Thursday, 12 February 2015
The Cockerel
In a pretty little house, there once lived a neat old widow who wore the cleanest caps and the finest kerchief you ever saw in your life. She was very fond of washing and scrubbing and baking and sewing! Everybody who knew her used to say that she was the most hard-working lady they had ever seen and an example to the whole village.
This good woman had two little girls living with her whom she was always trying to make as clean and neat as herself. She taught them how to knead bread, cook rice and meals. She also taught them to spin fine thread on their spinning wheels. Every morning, the moment the big brown cockerel in the yard gave his first crow, she would get out of the bed, go to the room where the little girls slept and shake them until they woke.
"Get up! Get up!" she would say. "Don't you hear the cockerel crowing outside? The Sun will be shining over the hill in a moment. Nobody in this house must stay in bed when once the cockerel has crowed!"
The little girls were always dreadfully sleepy and did not want to get up in the least. But the bustling old woman would stand over them, till they got out of bed, yawning and blinking their eyes. Then she would start her household chores, telling them to wash and dress and to follow her into the kitchen as quickly as they could.
Now one of the things the little girls had to do was to feed the poultry - the big brown cockerel among the others. He was rather a greedy bird and always ate a lot of the scraps and corn that were thrown on the ground. The old lady would stand at the kitchen door to watch the feeding and the more the cockerel ate, the better she was pleased.
"Is he not a fine bird?" she would say to the little girls. "Be sure and give him the best bits of food. If he doesn't crow we would always be oversleeping, for there would be nobody to wake us in the morning!"
Then the little girls would look at each other under their eyelashes and pout. For they both hated the brown bird which tried to wake everybody at sunrise when it would be so much nicer to sleep on until eight or nine o clock.
At last, one day, when the cockerel seemed to have crowed even earlier than usual, they decided they could stand it no longer. They waited until their mother had gone to market… then they caught the poor brown cockerel and wrung his neck! After that they buried him as quickly as they could in the field on the other side of the fence. Then, rather frightened at what they had done, they set to work to cook for the lunch.
The lady came home and found that her dear bird was missing. She searched for the cockerel everywhere while the girls also pretended as much so that their mother might not suspect them.
The lady missed the cockerel very much. But when they went to bed, however, they the girls told each other how glad they were that they had killed the horrid bird at last.
"Now" they said to each other, "we shall have a little peace. How lovely it will be to sleep as long as we want to with no crowing to wake our mother in the morning!”
They cuddled down into their pillows and fell asleep. But in the middle of the night or so it seemed to them, the old lady came to their bedside in her nightcap, carrying a lighted candle!
'Get up! Get up!” she said to them all in a bustle. We have no cockerel to wake us now and it will never do to oversleep! The dawn has not broken yet…I know! Bui it will break presently and without the crowing in the yard, we shall not even know that day has come. Get up! Get up! Follow me into the kitchen as quickly as possible!"
How sad and disappointed those little maidens were! But they were obliged to do as their mother told them. So they got up and stalled scrubbing and washing and spinning by candle light, sleepier than they had ever been in their lives.
And as the old lady has been too fond of that cockerel to wish to buy another to take his place, she went on waking the little girls in the middle of the night. She was insisting on getting them up to work as no single minute of the coming daylight should be wasted.
Oh, how those two blinking, yawning little girls wished that they had never killed the big brown cockerel!
MORAL : As you sow, so you reap.
The Foolish Hare
One day a little hare sat under a fruit tree and was deeply immersed in thought. He was foolish and always took quick decisions without even giving second thoughts. One day he thought. "What will happen to me when the earth comes to an end?” At that very moment a fruit fell from the tree. Off ran the foolish hare as fast as his legs could carry him. He thought that the noise of the fruit falling to the ground was that of the earth breaking to pieces. And he ran and ran, not daring to look behind him.
“Brother, Brother,” called another little hare that saw him running, "please tell me what has happened!"
