Prevod

There was once a man whose wife had died, and a woman whose husband had died; the man had a daughter, and the woman had a daughter too. The girls knew one another and went for a walk together, and afterwards they came to the woman's house. Then she said to the man's daughter, "Listen, tell your father I would like to marry him. Then every morning you shall wash in milk and drink wine, while my daughter shall wash in water and drink water." The girl went home and told her father what the woman had said.

The man said, "What am I to do? Marriage is a joy, but it is also a torment." At last, because he could not make up his mind, he pulled off his boot and said, "Take this boot, which has a hole in the sole, go up to the attic, hang it on the big nail, and pour water into it. If it holds the water, I will take another wife, but if the water runs through, I will not."

The girl did as she was told, but the water drew the hole shut, and the boot filled to the brim. She told her father how it had turned out. Then he went upstairs himself, and when he saw that it was indeed so, he went to the widow and asked her to marry him, and the wedding was held.

The next morning, when the two girls got up, there was milk for washing and wine for drinking before the man's daughter, but before the woman's daughter there was water for washing and water for drinking. On the second morning, there was water for washing and water for drinking before the man's daughter just as there was before the woman's daughter. And on the third morning, there was water for washing and water for drinking before the man's daughter, and milk for washing and wine for drinking before the woman's daughter, and so it remained. The woman came to hate her stepdaughter bitterly and could not think how to make her life worse from one day to the next. She was also jealous because her stepdaughter was beautiful and sweet, while her own daughter was ugly and disagreeable.

Once in winter, when the ground was frozen hard as stone and snow lay over hill and valley, the woman made a dress out of paper, called the girl, and said, "Here, put this dress on, go out into the forest, and fetch me a little basketful of strawberries. I have a craving for them."

"Dear God," said the girl, "no strawberries grow in winter. The ground is frozen, and the snow has covered everything. And why must I go in this paper dress? It is so cold outside that one's breath freezes. The wind will blow straight through it, and the thorns will tear it off my body."

"Will you argue with me too?" said the stepmother. "Be off with you, and do not let me see you again until you have a basketful of strawberries." Then she gave her a little piece of hard bread and said, "You can eat that during the day," and thought, She will freeze and starve out there, and I shall never have to set eyes on her again.

Now the girl was obedient, so she put on the paper dress and went out with her little basket. There was nothing but snow far and wide, and not a single green blade of grass could be seen. When she came into the forest, she saw a little house, with three little wood sprites peering out of it. She wished them good day and knocked timidly at the door. They called, "Come in," and she entered the room and sat down on the bench by the stove to warm herself and eat her breakfast. The wood sprites said, "Give us some too."

"Gladly," she said, broke her little piece of bread in two, and gave them half. They asked, "What are you doing here in the forest in winter, wearing that thin little dress?"

"Oh," she answered, "I have to find a little basketful of strawberries, and I must not go home until I can bring them with me." When she had eaten her bread, they gave her a broom and said, "Sweep away the snow by the back door." But once she was outside, the three little men said to one another, "What shall we give her, since she is so good and kind and has shared her bread with us?" The first said, "My gift is that she shall grow more beautiful every day." The second said, "My gift is that gold coins shall fall from her mouth whenever she speaks a word." The third said, "My gift is that a king shall come and take her for his wife."

The girl, meanwhile, did as the wood sprites had told her and swept away the snow behind the little house with the broom. And what do you think she found? Nothing but ripe strawberries, deep red, peeping out of the snow. In her joy she gathered a basketful, thanked the little men, shook hands with each of them, and ran home, eager to bring her stepmother what she had asked for. As she came in and said, "Good evening," a gold coin fell straight from her mouth. Then she told them what had happened to her in the forest, and with every word she spoke, gold coins fell from her mouth, so that soon the whole room was covered with them.

"Just look at her showing off!" cried the stepsister. "Throwing money about like that!" But secretly she was jealous and wanted to go out into the forest and look for strawberries too. Her mother said, "No, my dear little daughter, it is too cold. You might freeze to death." But as the girl would give her no peace, she gave in at last, sewed her a splendid fur coat to wear, and gave her bread and butter and cake for the journey.

