After the wedding the woman moved over to the man and took her daughter, too. So, with the man’s daughter, they lived four together. But the two girls were very different from each other. One of them was lying around all day long and did not do anything, the other was working hard around the house. The woman could not stand that her stepdaughter is more than a match for her own daughter. So she vexed and scolded the girl all day long. The girl was suffering from her stepmother and decided to leave home and find some work elsewhere.
The poor motherless girl was wandering along the road when she saw a tumble-down, sooty oven. The oven said,
“Where are you hurrying, my little daughter?”
“I am looking for a job as a maidservant”– she replied.
“Come here my little daughter – asked her the oven – come and mend me and clean me. Do well and do have well.”
The girl did not wait for a second request but tidied the tumble-down oven so nicely that it was good to look at it. Then she went on her way.
Soon after that she met a pear tree.
“Where are you going, my little daughter?”
“I am looking for a job as a maidservant”– she replied.
“Come and clean me from the dry branches – asked the pear tree. – Do well and have done well.”
The girl cleaned the pear tree as it needed then she went on her way.
She did not go far, when she met a well along the road. The well complained that its water is filthy because it had not been cleaned for a long time.
“Take the mud out of me, my little daughter – the well asked. – Do well and have done well.”
The girl bent down and cleaned the well from the mud with her two hands. She did not stop working until the well became so clean that each stone could be seen clearly in its bottom. Then she went on her way.
After a long walk she arrived at a beautiful house. The beautiful house was standing in the middle of a beautiful garden. The girl decided to go in. She did not even had time to look around when an old woman came out of the house and asked her,
“What are you looking for here?”
“I am looking for a job as a maidservant – she said. – I could not stand living at home because my stepmother and stepsister were always scolding me.”
“Well, if they scold me, I will take on you.”
And the old woman invited her into the house.
“At my place there are three days in a year – the old woman said. – Your job is to clean the house. Then you have to make my bed and cook my favourite dish.”
On the first day the girl made the old woman’s bed, cooked her favourite dish and cleaned the house. The old woman liked the dish, slept well in her bed and was satisfied with the cleaning. The girl worked hard on the second and third days, too.
Next day in the morning the old woman said,
“The year is over. Since I was satisfied with your work, you will get your prize when you go out of the house.”
The girl said good-bye to the old woman and when she got to the gate, golden rain fall on her covering her hair, her clothes and even her nude legs with shiny gold.
She was walking home happily when she got very hungry. As she was thinking where she could get something to eat, she heard a voice. It was the oven she had cleaned on her way. Now the oven offered her tasty buns and pies to eat. She could eat as much as she wanted. Then she thanked the oven for the food and continued her way home.
Suddenly she got very thirsty after all those fine pies. But she did not even have time to look for something to drink, when the well called her and gave her fresh water. She thanked the well for the water and then went on her way.
Before she reached her village, the pear tree also stopped her and gave her the juiciest and most delicious pears she had ever tasted. She picked some to take home as well.
As she was approaching to her house, the rooster flew on the top of the fence and started to cry,
“Cock-a-doodle-do! Our girl is coming all in gold!”
“Shut up, you silly rooster!” – shouted the stepmother at the rooster and got very angry. But when she saw her stepdaughter she became envious and wanted her own daughter to get even more gold then her stepdaughter had.
So she put fine buns and pies in her daughter’s basket and sent her to find the old woman’s house. The lazy girl left her home reluctantly and started to walk towards the old woman’s house. The only thing which kept her walking was the thought of getting a lot of gold.
On her way she also met the tumble-down, sooty oven. It was as dirty and sooty as if the other girl had never cleaned it. The oven said,
“Where are you hurrying, my little daughter?”
“I am looking for a job as a maidservant”– she replied.
“Come here my little daughter – asked her the oven – come and mend me and clean me. Do well and do have well.”
“But I won’t smudge my knick-knackery hands and feet with your soot. For all I care you might as well overturn, shatter or choke. I am going on my way.”
Then she walked off and did not even look back.
She walked until the pear tree called her. It was full of dry branches again as if the other girl had never cleaned it.
“Where are you going, my little daughter?”
“I am looking for a job as a maidservant”– she replied.
“Come and clean me from the dry branches – asked the pear tree. – Do well and have done well.”
“I won’t cut and hurt my knick-knackery hands and feet with your dry branches. You might as well dry out. I am going on my way”
And she did as she said.
Then she arrived at the well. Its water was muddy and filthy again. The well called the girl.
“Take the mud out of me, my little daughter – the well asked. – Do well and have done well.”
But the girl did not even stop just shouted at the well.
“My knick-knackery hands and feet are not for digging in mud like a pig. If you are filthy, stay filthy, I do not care. I am going on my way.”
In the evening she arrived at the beautiful house and entered the garden without any hesitation. But she hardly ever looked around when the old woman came out.
“What are you looking for?” – she asked the girl.
“I am looking for a job as a maidservant.”
“What do you want as a payment?”
“I accept what you give me and I won’t accept what you don’t give me” – replied the lazy girl but she was eagerly looking for the moment when she would get the gold.
The old woman told her what she had to do. On the first day the lazy girl made the old woman’s bed, cleaned the house but since she had never cooked before, she made some tasteless food for the old woman. On the second day she did not clean the house and denied cooking saying that the old woman had not eaten the food the day before. So the old woman got angry with her and sent her away. The lazy girl was glad that she would get her gold earlier and she did not have to work for it as long as her stepsister had to.
But when she got to the gate a rain of filth and sooth fell on her hair, face, clothes, stockings and shoes. When the girl saw herself dirty and filthy, she started to walk home crying all way long.
The way backwards was much longer, and she got very hungry. Suddenly she smelt something nice. It was fresh buns and delicious pies in the oven. She walked up the oven and wanted to get a piece of pie but the oven banged its doors and said,
“Take away your knick-knackery hands and run away on your knick-knackery feet otherwise I will burn you.”
The girl ran away frightened. But she got very thirsty after the long running. Suddenly she saw the well. Now it had clean, sweet water. The girl bent down to drink but the well shook itself and its water became muddy again.
“You did not want to dig in mud with your knick-knackery hands and feet. Now don’t want to drink either” – the well said.
The girl went on hungry and thirsty. She could hardly stand on her feet when she saw the pear tree. It was full of delicious and juicy pears. She went up to the tree and wanted to pick a pear but the tree raised its branch higher up. She started to jump to reach the pear but the higher she jumped the higher the tree raised its branches.
“You might as well hold out your knick-knackery hands or you might as well keep jumping on your knick-knackery feet, you won’t eat from my pears. You should have helped me when I needed it.”
So the lazy girl could not do anything else but walk home hungry, thirsty, filthy and tired. As she was approaching to her house, the rooster flew on the top of the fence and started to cry,
“Cock-a-doodle-do! Our girl is coming all in soot!”
Shut up, you silly rooster! – shouted the stepmother at the rooster. – Because she is coming all in gold.”
But when she saw her daughter she almost blew up in her anger. The man said to her,
“Now you can see yourself that my daughter can work better than yours.”
The woman fell upon the man and they had a row. Then the woman and her sooty daughter left the house. The man and her daughter lived happily ever after. Since the girl was hard-working, she could soon find a good young man and married him. The lazy girl could never wash the soot off herself so she left the village and hid herself in her shame.