But the little hare ran on and did not even turn to answer. But the other hare ran after him calling louder and louder, "What has happened, little brother, what has happened?"
At last the little hare stopped a moment and said, "The earth is breaking to pieces!" At this the other hare started running still faster and a third hare joined them and a fourth and a fifth till a hundred thousand hares were racing through the fields. And they raced through the forest and valleys and the deer, the boars, the elks, the buffaloes, the oxen, the rhinos, the tigers, the lions and the elephants, hearing that the earth was coming to an end all ran wildly with them.
But among them lived a lion that was very wise. He knew everything that took place in the world. He came to know that so many hundreds and thousands of animals were running away because they believed that the earth was breaking to pieces. He thought, "This earth of ours is far from coming to an end. But these poor creatures will die if I do not save them. In their fright they will run into the sea.”
And he ran at such a pace that he reached a certain mountain which lay in their path. As they passed by the mountain he roared three times so loudly that they stopped. All stood still, close to each other, trembling.
The great lion descended from the mountain and approached them. "Why are you running at such a pace?” he asked.
"The earth is breaking to pieces", they replied.
“Who saw it breaking to pieces?" he asked.
"The elephants", they replied.
"Did you see it breaking?" he asked the elephants.
"No. we did not see it. The lions saw it,” they replied.
"Did you see it?" he asked the lions.
"No. the tigers saw it", they replied.
Then the lion asked the tigers, “Did you see it?"
"The rhinos saw it", they replied.
But the rhinos said, "The elks saw it."
The elks said, “The bears saw it."
The bears said, "The oxen saw it."
The oxen said. "The deer saw it.”
The deer said. "The hares saw it."
And the hares said, "That little one told us that the earth was breaking."
"Did you see the earth breaking?" he asked the little hare.
"Yes. lord", replied the hare. "I saw it breaking." "Where were you when you saw it breaking?" he asked.
With a trembling voice the little hare replied, "I was sitting beneath a fruit tree and thought, "What will happen to me when the earth comes to an end?" And at the very moment I heard the noise of the earth breaking and I ran.”
The wise lion thought, "He was sitting under a fruit tree. Certainly the noise he heard was that of a fruit falling to the ground." "Ride on my back, little one", he said, "and show me where you saw the earth break.”
The little hare jumped on to his back and the great lion flew to the place. But as they approached the fruit tree, the little hare jumped off. So frightened was he to return to the spot. And he pointed out the tree to the lion, saying, "Lord, there is the tree."
The great one went to the tree and saw the spot where the little hare had been sitting and the fruit which had fallen from the tree. "Come here little one", he called.
"Now where do you see the earth broken?
Little hare looked around. He saw the fruit on the ground. Now he knew that there had been no reason for his fright. He jumped once again on the lion’s back and away they went to the hundreds of creatures who were awaiting their return.
The lion then told the great multitude that the noise the little hare had heard was of a fruit falling to the ground. And so all turned back, the elephants to the valleys, the lions to the caves, the deer to the river banks and the little hare to the fruit tree. The little hare was foolish and brought trouble to all animals.
MORAL : Being foolish is dangerous to oneself as well as to others.
The Fox and The Stork 2
In a burrow made by an enormous family of rabbits, there lived a cunning fox. He stayed near the rabbits' home when he was just a youngster with the simple plan of eating all the rabbits up! He made a most comfortable house of it, furnished it with all sorts of things - most of them stolen goods. And now he lived there alone sleeping during the day and hunting at night.
One early morning, this busy, cunning fox was trotting home with a dead rabbit in his mouth; he saw a big white bird solemnly stalking through the river reeds on legs that were just like stilts. The big bird bowed to him for they know each other and the fox suddenly burst out laughing. However, as he laughed into the furry coat of the rabbit, the big bird did not hear him. The fox was thinking how silly the stork looked with his long legs and his neck that was even longer. It suddenly occurred to the mischievous, cunning fox to play a joke on this absurd bird so he put the rabbit carefully down and spoke.