The girl went into the forest and straight to the little house. The three little wood sprites were peering out again, but she did not greet them. Without so much as looking their way or saying good day, she barged into the room, sat down by the stove, and began eating her bread and butter and her cake.

"Give us some," cried the little men, but she answered, "There is not enough for me, so how can I spare any for anyone else?" When she had finished eating, they said, "Here is a broom. Sweep outside our back door for us."

"Why, sweep it yourselves," she answered. "I am not your servant." When she saw that they were not going to give her anything, she went out of the door. Then the little men said to one another, "What shall we give her, since she is so ill-mannered and has such a wicked, envious heart, begrudging everyone everything?" The first said, "My gift is that she shall grow uglier every day." The second said, "My gift is that a toad shall leap out of her mouth with every word she speaks." The third said, "My gift is that she shall die a miserable death."

The girl looked for strawberries outside, but when she found none, she went home in a sulk. And when she opened her mouth to tell her mother what had happened to her in the forest, a toad leapt out with every word, so that everyone was filled with disgust at her.

Now the stepmother grew angrier still and thought of nothing but how to cause every possible heartache to the man's daughter, whose beauty increased with every passing day. At last she took a cauldron, set it on the fire, and boiled yarn in it. When it was boiled, she hung it over the poor girl's shoulder and gave her an axe. She was to go to the frozen river, chop a hole in the ice, and rinse the yarn. The girl obeyed, went to the river, and began chopping a hole in the ice. While she was still chopping, a splendid carriage came driving by, with the king seated inside. The carriage stopped, and the king asked, "My child, who are you, and what are you doing there?"

"I am a poor girl, and I am rinsing yarn." The king felt sorry for her, and when he saw how very beautiful she was, he said, "Will you come with me?"

"Oh yes, with all my heart," she answered, for she was glad to be getting away from her mother and sister. So she climbed into the carriage and drove away with the king, and when they reached his castle, their wedding was celebrated with great splendour, just as the little men had promised the girl. A year later, the young queen gave birth to a son, and when the stepmother heard of her great good fortune, she came to the castle with her daughter, pretending that she merely wished to pay a visit. But once, when the king had gone out and no one else was there, the wicked woman seized the queen by the head, and her daughter seized her by the feet. They lifted her out of bed and threw her out of the window into the river flowing past. Then the ugly daughter lay down in the bed, and the old woman pulled the covers over her head.

When the king returned and wanted to speak to his wife, the old woman cried, "Hush, hush, you cannot speak to her now. She is sweating heavily; you must let her rest today." The king suspected nothing and did not come back until the following morning. When he spoke to his wife and she answered him, a toad sprang out with every word, where before a gold coin had fallen. He asked what this meant, but the old woman said it was caused by her heavy sweating and would soon pass.

But that night the kitchen boy saw a duck come swimming up the drain, and it said, "King, what are you doing? Are you asleep or awake?"

And when he gave no answer, she said, "How fare my guests tonight?" Then the kitchen boy answered, "They are sleeping sound and tight." She asked again, "How fares my little one?"

He answered, "He sleeps in his cradle, your son." Then she went upstairs in the queen's form, gave the child milk to drink, shook out his little bed, tucked him in, and swam away again through the drain as a duck. She came like this for two nights, and on the third she said to the kitchen boy, "Go and tell the king to take his sword and swing it three times over me on the threshold." The kitchen boy ran and told the king, who came with his sword and swung it three times over the spirit. At the third stroke, his wife stood before him, alive and well, as she had been before.

Now the king was overjoyed, but he kept the queen hidden in a chamber until Sunday, when the child was to be christened. And after the christening, he said, "What does a person deserve who carries another out of bed and throws them into the water?"

"Nothing better," answered the old woman, "than to have the villain put into a barrel and rolled down the hill into the water." Then the king said, "You have pronounced your own sentence." He had a barrel brought and the old woman and her daughter put inside. Then the end was hammered shut, and the barrel was sent tumbling down the hill until it rolled into the river.