl was willing to go, and was looking forward to receiving the rain of gold that she knew would come. Mother Holle said she would help her find her way home, and led her to a big door. While the girl was standing in the door, a huge pot of tar was poured over her, covering her from head to foot. “That is your payment for your service,” said Mother Holle, and shut the door.
So the lazy girl went home, angry and weeping. When she passed the rooster on the well next to the house, the rooster cried out,
Cock-a-doodle-doo!
Your dirty girl’s come back to you!
And so she went home in disgrace.
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