"Good evening, my dear friend! Have you had good hunting?"
"Fair, fair!" replied the stork. "Because the frogs here are getting cautious…it is difficult to find them." The bird glanced at the rabbit.
He wanted to have a few mouthfuls of it.
"Come to dine with me this evening", said the cunning fox graciously, "You shall see the most excellent dish of rabbit you ever saw in your life."
The stork accepted the invitation as politely as it was given and the cunning fox trolled off again with the rabbit. When he reached his burrow, he began to make arrangements for his visitor. All the time, he was laughing silently and then he curled himself up for his long day's nap. He went on chuckling even in his sleep.
At twilight the stork arrived at the cunning fox’s house. As he could not, of course, get into the burrow, his host prepared to set the supper in the bracken just outside. He laid the table and put out the plates. Then he disappeared into the burrow for a minute and came back carrying a large dish which smelled most delicious. He set it down and invited the stork to begin.
The mischief-loving, cunning little fox had made a soup out of the rabbit! Poor stork, he stuck his long beak into the soup and dabbled about, but of course he could not manage to eat it, except by the tiniest mouthfuls, not worth mentioning. Meanwhile, the cunning fox lapped up plateful after plateful urging the stork all the time to take his share.
But when the meal was over, the stork was as hungry as he had been before it began. He was a proud bird however and he hid his disappointment and disgust. "A very excellent dish of rabbit!" he said condescendingly. "I hardly like to venture to return your hospitality, but if you will dine with me tomorrow, I will show you a frog stew, that will, I hope, be nearly as good."
The fox accepted the invitation, for he was rather fond of frogs. The next evening, he brushed his coat, smoothed his whiskers and set out to dine with the stork. He found his host ready to welcome him at the edge of the reeds.
"Pray come in! Pray come in!" said the stork leading the way into the bulrushes. "Our little meal is quite ready. I am only sorry. I have no plates! But we can eat out of the same dish quite comfortably."
He waved a claw in the direction of the aforesaid dish. He had used a big jar for the delicious frog stew. With a neck as long as his own, he started eating up from the jar out of which came a smell quite as appetizing as the smell of the last night's rabbit soup.
"Please, help yourself" the stork said genially to his visitor, “You will find that the stew is done to perfection."
He stuck his long neck down to the bottom of the jar and brought up a big frog which he greedily swallowed while the cunning fox looked on. Every time the stork pulled up a frog, he invited the fox to do the same. But the fox could only sit on his haunches, staring at the jai and trying to hide both his annoyance and his hunger.
At last, the stork finished up all the frogs and then, for the first time, broke into a croaking laugh. "Ah! Dear Fox, dear fox!" said he, "You decided to make fun of my long neck and beak. But I think the laugh is on my side tonight, for I have paid back your practical joke with interest!"
The cunning fox felt ashamed and returned to his burrow. From that day onwards he never made fun of anyone. He had learnt his lesson from the stork, that "everyone will get one's chance to show one's ability."
MORAL : Do not make fun of others on their outward looks.
The Golden Goose
Once there lived an old man in a village. He had three sons. The youngest was named Somu. He was despised and slighted and ignored on every occasion. One day the eldest son wished to go into the forest to hew wood His mother gave him a fine package of food with potatoes. Just as he got into the forest, he met a grey old man who bade him good-day and said, "Give me a little food of your package and a little water to drink for I am very hungry and thirsty.’
The prudent youth, however, would not, saying, "If I give you my food and water, I shall have nothing left for myself. No… pack-off!" and he left the man there and went onwards. He now began to hew down a tree. But he had not made many strokes before he missed his aim and the axe cut into his arm so deeply that he was forced to go home and have it dressed. But this wound came from the little old man.
