Query any story you want.

There was once a widow who had two daughters—one of whom

was pretty and industrious, while the other was ugly and idle. But

she was much fonder of the ugly and idle one, because she was her

own daughter; and the other, who was a step-daughter, was obliged

to do all the work, and be the Cinderella of the house. Every day

the poor girl had to sit by a well, in the highway, and spin and

spin till her fingers bled.

Now it happened that one day the shuttle was marked with her

blood, so she dipped it in the well, to wash the mark off; but it

dropped out of her hand and fell to the bottom. She began to weep,

and ran to her step-mother and told of the mishap. But she scolded

her sharply, and was so merciless as to say, "Since you have let

the shuttle fall in, you must fetch it out again."

So the girl went back to the well, and did not know what to do;

and in the sorrow of her heart she jumped into the well to get the

shuttle. She lost her senses; and when she awoke and came to

herself again, she was in a lovely meadow where the sun was shining

and many thousands of flowers were growing. Along this meadow she

went, and at last came to a baker's oven full of bread, and the

bread cried out, "Oh, take me out! take me out! or I shall burn; I

have been baked a long time!" So she went up to it, and took out

all the loaves one after another with the bread-shovel. After that

she went on till she came to a tree covered with apples, which

called out to her, "Oh, shake me! shake me! we apples are all

ripe!" So she shook the tree till the apples fell like rain, and

went on shaking till they were all down, and when she had gathered

them into a heap, she went on her way.

At last she came to a little house, out of which an old woman

peeped; but she had such large teeth that the girl was frightened,

and was about to run away.

But the old woman called out to her, "What are you afraid of,

dear child? Stay with 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 till 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 to the

satisfaction of her mistress, and always shook her bed so

vigorously that the feathers flew about like snow-flakes. So she

had a pleasant life with her; never an angry word; and boiled or

roast meat every day.

She stayed some time with Mother Holle, and then she became sad.

At first she did not know what was the matter with her, but found

at length that it was homesickness; although she was many times

better off here than at home, still she had a longing to be there.

At last she said to the old woman, "I have a longing for home; and

however well off I am down here, I cannot stay any longer; I must

go up again to my own people." Mother Holle said, "I am pleased

that you long for your home again, and as you have served me so

truly, I myself will take you up again." Thereupon she took her by

the hand, and led her to a large door. The door was opened, and

just as the maiden was standing beneath the doorway, a heavy shower

of golden rain fell, and all the gold remained sticking to her, so

that she was completely covered with it.

"You shall have that because you are so industrious," said

Mother Holle; and at the same time she gave her back the shuttle

which she had let fall into the well. Thereupon the door closed,

and the maiden found herself up above upon the earth, not far from

her mother's house.

And as she went into the yard the cock cried:

"Cock-a-doodle-doo! Your golden girl's come back to you!"

So she went in to her mother, and as she arrived thus covered

with gold, she was well received, both by her and her sister.

The girl told all that had happened to her; and as soon as the

mother heard how she had come by so much wealth, she was very

anxious to obtain the same good luck for the ugly and lazy

daughter. She had to seat herself by the well and spin; and in

order that her shuttle might be stained with blood, 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.

She came, like the other, to the beautiful meadow and walked

along the very same path. When she got to the oven the bread again

cried, "Oh, take me out! take me out! or I shall burn; I have been

baked a long time!" But the lazy thing answered, "As if I had any

wish to make myself dirty!" and on she went. Soon she came to the

apple-tree, which cried, "Oh, shake me! shake me! we apples are all

ripe!" But she answered, "I like that! one of you might fall on my

head," and so went on.

When she came to Mother Holle's house she was not afraid, for

she had already heard of her big teeth, and she hired herself to

her immediately.

The first day she forced herself to work diligently, and obeyed

Mother Holle when she told her to do anything, for she was thinking

of all the gold that she would give her. But on the second day she

began to be lazy, and on the third day still more so, and then she

would not get up in the morning at all. Neither did she make Mother

Holle's bed as she ought, and did not shake it so as to make the

feathers fly up. Mother Holle was soon tired of this, and gave her

notice to leave. The lazy girl was willing enough to go, and

thought that now the golden rain would come. Mother Holle led her,

too, to the great door; but while she was standing beneath it,

instead of the gold a big kettleful of pitch was emptied over her.

"That is the reward of your service," said Mother Holle, and shut

the door.

So the lazy girl went home; but she was quite covered with

pitch, and the cock by the well-side, as soon as he saw her, cried:

"Cock-a-doodle-doo! Your pitchy girl's come back to you." But the

pitch stuck fast to her, and could not be got off as long as she

lived.