Once there were two sisters. One of the sisters was good and kind where the other was very bad tempered.
The father of the two girls did not have any work so the two girls decided to go and get some work.
The first girl picked up a bundle and decided to go and find work.
As she was walking through the country she came upon an oven which had a lot of loaves of bread which were baking.
One of the loaves cried out. “Little girl please help us! We have been baking for seven years and no one has taken us out of the oven. We will be burnt!”
The little girl happily helped the oven by taking the loaves of bread out.
She walked on and she came across a cow which was standing beside an empty bucket. The cow asked the girl to milk it because no one had done it for seven years.
The little girl happily agreed and she left the place after the cow was grateful to her.
There was an apple tree on the way which told the little tree that there were far too many apples in it and the tree was leaning dangerously almost threatening to fall.
The apple tree wanted the girl to shake it so that all the fruits would fall and the tree could stand up straight again.
The little girl happily helped the apple tree as well.
As the little girl walked on she saw an old witch in a hut in the forest.
The witch wanted a servant and the witch promised the little girl good wages if the little girl kept the house clean and tidy.
However the witch had a warning for the little girl. “Do not look up the chimney.”
The girl agreed to the witch’s demand. She daily swept and dusted the house and kept it happy and cheerful and she also made the fire.
However the witch didn't pay any wages to the girl.
Once as the witch was away on an errand, the girl was cleaning the house. She looked up the chimney and was surprised when a big bag of gold fell into her hands.
The girl decided to use the opportunity and she took the bag of gold and ran back home.
The witch came to know what the girl had done after she had come back to her home.
She decided to chase the girl and get back her gold.
The apple tree which the girl had helped her back, by hiding the girl when the witch was close by. The apple tree gave wrong directions to the witch.
The girl thanked the apple tree and walked on.
But the witch was able to find that she was in the wrong way and she walked back and found the path that the girl had taken.
This time the cow helped the girl by hiding her from the witch. The cow also gave the wrong directions to the witch.
However this time too the witch was able to realize that she was in the wrong direction and came after the girl.
At this time she was near the baker house where she had helped the loaves of bread.
The baker was very happy with the girl because she had helped his bread from being burnt.
So the Baker asked the girl to hide in the baker's house.
The baker was able to shut the witch in the oven.
Finally the girl thanked the Baker and she went her way and showed the gold coins to her father.
The other girl was also very jealous that her sister had been able to get so much money.
She decided to get some money and went out into the world.
She also met the loaves of bread, apple tree and the cow.
But she did not help any of them and kept going on her way.
She also met the witch and though she was given the job of cleaning the house the girl did not do a good job of cleaning the house.
Finally by mistake when she was just pulling down something from the chimney she looked up and saw a bag of gold which fell in her lap.
This time too the witch was not at home at that time and when she came back home, she decided to chase the girl and get her gold back.
The girl took the bag of gold and ran from there.
The apple tree did not help the girl.
So she ran from there.
The apple tree told the witch where to find the girl.
The witch caught the girl, gave the girl a beating and took the gold coins and went back to her home. The second girl was left without any money unlike her sister.
Adapted from English Folk Tales
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