Afterwards the second son went into the forest and the mother gave him as she had given the eldest a package of food with potatoes and water to drink. The same little old man met him also and requested for a little food of his package and a little water to drink. But he likewise refused and said, "If I give you my food. I cannot have anything for myself. Go away. Take yourself off!" And so speaking, he left the old man there and went onwards. His reward, however, soon came for when he had made two strokes at the tree he cut his own leg and so he had to return home.
Then Somu asked his father to let him go and hew wood. But his father said, "No…your brothers have harmed themselves in doing so and so will you, for you do not understand anything about it."
But Somu begged and prayed so long that his father at last said, "Well, then go and you will become prudent through experience."
His mother gave him stale food with dry potatoes and some water to drink.
As he entered the forest the same grey old man greeted him and asked, "Give me some food and a little water to drink for I am hungry and thirsty."
Somu answered, "I have only stale food with dry potatoes and a little water to drink. The food is burnt. If you like to share it with me, let us sit down and eat."
They sat down and as soon as Somu took out his food. Oh! It was changed into a fine delicious food and the dry potatoes became so nice to taste.
They ate the food and drank the water and when they finished, the little old man said, "Because you have a good heart and have willingly shared what you had, I will make you lucky. There stands an old tree, cut it down and you will find something at the roots.”
After saying so, the little old man took leave. Somu went directly and cut down the tree and when it fell, there sat amongst the roots a goose which had feathers of pure gold. He took it up and carried it with him to an inn where he planned to spend the night. The landlord had three daughters who as soon as they saw the goose were very covetous of such a wonderful bird, at least to have but one of its feathers. The eldest girl thought she would watch for an opportunity to pluck out one and just as Somu was going out, she caught hold of one of the wings. But her finger and thumb stuck there and she could not move.
Soon came the second daughter, desiring to pluck out a feather, but scarcely had she touched her sister when she also stuck to her sister.
At last the third also came with like intention and the others exclaimed, "Keep away! For heaven’s sake don’t touch us!"
But she did not see why she should and thought, “The others are there, why should I not be too?” and springing up to them, she touched her sister and at once was made to stick fast so they had to pass the night with the goose.
The next morning Somu took the goose under his arm and went out without troubling himself about the three girls who were still hanging on and who were obliged to keep on the run behind him. In the middle of the field the parson met them and when he saw the procession he cried out, "Oh! what a shame! You good-for-nothing wenches! Why are you running after that young man across the fields for? Come on, stop this stupid thing!"
Saying so, he took the youngest girl by the hand and tried to pull her away. But as soon as he touched her he also stuck fast and was forced to follow in the train. Soon after came the clerk and saw his master, the parson following in the footsteps of the three girls.
The sight astonished him much and he called, "Hello, master! Where are you going so quickly? Have you forgotten that there is a wedding today?" and he ran up to him and caught him by the dhoti. The clerk also could not release himself and so there tramped the five, one behind the other, till they met two countrymen returning with their hatchets in their hands. The parson called out to them and begged them to come and release him and the clerk. But no sooner had they touched the clerk than they stuck fast to him and so now there were seven all in a row following behind Somu and the golden goose. By and by he came into a city where the king had a daughter so seriously inclined that no one could make her laugh. So, he had made a law that whoever causes her to laugh would have her as wife.
Now, when Somu heard this, he went with his goose and all his train before the princess and as soon as she saw these seven poor creatures continuing on the trot behind one another, she began to laugh so heartily as if she was never going to cease. Somu thereupon demanded his bride. But his intended son-in-law did not please the king who, after a variety of excuses, at last said that he must bring a man who would drink a drum full of water. Somu immediately thought of the little old man who would no doubt be able to help him. Then he went into the forest to the same spot where he had cut the tree, he saw a man sitting very gloomily.
Somu asked him why he looked sad and he answered, "I have such a great thirst and cannot quench it."
