Mother Holle Fairy Tale

Long ago a woman had two daughters: her stepdaughter, who was hard-working and kind, and her own daughter, who was lazy and proud. The stepdaughter worked all day long and sat spinning by the well.

One day her spindle fell into the well. "Jump in and get it!" scolded her stepmother. The girl jumped into the well, and when she opened her eyes, she was lying in a beautiful meadow full of flowers.

She walked along a path and came to an oven. "Take me out, my loaves are burning!" said the oven. The girl took out the bread. Then an apple tree called, "Shake me, my apples are ripe!" The girl shook the tree and gathered the apples into a pile.

At last she came to the cottage of Mother Holle. "Stay with me," said Mother Holle. "Only shake out my feather bed well, and then it will snow on the earth." Every day the girl shook out the feather bed and kept the house clean, and white snow fell on the earth.

After a while the girl grew homesick. Mother Holle led her to a great gate, and a shower of gold poured down on her until she was covered in gold. When she came home, the rooster crowed, "Cock-a-doodle-doo, our golden girl is home!"

Seeing this, the stepmother sent her own daughter to the well. But the lazy girl helped neither the oven nor the apple tree, and she did not shake out Mother Holle's bed. Under the gate, sticky tar poured down on her. "Cock-a-doodle-doo, our tarry girl is home!" crowed the rooster. We are rewarded for our hard work and kindness.