"Mother Holle.” More tales from Grimm, Brothers Grimm, Wanda Gág, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2006, pp. 15-22.

Tale Summary

Once there was a widow with two daughters, who were both named Marie. One of them was lazy, but because she was her own daughter she loved her more than the other girl, who was beautiful and industrious, and who was always forced to do all the chores. One day the stepdaughter was spinning beside the well when she dropped her shuttle into the water and dove after it because she did not want to be scolded. She fainted, and when she recovered she found herself in a beautiful meadow. While walking down a flowery path, she found an oven and heard the bread inside ask to be taken out, and so she did and kept walking. Next she came to a tree filled with apples, and heard the fruit asking to be picked, and so she obliged. At last she came to a little hut where a frightening-looking old woman peered out a window. She reassured the girl that there was nothing to be afraid of, and introduced herself as Mother Holle. The girl was invited to live with her as long as she kept the house neat and shook her featherbed thoroughly, as that was what made snow fall on earth. The girl agreed to all of this and was treated and fed well, but after a time she became sad and homesick for earth and spoke to Mother Holle about it. She gave the girl her blessing to return, and showered her in gold to thank her for her hard work, and did not forget to return her lost shuttle. The girl found herself on earth again, and when she reached her home she explained what had happened to her. The lazy girl was jealous, and so set out to get gold for herself. She dropped a shuttle into the well, dove after it, and found herself in a field of flowers. She declined to help the bread and the apples, and asked to be of service when she reached Mother Holle’s house. The first day of her stay, she worked very hard because she wanted the gold, but by the third day she would not get out of bed, and on the fourth day Mother Holle asked her to go home. The girl happily stood there waiting to be covered in gold, but instead got a showerful of sticky pitch which she could never get out of her clothes for the rest of her life.