Somu was astonished on hearing this. He said. “I can help you. Come with me and you shall quench your thirst."
He led him into the king's palace and the man drank and drank a drum full of water till his stomach swelled. Before the day was out he had emptied the drum. Somu now demanded his bride again, but the king was vexed that such an ugly fellow whom everyone called dumb Somu should marry his daughter and he set a new condition that he must first find a man who could eat a whole mountain of food. Somu did not consider long, but set off into the forest where, on the same spot as before, sat a man who was strapping his body round with a leather strap and all the while making a sad face and saying. "I have eaten so much of food…but what use is that when one has such a hunger as I? My stomach remains empty still and I must strap myself to prevent my dying of hunger!"
At these words Somu was glad and said, "Get up and come with me and you shall eat enough to satisfy yourself.”
He led him to the royal palace where the king had collected all the meal. The man began to eat and towards sunset the whole mountain of food had vanished.
Somu, then for the third time, demanded his bride, but the king began again to make fresh excuses and desired a ship which could travel both on land and water. "If you return with such a ship, you shall marry my daughter", said the king.
Somu went, as before, straight into the forest and there he met the little old man to whom he had given the food. When Somu said what he wanted, the old man gave him the ship which could travel on both land and water. Then he turned Somu into a handsome youth. The old man said to Somu, "Since I shared your food, I give you the ship and all this I do because you are good natured."
As soon as the king saw Somu so handsome and the ship, he could no longer keep back his daughter and the wedding was celebrated. Somu’s parents and brothers came and asked Somu to forgive them. Somu had forgiven them and after the king's death he inherited the kingdom and lived for a long time contentedly with his wife.
MORAL : One who is good at heart will win a priceless gift.
The Girl without Hands
A certain miller had little by little fallen into poverty, and had nothing left but his mill and a large apple-tree behind it. Once when he had gone into the forest to fetch wood, an old man stepped up to him whom he had never seen before, and said, "Why dost thou plague thyself with cutting wood, I will make thee rich, if thou wilt promise me what is standing behind thy mill?"
"What can that be but my apple-tree?" thought the miller, and said, "Yes," and gave a written promise to the stranger.
He, however, laughed mockingly and said, "When three years have passed, I will come and carry away what belongs to me," and then he went.
When the miller got home, his wife came to meet him and said, "Tell me miller. Where does this sudden wealth come into our house?”
All at once every box and chest was filled. No one brought it in.
“I know not how it happened." He answered, "It comes from a stranger who met me in the forest and promised me great treasure. I, in return, have promised him what stands behind the mill. We can very well give him the big apple-tree for it."
"Ah, husband," said the terrified wife, "that must have been the devil! He did not mean the apple-tree, but our daughter, who was standing behind the mill sweeping the yard."
The miller's daughter was a beautiful, pious girl and lived through the three years in the fear of God and without sin. When therefore the time was over and the day came when the Evil-one was to fetch her, she washed herself clean and made a circle round herself with chalk.
The devil appeared quite early, but he could not come near to her. Angrily, he said to the miller, "Take all water away from her, that she may no longer be able to wash herself, for otherwise I have no power over her."
The miller was afraid and did so. The next morning the devil came again, but she had wept on her hands and they were quite clean. Again he could not get near her and furiously said to the miller, "Cut her hands off, or else I cannot get the better of her."
The miller was shocked and answered, "How could I cut off my own child's hands?"
Then the Evil-one threatened him and said, "If thou dost not do it thou art mine, and I will take thee thyself."
The father became alarmed and promised to obey him. So he went to the girl and said, "My child, if I do not cut off both thine hands, the devil will carry me away, and in my terror I have promised to do it. Help me in my need and forgive me the harm I do thee."
She replied, "Dear father, do with me what you will, I am your child."
Thereupon she laid down both her hands and let them be cut off. The devil came for the third time, but she had wept so long and so much on the stumps, that after all they were quite clean. Then he had to give in and had lost all right over her. The miller said to her, "I have by means of thee received such great wealth that I will keep thee most delicately as long as thou livest."
