第24章 The Two Caskets(1)

Far, far away, in the midst of a pine forest, there lived a woman who had both a daughter and a stepdaughter.Ever since her own daughter was born the mother had given her all that she cried for, so she grew up to be as cross and disagreeable as she was ugly.Her stepsister, on the other hand, had spent her childhood in working hard to keep house for her father, who died soon after his second marriage; and she was as much beloved by the neighbours for her goodness and industry as she was for her beauty.

As the years went on, the difference between the two girls grew more marked, and the old woman treated her stepdaughter worse than ever, and was always on the watch for some pretext for beating her, or depriving her of her food.Anything, however foolish, was good enough for this, and one day, when she could think of nothing better, she set both the girls to spin while sitting on the low wall of the well.

'And you had better mind what you do,' said she, 'for the one whose thread breaks first shall be thrown to the bottom.'

But of course she took good care that her own daughter's flax was fine and strong, while the stepsister had only some coarse stuff, which no one would have thought of using.As might be expected, in a very little while the poor girl's thread snapped, and the old woman, who had been watching from behind a door, seized her stepdaughter by her shoulders, and threw her into the well.

'That is an end of you!' she said.But she was wrong, for it was only the beginning.

Down, down, down went the girl--it seemed as if the well must reach to the very middle of the earth; but at last her feet touched the ground, and she found herself in a field more beautiful than even the summer pastures of her native mountains.Trees waved in the soft breeze, and flowers of the brightest colours danced in the grass.And though she was quite alone, the girl's heart danced too, for she felt happier than she had since her father died.So she walked on through the meadow till she came to an old tumbledown fence--so old that it was a wonder it managed to stand up at all, and it looked as if it depended for support on the old man's beard that climbed all over it.

The girl paused for a moment as she came up, and gazed about for a place where she might safely cross.But before she could move a voice cried from the fence:

'Do not hurt me, little maiden; I am so old, so old, I have not much longer to live.'

And the maiden answered:

'No, I will not hurt you; fear nothing.' And then seeing a spot where the clematis grew less thickly than in other places, she jumped lightly over.

'May all go well with thee,' said the fence, as the girl walked on.

She soon left the meadow and turned into a path which ran between two flowery hedges.Right in front of her stood an oven, and through its open door she could see a pile of white loaves.

'Eat as many loaves as you like, but do me no harm, little maiden,'

cried the oven.And the maiden told her to fear nothing, for she never hurt anything, and was very grateful for the oven's kindness in giving her such a beautiful white loaf.When she had finished it, down to the last crumb, she shut the oven door and said: 'Good-morning.'

'May all go well with thee,' said the oven, as the girl walked on.

By-and-by she became very thirsty, and seeing a cow with a milk-pail hanging on her horn, turned towards her.

'Milk me and drink as much as you will, little maiden,' cried the cow, 'but be sure you spill none on the ground; and do me no harm, for Ihave never harmed anyone.'

'Nor I,' answered the girl; 'fear nothing.' So she sat down and milked till the pail was nearly full.Then she drank it all up except a little drop at the bottom.

'Now throw any that is left over my hoofs, and hang the pail on my horns again,' said the cow.And the girl did as she was bid, and kissed the cow on her forehead and went her way.

Many hours had now passed since the girl had fallen down the well, and the sun was setting.

'Where shall I spend the night?' thought she.And suddenly she saw before her a gate which she had not noticed before, and a very old woman leaning against it.

'Good evening,' said the girl politely; and the old woman answered:

'Good evening, my child.Would that everyone was as polite as you.

Are you in search of anything?'

'I am in search of a place,' replied the girl; and the woman smiled and said:

'Then stop a little while and comb my hair, and you shall tell me all the things you can do.'

'Willingly, mother,' answered the girl.And she began combing out the old woman's hair, which was long and white.

Half an hour passed in this way, and then the old woman said:

'As you did not think yourself too good to comb me, I will show you where you may take service.Be prudent and patient and all will go well.'

So the girl thanked her, and set out for a farm at a little distance, where she was engaged to milk the cows and sift the corn.

As soon as it was light next morning the girl got up and went into the cow-house.'I'm sure you must be hungry,' said she, patting each in turn.And then she fetched hay from the barn, and while they were eating it, she swept out the cow-house, and strewed clean straw upon the floor.The cows were so pleased with the care she took of them that they stood quite still while she milked them, and did not play any of the tricks on her that they had played on other dairymaids who were rough and rude.And when she had done, and was going to get up from her stool, she found sitting round her a whole circle of cats, black and white, tabby and tortoise- shell, who all cried with one voice:

'We are very thirsty, please give us some milk!'

'My poor little pussies,' said she, 'of course you shall have some.'

And she went into the dairy, followed by all the cats, and gave each one a little red saucerful.But before they drank they all rubbed themselves against her knees and purred by way of thanks.

The next thing the girl had to do was to go to the storehouse, and to sift the corn through a sieve.While she was busy rubbing the corn she heard a whirr of wings, and a flock of sparrows flew in at the window.