There was once a widow who had two daughters one of whom was beautiful and industrious and the other ugly and lazy. She behaved most kindly, however, to the ugly one cruelly to the other because she was her stepdaughter and made her do all the hard work and live like a kitchen maid. The poor maiden was forced out daily on her highroad and had to sit by the well and spin so much that blood ran from her fingers. Once it was happened that her spindles became quite covered with blood so kneeling down by the well she tried to wash it off, but it fell down due to her misfortune. Her mother scolded her terribly and behaved very cruelly and at last said, Since you have let your spindle fall in, you must yourself fetch it out again. Then the maiden went back to the well not knowing what to do and, in her distress, she jumped into the well to fetch the spindle out. As she fell she lost consciousness and when she came to herself again she found herself in a beautiful meadow where the sun was shining and many thousands of flowers blooming around her. She got up and walked along till she came to a baker’s house where the oven was full of bread which cried out, Draw me, draw me or I shall be burnt. I have been baked long enough. So she went up and taking the bread-pan, drew out one loaf after the other. Then she walked on further and came to an apple tree whose fruit hung very thick and which exclaimed, Shake me, shake me. The apples are all ripe So she shook the tree till the apples fell down like rain and when none were left. on, she gathered them all together in a heap and went further.