grey fairy tale book

Chapter 44
Long, long ago, there was a widow who had two daughters, one smart and beautiful, the other lazy and ugly.But the ugly one was her own daughter, so she doted on her, and the beautiful one had to do all the housework, and became, in effect, the housemaid.Every day she had to sit by the well beside the road and spin until her hands were sore and even bled.A few drops of blood dripped on the spindle a day, she took the spindle to the well to wash it, but accidentally dropped the spindle into the well.She cried and went to her stepmother and told her what was going on. The stepmother scolded her severely and said cruelly: "Since you fell in, go down yourself, and don't come back until you find it."

The poor girl went back to the well, not knowing what to do with herself.In desperation, she jumped into the well, sank to the bottom, and passed out.When she awoke, she found herself lying on the lovely grass, with the sun shining brightly above her head and flowers fluttering at her feet.She got up and walked until she came to an oven where bread was being baked.Bread called her, and she walked over.

"Oh, get me out, get me out! I'm burning to cinders, I'm ripe."

She took out all the bread and walked on.I saw a tree covered with red apples.As she walked by, the apple called to her, "Oh, shake me down, shake me down. I'm ripe."

She shakes the apple down.The apples fell like raindrops, and not one was left on the tree.She piled the apples into a pile and walked on.

She saw a small house with an old woman sitting by the door.The old woman's huge teeth startled the little girl and she tried to run away, but the old woman called after her, "What are you afraid of, my dear child. Stay with me and be my maid. If you can Well, I will reward you well. But you have to be careful when you make the bed, shake the quilt and shake the feathers, and people in the world will say that it is snowing. Well, I am Mama Hara."

She was so amiable that the girl was relieved and agreed to help her with the work.She did her best to cheer the old woman up, and when she shook her bed the feathers really came out like snowflakes.

Here she lived a much easier life, without reprimands and living in fertile fields.

But after living with Mama Hara for a while, she began to grieve.At first she didn't know what was going on, and finally she found herself homesick, so she went to Mama Hara and said, "I know life here is a thousand times better than life at home. But, I still want to Go home. You've been so good to me, but I can't stay anymore, I'm going home."

"I'm glad you want to go home," said Mother Hola. "You've been helping me so faithfully. Let me show you the way back."

She took the little girl by the hand and led her to an open door.The little girl went in, and immediately it rained gold, and she was covered with gold from head to toe.

"This is my reward for you." Mother Hola said.Then he gave her back the spindle which she had dropped in the well, and closed the door.The girl found herself back, not far from home.When she came into the house, the old hen squatting on the wall cried, "cluck, cluck, our golden girl is back."

She saw her stepmother.Because she was covered in gold, she received a warm welcome.

She told the stepmother everything, and when the stepmother heard about it, she wanted her own lazy and ugly daughter to have the same luck, so she told her to sit by the well and spin.

In order to get some blood on the spindle, the girl pricked her finger with a thorn from the fence, then threw the spindle into the well, and jumped down with it.

Like her older sister, she also got to that pretty place, taking the same path.

She went to the oven, and the bread shouted, "Oh, take me out, I'm going to be baked to cinders, I'm already cooked."

But the clueless girl replied: "Just kidding, how could I get my hands dirty for you!"

She went on and saw the apple tree, and the tree cried, "Oh, shake me, shake me, the apples are ripe."

"I reckon I'll have to walk a little farther away," she said, "before it falls and hits me on the head."

She continued on her way.When she came to mother Hara's house, she was not afraid at all, because she knew that this mother had a mouth full of big teeth, and she agreed to be her maid at once.

On the first day, she was very diligent, and she did everything the master asked, because she thought of gold.But the next day she was lazy, and the third morning she didn't get up.Mama Hola didn't make her bed or shake her feathers, and her master soon disliked her and fired her, much to the slacker's delight.

"Now it's time for the golden rain," she thought.

Mama Hara led her to the door as she had her sister.But she walked in, and instead of golden rain, a pot of asphalt was poured down.

"This is my reward for you," Mother Hola said, and closed the door.

The lazy girl came home covered in asphalt, and the old hen squatting on the wall sang: "Clack, cluck, dirty lazy girl is back."

The asphalt stuck on her body, and it couldn't be washed off. As long as she lived, the asphalt stayed with her.

(End of this chapter)