The stepmother decided that because she could not steal the black box and its contents she would try to get another one like it, probably even a richer one.
So she had her daughter sit on the edge of the well and she threw her daughter into the water as exactly as she had done to her stepdaughter. This time her own daughter fell into the flowery meadow.
The stepsister walked on the same path as the other girl but things were not the same this time.
When the Fence prayed her not to hurt it the girl laughed rudely and tore some part of the fence to get over it more easily.
The oven offered her free food too. But this time, the girl scattered the loaves of bread on the ground and was careless.
After she milked the cow, she threw the rest of the milk on the grass and threw the bucket away.
She met the old woman but was rude to the woman and ignored her. When the old woman asked her to comb her hair the girl rudely refused to do so.
The girl arrived at the farm all by herself and she, like her stepsister, was engaged to look after the cows and sift the corn.
But she did work at the farmhouse only when someone was watching, and she kept the cow house dirty and she was also not kind to any of the animals there. Further she chased the cats away. The girl did not give the sparrows any spare corn either. She threw her shoes at the birds and they flew in towards the woods and took shelter among the trees.
The farmer's wife finally called her. "All you have done here is wrong. Neither can you care for the cows nor do you handle the corn well, still I will give you a chance." The farmer's wife gave the sieve to the girl. "Take the sieve to the well and fill it with water."
The girl tried two or three times but she did not receive any help and she came back to the farmhouse without completing the task given to her.
The Farmer's wife was angry and realized that the girl was completely useless. However, the farmer's wife thought that at least after the incident the girl would have learnt her lesson.
However her work after this incident was also not any better than before.
The farmer's wife gave her the same two tasks that she gave the girl's stepsister. This time, the stepsister could not fulfill any of this.
The girl had spent a year on the farm, and the girl wanted to go home. The farmer's wife happily wanted to let her go away. But because she had lived here the farmer's wife offered the girl the same choice - she could go to the loft and pick one of the caskets there.
This is what the girl wanted and without stopping to thank the farmer's wife, she ran to the loft as fast as she could.
This time, too, there was a small black casket on the side.
However, the girl chose the big red casket and realized that this would hold far too many jewels, than that small black one.
She snatched the casket and went away from the farmhouse without bidding farewell to the farmer's wife.
Mother and daughter opened the casket.
But this time hot flames came out of the casket and they spread around the house very fast. The cottage and its surroundings were burnt up far too quickly even before the neighbours could come.
The mother and daughter vanished, never to be seen after the fire.
It was only the outhouse which survived the fire.
There the step daughter lived happily with her riches till the end of her days.
Adapted from Scandinavian Fairy Tales
No comments:
Post a Comment