Prevod

A widow had two daughters: one was beautiful and hardworking, the other ugly and lazy. But she loved the ugly, lazy one far more, because she was her own daughter, while the other had to do all the work and be the Cinderella of the household. Every day the poor girl had to sit beside a well on the main road and spin until her fingers bled. Now it happened one day that the spool was covered in blood, so she leaned over the well to wash it; but it slipped from her hand and fell to the bottom. Weeping, she ran to her stepmother and told her of the mishap. But her stepmother scolded her fiercely and was so pitiless that she said, "Since you let the spool fall in, you can fetch it out again." So the girl went back to the well and did not know what to do; and in her anguish she jumped into the well to fetch the spool. She lost consciousness, and when she awoke and came to her senses again, she was in a lovely meadow where the sun was shining and many thousands of flowers were blooming. She walked across the meadow and came to an oven full of bread. The bread cried out, "Oh, take me out, take me out, or I shall burn! I have been baked through for ages." So she went over and took all the loaves out, one after another, with the baker's peel. Then she went on and came to a tree laden with apples, which called to her, "Oh, shake me, shake me! We apples are all ripe." So she shook the tree until the apples fell like rain, and went on shaking until not one was left in its branches. When she had gathered them all into a heap, she went on her way. At last she came to a little house, and an old woman was looking out of it. But the woman had such large teeth that the girl grew frightened and was about to run away. The old woman called after her, "What are you afraid of, dear child? Stay with me. If you do all the housework properly, you shall have a good life here. Only take care to make my bed well and shake it out thoroughly, so that the feathers fly, for then it snows in the world. I am Frau Holle." Since the old woman spoke so kindly to her, the girl took courage, agreed, and entered her service. She did everything to the old woman's satisfaction, and always shook her bed so vigorously that the feathers flew about like snowflakes. In return she had a good life with her, never a harsh word, and boiled and roasted meat every day. After she had been with Frau Holle for some time, she grew sad, and at first she herself did not know what was wrong. At last she realized that she was homesick. Though she was a thousand times better off here than at home, she still longed to return. Finally she said to her, "I have grown homesick, and however well I fare down here, I cannot stay any longer. I must go back up to my own people." Frau Holle said, "I am glad that you long to go home again, and because you have served me so faithfully, I shall take you back up myself." She took the girl by the hand and led her to a great gateway. The gate was opened, and just as the girl stood beneath it, a mighty shower of gold fell, and all the gold clung to her, covering her from head to foot. "This is yours because you have been so hardworking," said Frau Holle, and she also gave her back the spool that had fallen into the well. Then the gate was closed, and the girl found herself back up in the world, not far from her mother's house. When she entered the yard, the rooster was sitting on the well and cried:

"Cock-a-doodle-doo! Our golden maiden is back anew." Then she went inside to her mother, and because she arrived covered in gold, both her mother and her sister welcomed her warmly.

The girl told them everything that had happened to her, and when the mother heard how she had come by such great riches, she wanted to secure the same good fortune for her other daughter, the ugly, lazy one. She had to sit beside the well and spin; and to make her spool bloody, she pricked her fingers and thrust her hand into the thorn hedge. Then she threw the spool into the well and jumped in after it. Like the other girl, she came to the lovely meadow and followed the same path. When she reached the oven, the bread cried out again, "Oh, take me out, take me out, or I shall burn! I have been baked through for ages." But the lazy girl answered, "As if I wanted to get myself dirty!" and went on. Soon she came to the apple tree, which called, "Oh, shake me, shake me! We apples are all ripe." But she answered, "Not likely! One of you might fall on my head," and went on her way. When she reached Frau Holle's house, she was not afraid, because she had already heard about her large teeth, and she entered her service at once. On the first day she made an effort, worked hard, and obeyed Frau Holle whenever she told her to do anything, for she was thinking of all the gold she would give her. But on the second day she already began to idle, and on the third she was lazier still and would not even get up in the morning. Nor did she make Frau Holle's bed as she ought, or shake it so that the feathers flew. Frau Holle soon grew tired of this and dismissed her. The lazy girl was quite content, thinking that now the shower of gold would come. Frau Holle did indeed lead her to the gateway, but as she stood beneath it, a great cauldron of pitch was poured over her instead of gold. "This is the reward for your service," said Frau Holle, and shut the gate. So the lazy girl came home, but she was covered all over in pitch, and when the rooster on the well saw her, he cried:

"Cock-a-doodle-doo! Our dirty maiden is back anew." But the pitch clung fast to her and would not come off as long as she lived.