<h2>THE THREE LITTLE MEN IN THE WOOD</h2>
<p>Once upon a time there lived a man, whose wife had died; and a
woman, also, who had lost her husband: and this man and this woman
had each a daughter. These two maidens were friendly with each
other, and used to walk together, and one day they came by the
widow's house. Then the widow said to the man's daughter, "Do you
hear, tell your father I wish to marry him, and you shall every
morning wash in milk and drink wine, but my daughter shall wash in
water and drink water." So the girl went home and told her father
what the woman had said, and he replied, "What shall I do? Marriage
is a comfort, but it is also a torment." At last, as he could come
to no conclusion, he drew off his boot and said: "Take this boot,
which has a hole in the sole, and go with it out of doors and hang
it on the great nail and then pour water into it. If it holds the
water, I will again take a wife; but if it runs through, I will not
have her." The girl did as he bid her, but the water drew the hole
together and the boot became full to overflowing. So she told her
father how it had happened, and he, getting up, saw it was quite
true; and going to the widow he settled the matter, and the wedding
was celebrated.</p>
<p>The next morning, when the two girls arose, milk to wash in and
wine to drink were set for the man's daughter, but only water, both
for washing and drinking, for the woman's daughter. The second
morning, water for washing and drinking stood before both the man's
daughter and the woman's; and on the third morning, water to wash
in and water to drink were set before the man's daughter, and milk
to wash in and wine to drink before the woman's daughter, and so it
continued.</p>
<p>Soon the woman conceived a deadly hatred for her step-daughter,
and knew not how to behave badly enough to her from day to day. She
was envious, too, because her step-daughter was beautiful and
lovely, and her own daughter was ugly and hateful.</p>
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<p>Once, in the winter-time, when the river was frozen as hard as a
stone, and hill and valley were covered with snow, the woman made a
cloak of paper, and called the maiden to her and said, "Put on this
cloak, and go away into the wood to fetch me a little basketful of
strawberries, for I have a wish for some."</p>
<p>"Mercy on us!" said the maiden, "in winter there are no
strawberries growing; the ground is frozen, and the snow, too, has
covered everything. And why must I go in that paper cloak? It is so
cold out of doors that it freezes one's breath even, and if the
wind does not blow off this cloak, the thorns will tear it from my
body."</p>
<p>"Will you dare to contradict me?" said the step-mother. "Make
haste off, and let me not see you again until you have found me a
basket of strawberries." Then she gave her a small piece of dry
bread, saying, "On that you must subsist the whole day." But she
thought—out of doors she will be frozen and starved, so that
my eyes will never see her again!</p>
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<p>So the girl did as she was told, and put on the paper cloak, and
went away with the basket. Far and near there was nothing but snow,
and not a green blade was to be seen. When she came to the forest
she discovered a little cottage, out of which three little Dwarfs
were peeping. The girl wished them good morning, and knocked gently
at the door. They called her in, and entering the room, she sat
down on a bench by the fire to warm herself, and eat her breakfast.
The Dwarfs called out, "Give us some of it!" "Willingly," she
replied, and, dividing her bread in two, she gave them half. They
asked, "What do you here in the forest, in the winter-time, in this
thin cloak?"</p>
<p>"Ah!" she answered, "I must, seek a basketful of strawberries,
and I dare not return home until I can take them with me." When she
had eaten her bread, they gave her a broom, saying, "Sweep away the
snow with this from the back door." But when she was gone out of
doors the three Dwarfs said one to another, "What shall we give
her, because she is so gentle and good, and has shared her bread
with us?" Then said the first, "I grant to her that she shall
become more beautiful every day." The second said, "I grant that a
piece of gold shall fall out of her mouth for every word she
speaks." The third said, "I grant that a King shall come and make
her his bride."</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the girl had done as the Dwarf had bidden her, and
had swept away the snow from behind the house. And what do you
think she found there? Actually, ripe strawberries! which came
quite red and sweet up under the snow. So filling her basket in
great glee, she thanked the little men and gave them each her hand,
and then ran home to take her step-mother what she wished for. As
she went in and said "Good evening," a piece of gold fell from her
mouth. Thereupon she related what had happened to her in the
forest; but at every word she spoke a piece of gold fell, so that
the whole floor was covered.</p>
<p>"Just see her arrogance," said the step-sister, "to throw away
money in that way!" but in her heart she was jealous, and wished to
go into the forest, too, to seek strawberries. Her mother said,
"No, my dear daughter; it is too cold, you will be frozen!" but as
her girl let her have no peace, she at last consented, and made her
a beautiful fur cloak to put on; she also gave her buttered bread
and cooked meat to eat on her way.</p>
<p>The girl went into the forest and came straight to the little
cottage. The three Dwarfs were peeping out again, but she did not
greet them; and, stumbling on without looking at them, or speaking,
she entered the room, and, seating herself by the fire, began to
eat the bread and butter and meat. "Give us some of that,"
exclaimed the Dwarfs; but she answered, "I have not got enough for
myself, so how can I give any away?" When she had finished they
said, "You have a broom there, go and sweep the back door clean."