But she replied, "Here I cannot stay, I will go forth, compassionate people will give me as much as I require." Thereupon she caused her maimed arms to be bound to her back, and by sunrise she set out on her way and walked the whole day until night fell. Then she came to a royal garden and by the shimmering of the moon she saw that trees covered with beautiful fruits grew in it, but she could not enter, for there was much water round about it.
And as she had walked the whole day and not eaten one mouthful and hunger tormented her, she thought, "Ah, if I were but inside, that I might eat of the fruit, else must I die of hunger!" Then she knelt down, called on God the Lord, and prayed. And suddenly an angel came towards her, who made a dam in the water, so that the moat became dry and she could walk through it. And now she went into the garden and the angel went with her. She saw a tree covered with beautiful pears, but they were all counted.
Then she went to them and to still her hunger, ate one with her mouth from the tree, but no more. The gardener was watching. But as the angel was standing by, he was afraid and thought the maiden was a spirit, and was silent, neither did he dare to cry out, or to speak to the spirit. When she had eaten the pear, she was satisfied, and went and concealed herself among the bushes. The King to whom the garden belonged, came down to it next morning, and counted, and saw that one of the pears was missing, and asked the gardener what had become of it, as it was not lying beneath the tree, but was gone.
Then answered the gardener, "Last night, a spirit came in, who had no hands, and ate off one of the pears with its mouth."
The King said, "How did the spirit get over the water, and where did it go after it had eaten the pear?" The gardener answered, "Some one came in a snow-white garment from heaven who made a dam, and kept back the water, that the spirit might walk through the moat. And as it must have been an angel, I was afraid, and asked no questions, and did not cry out. When the spirit had eaten the pear, it went back again."
The King said, "If it be as thou sayest, I will watch with thee to-night."
When it grew dark the King came into the garden and brought a priest with him, who was to speak to the spirit. All three seated themselves beneath the tree and watched. At midnight the maiden came creeping out of the thicket, went to the tree and again ate one pear off it with her mouth, and beside her stood the angel in white garments.
Then the priest went out to them and said, "Comest thou from heaven or from earth? Art thou a spirit, or a human being?"
She replied, "I am no spirit, but an unhappy mortal deserted by all but God."
The King said, "If thou art forsaken by the entire world, yet will I not forsake thee."
He took her with him into his royal palace and as she was so beautiful and good, he loved her with all his heart, had silver hands made for her and took her to wife.
After a year the King had to take the field, so he commended his young Queen to the care of his mother and said, "If she is brought to bed take care of her, nurse her well, and tell me of it at once in a letter." Then she gave birth to a fine boy. So the old mother made haste to write and announce the joyful news to him. But the messenger rested by a brook on the way, and as he was fatigued by the great distance, he fell asleep. Then came the Devil who was always seeking to injure the good Queen and exchanged the letter for another in which was written that the Queen had brought a monster into the world. When the King read the letter he was shocked and much troubled, but he wrote in answer that they were to take great care of the Queen and nurse her well until his arrival. The messenger went back with the letter, but rested at the same place and again fell asleep. Then came the Devil once more and put a different letter in his pocket in which it was written that they were to put the Queen and her child to death. The old mother was terribly shocked when she received the letter and could not believe it. She wrote back again to the King but received no other answer, because each time the Devil substituted a false letter and in the last letter it was also written that she was to preserve the Queen's tongue and eyes as a token that she had obeyed.
But the old mother wept to think such innocent blood was to be shed and had a hind brought by night and cut out her tongue and eyes and kept them.
Then said she to the Queen, "I cannot have thee killed as the King commands, but here thou mayst stay no longer. Go forth into the wide world with thy child, and never come here again."
