Comparing: Frau Holle

A widow had two daughters: one beautiful and hardworking, the other ugly and lazy. She loved the ugly and lazy one best, because she was her own daughter, and the other had to do all the work and was the stepchild in the house. Every day the poor girl had to sit by a well on the highway and spin until her fingers bled. One day her spindle was so bloody that she went to the well to wash it. But as she was leaning over, the spindle fell out of her hand and sank to the bottom. She began to weep, ran to her stepmother, and told her what had happened. The stepmother scolded her sharply, saying, 'Since you let the spindle fall in, you must get it out again.' Then the girl went back to the well, not knowing what to do. In her despair, she jumped into the well to get the spindle. She lost consciousness, and when she awoke, she found herself in a beautiful meadow where the sun was shining and thousands of flowers were blooming. She walked across the meadow and came to an oven full of bread. The bread cried out, 'Pull me out! Pull me out! Or I will burn! I have been baking a long time!' So she stepped up, took a baker's peel, and pulled all the bread out one piece after another. After that she walked on and came to a tree covered with apples. The tree cried out, 'Shake me! Shake me! We apples are all ripe!' So she shook the tree until the apples fell like rain, and she shook until there were no more on it. Then she gathered them all into a pile and went on. Finally she came to a little house, where an old woman was peering out the window. She had very large teeth, which frightened the girl, but the old woman called out, 'Don't be afraid, dear child. Stay with me. If you do all the housework properly, it will go well with you. You must just take care to shake my bed well and shake my feathers until the feathers fly. Then it snows on earth. I am Mother Holle.' Because the old woman spoke so kindly to her, the girl took courage and agreed to work for her. She did everything to the old woman's satisfaction and always shook her feather bed vigorously until the feathers flew like snowflakes. For this she had a good life, no bad words, and cooked food every day. After she had been with Mother Holle for some time, she became sad. At first she did not know what was wrong, but at last she realized that she was homesick. Even though she was a thousand times better off here down below, she still longed to go back. Finally she said to Mother Holle, 'I am so homesick. I know how happy I am here down below, but I cannot stay any longer. I must go back to my own people.' Mother Holle said, 'I am pleased that you want to go home. Because you have served me so faithfully, I will take you up myself.' She took the girl by the hand and led her to a large door. When it was opened, the girl stood beneath the gateway, and a tremendous shower of golden rain fell, and all the gold stuck to her so that she was completely covered with it. 'That is because you have been so diligent,' said Mother Holle, and gave her back the spindle as well. Then the door closed, and the girl found herself back in the world. Not far from her stepmother's house she went into a meadow, and as she stepped onto the grass, all the gold sparkled and shone. When she arrived home and went into the yard, the rooster on the well called out: 'Cock-a-doodle-doo! Our golden girl is home anew!' She went in to her stepmother, and because she was covered all over with gold, she was received well. After the girl told all that had happened to her, the stepmother wanted to arrange the same good fortune for her lazy daughter. She had to sit by the well and spin. And to make her spindle bloody, she pricked her fingers on thorns and bushes. Then she threw the spindle into the well and jumped in after it. She came to the beautiful meadow and walked the same path. When she came to the oven, the bread cried out again, 'Pull me out! Pull me out! Or I will burn! I have been baking a long time!' But the lazy girl answered, 'As if I would want to get dirty,' and walked on. Soon she came to the apple tree. It cried out, 'Shake me! Shake me! We apples are all ripe!' But she answered, 'That would be nice. One of you could fall on my head,' and walked on. When she came to Mother Holle's house, she was not afraid, because she already knew about the big teeth, and she immediately agreed to work for her. On her first day, she forced herself to work diligently, obeyed Mother Holle, and because the old woman promised her a good reward, she was especially diligent the second day. But on the third day she began to be lazy, and on the fourth morning she did not even get up. She did not shake the bed for Mother Holle, and she did not do any other work either. Soon Mother Holle got tired of this and told her to leave. The lazy girl was pleased, thinking that the golden rain would now come. Mother Holle led her to the door as well, but as she stood beneath it, instead of gold, a big kettle of pitch poured over her. 'That is the reward for your service,' said Mother Holle, and closed the door. So the lazy girl went home, completely covered with pitch. As soon as the rooster on the well saw her, he called out: 'Cock-a-doodle-doo! Our dirty girl is home anew!' And the pitch stuck to her so fast that it would not come off as long as she lived.

Une veuve avait deux filles. La belle devait filer au puits. Son fuseau tomba, elle sauta après et trouva un monde merveilleux. Elle aida le pain, secoua le pommier, servit Mère Holle en secouant son édredon pour la neige. Elle fut couverte d'or. Sa demi-sœur paresseuse reçut une chaudière de poix.