“Toads and Diamonds.” The Arthur Rackham fairy book : a book of old favourites with new illustrations, Arthur Rackham, Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott., 1933, pp. 196-199.

Tale Summary

A woman lived with her two daughters, the eldest of whom was like her in every way, making them both ugly and disagreeable, while the younger was most like her father and was very pleasant and beautiful. The woman favored her eldest daughter and forced the younger to do menial chores, including fetching a pitcher of water each day from a spring a mile and a half away. One day as she was doing this task, there appeared a poor old woman who begged for some water. The girl was very polite and gave her some. The woman revealed herself as a fairy who was there to test to see how far the girl’s manners and civility would go, and gave her the gift that whenever she spoke a word, either a flower or a precious jewel would fall from her mouth. Her mother scolded her for being late when she arrived home, and upon apologizing, diamonds fell out of her mouth. When she explained what had happened, her mother called for her eldest daughter and demanded she do the same; give a pitcher of water to the poor woman. Begrudgingly, the girl went to the fountain, where she met a splendidly dressed lady. This was the same fairy, but disguised as a princess, to see how far the girl’s rudeness would go. After being very unpleasant, the girl was given the ‘gift’ that whenever she spoke, out of her mouth would come either a snake or a toad. When she arrived home and the mother of the two saw what had happened, she blamed the younger daughter and chased her out of the house into the woods. At the same moment the King’s son was passing by and noticed her. He thought she was very beautiful, and once she told her story and he saw the jewels and flowers falling from her mouth, he took her to his father’s palace and married her.