Mother Holle
Once upon a time, in a village, there lived a widow. She had two daughters. The elder daughter was called Stella. Stella was a kind and hardworking girl. The younger daughter, Bella, was rude and lazy.
But the woman loved her younger daughter more because she was her own child. The elder was a stepdaughter. So she made Stella do heavy chores like a servant.
— Stella! Finish this work! Don't forget, you still have to spin wool! — Bella, come here, my dear! You must be hungry. Have something to eat!
Stella quickly finished her housework and went out to spin wool. Every day, the stepmother sent her to the village well to spin wool, and Stella spun until her fingers bled. A parrot lived near the well. Stella would talk to him while she spun.
The Magic Well
One day, while spinning, her fingers began to bleed and the blood stained the spindle. She held the spindle in the well to clean it and began drawing water, when the spindle fell into the well.
— No! The spindle fell into the well! What do I do? If Mother finds out, she'll be very angry!
Stella tried hard but couldn't get the spindle out of the water. She ran home and told her stepmother:
— Mother, the spindle fell into the water in the well! — Why didn't you fall into the water instead of the spindle? Now where will I get another one? Go and get it out of the water! Don't you dare come back without the spindle! Do you understand?
With tears in her eyes, Stella returned to the well. She had already done everything she could to get the spindle out. Not knowing what else to do, Stella threw herself into the water.
The Magical Realm
When she opened her eyes, she found herself on a grassy field. The sun was shining brightly and there were flowers everywhere.
— Where am I? What a wonderful place! Mmm, what a lovely smell!
Stella went further and at one point saw a bakery. In the oven were loaves of bread. The loaves were talking. It seemed like some kind of magical realm.
— Take us out! Take us out! Otherwise we'll burn! We've been here for so long! Someone take us out of here!
Stella heard the loaves and took them out of the oven.
— Thank you!
Stella went further and saw an apple tree. And the apple tree was talking too.
— All my apples are ripe! Would someone please pick them and eat them, otherwise they'll rot!
Stella heard the apple tree speaking and couldn't bear the tree's pain. As soon as she started shaking the tree, the apples began falling to the ground like raindrops. Stella kept shaking the tree until the very last fruit had fallen. Then she gathered all the apples to one side and left.
Mother Holle
As she continued walking, she came to a cottage where she saw an old woman. The woman had such ugly teeth that Stella was frightened, and as soon as she turned around, the woman called after her:
— Don't be afraid of me, child! If you take care of my house, you can stay here. I'll give you everything. In return, you only need to make sure that every time you make my bed, you cover it with feathers, just as the ground is covered with snow after a snowfall. And yes! Everyone calls me Mother Holle.
The old woman spoke so kindly that Stella agreed to stay with her. Stella took excellent care of the house and every day made Mother Holle's bed exactly as she had asked. And Mother Holle liked Stella very much and gave her good food.
Stella's Reward
Stella stayed there for a while. Then she began to miss home.
— Mother Holle is so kind to me. She takes care of me. But I miss home.
Stella was very happy with Mother Holle, but she thought it was time to go home. So one day, she told the old woman:
— Mother Holle, I'd like to go home. I can't stay here any longer. — I'm glad you want to go home. You've worked very honestly. I'm very happy with you. I'll take you home myself. — Really? Thank you, Mother Holle!
Mother Holle took Stella by the hand and led her through a huge door made of gold. The door opened. The moment Stella crossed the threshold, it began to rain gold upon her, and before she knew it, she was covered in gold from head to toe.
— This is your reward for serving me so well. And here, your spindle that you dropped in the well.
Stella couldn't help but wonder if all of this was real or just a dream. She had never received so much love from anyone in her life. She wept with joy.
The Return Home
Then the door closed, and Stella found herself standing by the well near the village, outside her stepmother's house. As soon as he saw her, the parrot came and perched on Stella's shoulder and said:
— Look at her! Your daughter is pure gold! She's back! Ha!
The parrot kept repeating this. When Stella entered the house, her stepmother and Bella were shocked to see her, for she was dressed in gold from head to toe. Delighted, they invited her in.
— Stella, my dear! Where have you been? I was so worried! And where did you get that?
Stella told them everything. Upon hearing the story, the stepmother's heart filled with greed.
— Wow! So much gold! If I send Bella there, I'll become very, very rich!
Bella's Greed
Just like Stella, the stepmother sent Bella to spin wool by the well. Bella pricked her own finger with a thorn to make it bleed. She put the blood on the spindle and then threw it into the well. Then she jumped into the water.
Like Stella, she found herself on a grassy field. She got up and went forward. She arrived at the bakery. The loaves of bread were in the oven and crying out:
— Take us out! Take us out! Otherwise we'll burn! We've been baking for so long! Someone take us out of here! — Have you lost your minds? Why should I dirty my hands with you?
Bella spoke like this and walked on. She then came to the apple tree.
— All my apples are ripe. Would someone please pick them and eat them, otherwise they'll rot! — Are you mad? Why should I pick them? What if an apple falls on my head!
She spoke rudely to the apple tree too and walked on. Finally, she arrived at Mother Holle's house. She had heard about her frightful teeth from Stella.
So, without being scared, she asked Mother Holle for work.
— Mother Holle, I heard you need someone to work for you. Please, give me the job!
Mother Holle explained what she needed to do and told her she wanted feathers on her bed every day. On the first day, Bella obeyed Mother Holle, but then, on the second day, she put off the work. On the third day, she did nothing. Eventually, she began sleeping all day, even ignoring the instruction to put feathers on Mother Holle's bed.
Bella's Reward
Seeing no feathers on the bed, Mother Holle became angry. She went to Bella and said:
— I think it's time for you to go home now.
Bella was overjoyed, thinking she would now receive gold. Mother Holle led her to the golden gate. As soon as Bella crossed the threshold, instead of gold, mud fell upon her.
— This is your reward for the work you've done!
The door closed and she returned home. The parrot saw her and, sitting on the well, cried out:
— Look at her! Your daughter is ugly as mud! She's back!
The Moral
That is why it is said that even to imitate, you need brains. Like Stella, Bella managed to reach Mother Holle's cottage, but because of laziness and the habit of putting off work, she brought home mud instead of gold. So from this story we learn that we must be sincere and honest in everything we do.
