Near a sparkling well lived a woman with two daughters. One daughter, her own, was quite lazy and not very kind. The other daughter, her stepdaughter, was hardworking and always tried her best, but her stepmother didn't like her nearly as much.

The hardworking girl had to do all the chores. Every day, she sat by the well, spinning thread until her fingers were sore. One sunny morning, oops! She pricked her finger on the sharp spindle, and when she leaned over the well to wash the blood away, plop! The spindle fell right into the deep, dark water.

She ran inside, crying, telling her stepmother what happened. "You dropped it, you get it back!" snapped the stepmother, who didn't care if the well was deep or scary. "Go down there and find it!"

The poor girl felt hopeless. She went back to the well, closed her eyes tight, and jumped right in!

Splash! But instead of cold water, she landed softly in a beautiful meadow filled with sunshine and colourful flowers. She started walking and soon came to a big baker's oven. A voice called out from inside, "Oh, pull us out, pull us out! We are baked just right and will burn if you leave us!" The girl quickly grabbed the baker's peel lying nearby and carefully took out all the golden-brown loaves of bread.

She walked a little further and came to an apple tree heavy with red, juicy apples. "Oh, shake me, shake me!" cried the tree. "My apples are all ripe and ready to fall!" So, the kind girl shook the tree gently until the apples rained down like red jewels. She piled them neatly under the tree.

Finally, she reached a small, cozy house. Peeking in the window, she saw an old woman with very large teeth. The girl felt a little scared, but the old woman smiled kindly. "Don't be afraid, dear child," she said. "I am Frau Holle. Would you like to stay and help me with my housework? If you do a good job, you will be happy here."

The main job was making Frau Holle's bed. But this wasn't just any bed! She had to shake the feather duvet really, really hard, so the feathers flew about like snowflakes. "When the feathers fly," Frau Holle explained, "it snows down on the world."

The girl agreed and worked very hard. She swept the floors, tidied the rooms, and every morning, she shook that feather bed with all her might, making feathers dance in the air. Frau Holle was pleased, and the girl had plenty of good food and a warm place to sleep.

She stayed for quite some time, but eventually, she started to miss her home, even though her stepmother wasn't always kind. She told Frau Holle, "Thank you for everything, but I feel homesick. I want to go back."

Frau Holle understood. "You have been a good helper," she said. "I will take you home myself." She led the girl to a huge gateway. As the girl walked through it, a shower of sparkling gold rained down, covering her from head to toe. "This is your reward for working so hard," said Frau Holle, and she also handed back the lost spindle.

The gate closed, and the girl found herself back near her own house, shimmering with gold. As she walked towards the door, the rooster sitting on the fence saw her and crowed loudly, "Cock-a-doodle-doo! Our golden girl is home with you!"

Her stepmother and stepsister stared when they saw her covered in gold. When they heard how she got it, the stepmother decided her own lazy daughter must have the same luck.

So, she made the lazy daughter sit by the well with a spindle. But the lazy girl didn't want to spin. She pricked her finger on purpose, threw the spindle into the well, and jumped right in after it.

Like her stepsister, she landed in the beautiful meadow. She walked past the oven where the bread cried, "Pull us out, pull us out!"
"Why should I?" muttered the lazy girl. "I might get my hands dirty." And she walked on.

She came to the apple tree that called, "Shake me, shake me!"
"Are you kidding?" she scoffed. "An apple might fall on my head!" And she left the apples hanging.

She reached Frau Holle's house and, remembering the gold, wasn't scared by the big teeth. She agreed to work for Frau Holle.

The first day, she tried to work hard, shaking the bed. But the second day, she started being lazy. By the third day, she didn't even want to get up in the morning and barely shook the feather bed at all. No feathers flew, and it didn't snow down on the world.

Frau Holle quickly grew tired of this lazy girl. "I think it's time for you to go home," she said.

The lazy girl was happy, thinking about the gold she was about to get. Frau Holle led her to the same big gateway. But as the lazy girl walked through, it wasn't gold that rained down. Instead, a shower of thick, sticky black pitch poured all over her!

"That," said Frau Holle, "is the reward for your work."

The gate closed, and the lazy girl stood near her home, covered in sticky black stuff. The rooster on the fence saw her and crowed, "Cock-a-doodle-doo! Our sticky girl is home with you!"

And try as she might, that sticky black pitch never washed off for the rest of her life.

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