The girl took care of the cow house very well and kept it clean. She also fed the cows and kept them very happy. This was the reason that the cows did not play any tricks with her while she milked them.
When she had finished milking she found around her a whole circle of cats who cried for some milk from her.
Then she went to the dairy and gave each of the cats a red saucerful of milk.
The cats were very happy.
After that, the girl went to the store house to sift the corn.
Then she was busy rubbing the corn, she heard a whirr of wings and saw a flock of sparrows fly past the window.
“We are hungry. Please give us some corn.” The sparrows cried to her.
“Of course, you shall have some,” the girl said, and she took a handful of corn and scattered it on the floor.
When they had finished, they flew past her shoulder and flapped their wings as a way of thanking her.
As time went by, the cows in the whole countryside were fat and well-tended and no other dairy produced so much milk as her.
The farmer's wife was very happy with her and gave her high wages and treated her like her own daughter.
Once the farmer's wife called her and took her aside, she gave the young girl a sieve. “Take this to the well and fill it with water and bring it home to me without spilling a drop, by the way.”
The young girl looked at the sieve and her heart sank. She did not know how to do the task. She went to the well with the sieve stooping over the side and she filled the sieve to the brim.
But as soon as she lifted it, the water all ran out of the holes.
She just did not know what to do and was filled with despair.
A flock of sparrows flew past down the sky, "Ashes, ashes," they twittered.
The girl then ran to the kitchen and filled her sieve with ashes. Then once more she dipped the sieve into the well and this time not a drop of water disappeared.
"Here is the sieve with water." The girl told the farmer's wife.
The farmer's wife was surprised. "You are cleverer than I thought or someone else who is killed in magic is helping you."
However, the girl did not want to get the little birds and animals in trouble and did not tell the farmer's wife about who had helped her.
The farmer's wife also did not question her any further.
Many days had passed after which the farmer's wife called her again. "There are two yarns in my hand, one of them is white and the other is black. You must wash them in the river till the black one becomes white and the white yarn becomes black."
The girl took the yarns to the river and washed them for several hours. But the yarn did not change its colour.
She was in despair when she saw a birch tree near the river, and by each branch of the tree was a sparrow.
“The black to the East, the white to the West.” The sparrow sang.
The girl realized what the words meant, and she picked up the black yarn and faced the East and dipped it in the river. Immediately the yarn grew white as snow. Then she turned to the West and dipped the white yarn in the water, and it became as black as the night.
She looked at the sparrows and smiled. The birds flew away.
At the sight of the yarm, the farmer's wife was astonished.
She looked at the girl again. “Which magician helped you do this?”
However, the young girl did not answer again.
A few weeks after that, the family's wife shot herself in her room.
Finally, she appeared before the young girl. “There is one more task which you must do for me. Here are the two yarns which you washed. Take them and weave them into a web that is as smooth as the king's robe and see that it is spun by the time that the sun sets.”
The girl was a good spinner. And she thought that this was the easiest task that she had been given. However every time she started on the yarn, the skein tangled and broke.
She was in despair and did not know how to complete this task.
Adapted From Scandinavian Fairy Tales
No comments:
Post a Comment