The poor woman tied her child on her back and went away with eyes full of tears. She came into a great wild forest and then she fell on her knees and prayed to God and the angel of the Lord appeared to her and led her to a little house on which was a sign with the words, "Here all dwell free." A snow-white maiden came out of the little house and said, 'Welcome, Lady Queen," and conducted her inside. Then they unbound the little boy from her back and held him to her breast that he might feed, and laid him in a beautifully-made little bed. Then said the poor woman, "From whence knowest thou that I was a queen?" The white maiden answered, "I am an angel sent by God, to watch over thee and thy child." The Queen stayed seven years in the little house, and was well cared for, and by God's grace, because of her piety, her hands which had been cut off, grew once more.
At last the King came home again from the war, and his first wish was to see his wife and the child. Then his aged mother began to weep and said, "Thou wicked man, why didst thou write to me that I was to take those two innocent lives?" and she showed him the two letters which the Evil-one had forged, and then continued, "I did as thou badest me," and she showed the tokens, the tongue and eyes. Then the King began to weep for his poor wife and his little son so much more bitterly than she was doing, that the aged mother had compassion on him and said, "Be at peace, she still lives; I secretly caused a hind to be killed, and took these tokens from it; but I bound the child to thy wife's back and bade her go forth into the wide world, and made her promise never to come back here again, because thou wert so angry with her." Then spoke the King, "I will go as far as the sky is blue, and will neither eat nor drink until I have found again my dear wife and my child, if in the meantime they have not been killed, or died of hunger."
Thereupon the King travelled about for seven long years, and sought her in every cleft of the rocks and in every cave, but he found her not, and thought she had died of want. During the whole of this time he neither ate nor drank, but God supported him. At length he came into a great forest, and found therein the little house whose sign was, "Here all dwell free." Then forth came the white maiden, took him by the hand, led him in, and said, "Welcome, Lord King," and asked him from whence he came. He answered, "Soon shall I have travelled about for the space of seven years, and I seek my wife and her child, but cannot find them." The angel offered him meat and drink, but he did not take anything, and only wished to rest a little. Then he lay down to sleep, and put a handkerchief over his face.
Thereupon the angel went into the chamber where the Queen sat with her son, whom she usually called "Sorrowful," and said to her, "Go out with thy child, thy husband hath come." So she went to the place where he lay, and the handkerchief fell from his face. Then said she, "Sorrowful, pick up thy father's handkerchief, and cover his face again." The child picked it up, and put it over his face again. The King in his sleep heard what passed, and had pleasure in letting the handkerchief fall once more. But the child grew impatient, and said, "Dear mother, how can I cover my father's face when I have no father in this world? I have learnt to say the prayer, 'Our Father, which art in Heaven,' thou hast told me that my father was in Heaven, and was the good God, and how can I know a wild man like this? He is not my father." When the King heard that, he got up, and asked who they were. They said she, "I am thy wife, and that is thy son, Sorrowful." And he saw her living hands, and said, "My wife had silver hands." She answered, "The good God has caused my natural hands to grow again;" and the angel went into the inner room, and brought the silver hands, and showed them to him. Hereupon he knew for a certainty that it was his dear wife and his dear child, and he kissed them, and was glad, and said, "A heavy stone has fallen from off mine heart." Then the angel of God gave them one meal with her, and after that they went home to the King's aged mother. There were great rejoicings everywhere, and the King and Queen were married again, and lived contentedly to their happy end.
The Mother Frost
There was once a widow who had two daughters one of whom was beautiful and industrious and the other ugly and lazy. She behaved most kindly, however, to the ugly one cruelly to the other because she was her stepdaughter and made her do all the hard work and live like a kitchen maid. The poor maiden was forced out daily on her highroad and had to sit by the well and spin so much that blood ran from her fingers.
Once it was happened that her spindles became quite covered with blood so kneeling down by the well she tried to wash it off, but it fell down due to her misfortune. Her mother scolded her terribly and behaved very cruelly and at last said, “Since you have let your spindle fall in, you must yourself fetch it out again!”