"Oh, sweep it yourself," she replied; "I am not your servant." When
she saw that they would not give her anything she went out at the
door, and the three Dwarfs said to each other, "What shall we give
her? She is so ill-behaved, and has such a bad and envious
disposition, that nobody can wish well to her." The first said, "I
grant that she becomes more ugly every day." The second said, "I
grant that at every word she speaks a toad shall spring out of her
mouth." The third said, "I grant that she shall die a miserable
death." Meanwhile the girl had been looking for strawberries out of
doors, but as she could find none she went home very peevish. When
she opened her mouth to tell her mother what had happened to her in
the forest, a toad jumped out of her mouth at each word, so that
every one fled away from her in horror.</p>
<p>The step-mother was now still more vexed, and was always
thinking how she could do the most harm to her husband's daughter,
who every day became more beautiful. At last she took a kettle, set
it on the fire, and boiled a net therein. When it was sodden she
hung it on the shoulder of the poor girl, and gave her an axe, that
she might go upon the frozen pond and cut a hole in the ice to drag
the net. She obeyed, and went away and cut an ice-hole; and while
she was cutting, an elegant carriage came by, in which the King
sat. The carriage stopped, and the King asked, "My child, who are
you? and what do you here?" "I am a poor girl, and am dragging a
net," said she. Then the King pitied her, and saw how beautiful she
was, and said, "Will you go with me?" "Yes, indeed, with all my
heart," she replied, for she was glad to get out of the sight of
her mother and sister.</p>
<p>So she was handed into the carriage, and driven away with the
King; and as soon as they arrived at his castle the wedding was
celebrated with great splendor, as the Dwarfs had granted to the
maiden. After a year the young Queen bore a son; and when the
step-mother heard of her great good fortune, she came to the castle
with her daughter, and behaved as if she had come on a visit. But
one day when the King had gone out, and no one was present, this
bad woman seized the Queen by the head, and her daughter caught
hold of her feet, and raising her out of bed, they threw her out of
the window into the river which ran past. Then, laying her ugly
daughter in the bed, the old woman covered her up, even over her
head; and when the King came back he wished to speak to his wife,
but the old woman exclaimed, "Softly! softly! do not go near her;
she is lying in a beautiful sleep, and must be kept quiet to-day."
The King, not thinking of an evil design, came again the next
morning the first thing; and when he spoke to his wife, and she
answered, a toad sprang out of her mouth at every word, as a piece
of gold had done before. So he asked what had happened, and the old
woman said, "That is produced by her weakness, she will soon lose
it again."</p>
<p>But in the night the kitchen-boy saw a Duck swimming through the
brook, and the Duck asked:</p>
<div class="poem">
<div class="stanza">
<p><i>"King, King, what are you doing?</i></p>
<p>Are you sleeping, or are you waking?"</p>
</div>
</div>
<p>And as he gave no answer, the Duck said:</p>
<div class="poem">
<div class="stanza">
<p><i>"What are my guests a-doing?"</i></p>
</div>
</div>
<p>Then the boy answered:</p>
<div class="poem">
<div class="stanza">
<p><i>"They all sleep sound."</i></p>
</div>
</div>
<p>And she asked him:</p>
<div class="poem">
<div class="stanza">
<p><i>"How fares my child?"</i></p>
</div>
</div>
<p>And he replied:</p>
<div class="poem">
<div class="stanza">
<p><i>"In his cradle he sleeps."</i></p>
</div>
</div>
<p>Then she came up in the form of the Queen to the cradle, and
gave the child drink, shook up his bed, and covered him up, and
then swam away again as a duck through the brook. The second night
she came again; and on the third she said to the kitchen-boy, "Go
and tell the King to take his sword, and swing it thrice over me,
on the threshold." Then the boy ran and told the King, who came
with his sword, and swung it thrice over the Duck; and at the third
time his bride stood before him, bright, living, and healthful, as
she had been before.</p>
<p>Now the King was in great happiness, but he hid the Queen in a
chamber until the Sunday when the child was to be christened; and
when all was finished he asked, "What ought to be done to one who
takes another out of a bed and throws her into the river?" "Nothing
could be more proper," said the old woman, "than to put such a one
into a cask, stuck round with nails, and to roll it down the hill
into the water." Then the King said, "You have spoken your own
sentence"; and ordering a cask to be fetched, he caused the old
woman and her daughter to be put into it, and the bottom nailed up.
Then the cask was rolled down the hill until it fell into the
water.</p>
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<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
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