Then the maiden went back to the well not knowing what to do and, in her distress, she jumped into the well to fetch the spindle out. As she fell she lost consciousness and when she came to herself again she found herself in a beautiful meadow where the sun was shining and many thousands of flowers blooming around her. She got up and walked along till she came to a baker's house where the oven was full of bread which cried out, "Draw me, draw me or I shall be burnt. I have been baked long enough." So she went up and taking the bread-pan, drew out one loaf after the other. Then she walked on further and came to an apple tree whose fruit hung very thick and which exclaimed,”Shake me, shake me. The apples are all ripe!" So she shook the tree till the apples fell down like rain and when none were left on, she gathered them all together in a heap and went further.
At last she came to a cottage out of which an old woman was peeping, who had such very large teeth that the maiden was frightened and ran away. The old woman, however, called her back, saying, "What are you afraid of, my child? Stay with me…if you will put all things in order in my house, then shall all go well with you. Only you must take care that you make my bed well and shake it tremendously so that the feathers fly…then shows upon earth. I am Old Mother Frost.” As the old woman spoke so kindly, the maiden took courage and consented to engage herself in her service. Now, everything made her contented and she always shook the bed so industriously that the feathers blew down like flakes of snow…therefore her life was a happy one and there were no evil words and she roasted and baked many times everyday.
For sometime she remained with the old woman… but, all at once, she became very sad and did not herself know what the matter was. At last she found she was homesick and although she fared a thousand times better than she did when she was at home, still she longed to go. So she told her mistress, "I wish to go home", and the mistress then said. "Since you have served me so truly, I will fetch you up again myself." So saying, she took her by the hand and led her before a great door which she undid and when the maiden was just beneath it, a great shower of gold fell and a great deal stuck to her so that she was covered over and over with gold. “That you must have for your industry", said the old woman, giving her the spindle which had fallen into the well.
Thereupon the door was closed and the maiden found herself upon the earth, not far from her mother's house and as she came into the court, the cock sat upon the house and called "Cock-a-doodle-doo! Our golden maid's come home again." Then she went into her mother's house and because she was so covered with gold, she was well received.
The maiden related all that had happened and when the mother heard how she had come by these great riches, she wished her ugly, lazy daughter to try her luck. So she was forced to sit down by the well and spin and in order that her spindle might become bloody, she pricked her finger by running a thorn into it and then, throwing the spindle into the well, she jumped in after it.
Then like the other, she came upon the beautiful meadow and traveled on the same path. When she arrived at the baker's, the bread called out, "Draw me out, draw me out or I shall be burnt. I have been baked long enough.” But she answered. "I have no wish to make myself dirty because of you", and so went on.
Soon she came to the apple tree which called out, "Shake me, shake me…my apples are all quite ripe." But she answered. "You do welcome me…perhaps apples will fall on my head and so she went on further. When she came to "Old Mother Frost's" house she was not afraid of her teeth for she had been warned and so she engaged herself to her. The first day she set to work in earnest was very industrious and obeyed her mistress in all she said to her for she thought about the gold which she would present to her. On the second day, however she began to idle…on the third, still more so and then she would not get up in the morning. She did not make the bed either as she ought to and the feathers did not fly. So the old woman got tired and dismissed her from her service which pleased the lazy one very well for she thought; "Now the gold-shower will come."
Her mistress led her to the door…but when she was beneath it, instead of gold, a tubful of pitch was poured down upon her.
"That is the reward for your service", said "Old Mother Frost", and shut the door. Then came lazy-bones home, but she was quite covered with pitch and the cock upon the house when he saw her, cried…
“Cock-a-doodle doo!
Our dirty maid's come home again."
But the pitch stuck to her and as long as she lived, would never come off again.
MORAL : One who is lazy will never prosper in life.
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