The Hut in the Forest

A poor woodcutter lived with his wife and three daughters in a little hut on the edge of a lonely forest. One morning, as he was about to go to work, he said to his wife, "Let my eldest daughter bring my dinner into the forest to me, or I will never get my work done. And so that she won't lose her way," he added, "I will take a bag of millet and scatter the seeds on the path."

When the sun was just above the center of the forest, the girl set out with a bowl of soup. But the field sparrows, wood sparrows, larks, finches, blackbirds, and siskins had eaten all the millet long before, and the girl could not find the path.

Trusting to luck, she walked on and on until the sun set and night fell. The trees rustled in the darkness, the owls hooted, and she began to be afraid. Then in the distance she saw a light flickering between the trees.

"There must be people living there who can take me in for the night," she thought, and went toward the light. Soon she came to a house with all its windows lit. She knocked, and a rough voice from inside cried, "Come in." The girl stepped into the dark entrance and knocked at the room door.

"Just come in," cried the voice. When she opened the door, an old gray-haired man sat at the table, holding his face in both hands, and his white beard fell down over the table almost to the floor. By the stove lay three animals: a hen, a cock, and a brindled cow.

The girl told the old man her story and asked for shelter for the night. The man said,

"Pretty little hen, Pretty little cock, And pretty brindled cow, What do you say to that?"

"Duks," answered the animals, and that must have meant "We are willing," because the old man said, "You shall have shelter and food. Go to the fire and cook us our supper." The girl found plenty of everything in the kitchen and cooked a good supper, but she did not think of the animals. She carried the full dishes to the table, sat down by the gray-haired man, ate, and satisfied her hunger. When she had had enough, she said, "Now I am tired. Where is there a bed where I can lie down and sleep?" The animals replied,

"You have eaten with him, You have drunk with him, You have not thought of us, So find out for yourself where you can spend the night."

Then the old man said, "Just go upstairs, and you will find a room with two beds. Shake them and put white sheets on them, and then I too will come and lie down to sleep." The girl went upstairs, shook the beds and put clean sheets on, then lay down in one of them without waiting for the old man. After some time, the gray-haired man came, took his candle, looked at the girl, and shook his head. When he saw that she was fast asleep, he opened a trapdoor and let her down into the cellar.

Late at night, the woodcutter came home and scolded his wife for leaving him hungry all day. "It is not my fault," she replied. "The girl went out with your dinner and must have lost her way, but she is sure to come back tomorrow." The woodcutter arose before dawn to go into the forest and requested that the second daughter take him his dinner that day.

"I will take a bag of lentils," he said. "The seeds are larger than millet. The girl will see them better and cannot lose her way." At dinnertime, the girl took out the food, but the lentils had disappeared.

The birds of the forest had eaten them as they had done the day before and left none. The girl wandered in the forest until night, and then she too reached the house of the old man. She was told to go in, and she begged for food and a bed.

The man with the white beard again asked the animals,

"Pretty little hen, Pretty little cock, And pretty brindled cow, What do you say to that?"

The animals again replied "Duks." Everything happened just as it had the day before. The girl cooked a good meal, ate and drank with the old man, and did not care about the animals. When she asked about a bed, they answered,

"You have eaten with him, You have drunk with him, You have not thought of us, Find out for yourself where you can spend the night."

When she was asleep, the old man came, looked at her, shook his head, and let her down into the cellar.

On the third morning, the woodcutter said to his wife, "Send our youngest child out with my dinner today. She has always been good and obedient and will stay on the right path, not run about after every wild bumblebee like her sisters did." The mother did not want to and said, "Am I to lose my dearest child as well?"

"Have no fear," he replied. "The girl will not go astray. She is too prudent and sensible. Besides, I will take some peas with me and scatter them. They are even larger than lentils and will show her the way." But when the girl went out with her basket on her arm, the wood pigeons had already eaten all the peas, and she did not know which way to turn.

She was full of sorrow and never stopped thinking about how hungry her father would be and how her good mother would grieve if she did not go home. At length, when it grew dark, she saw the light and came to the house in the forest.

She very politely asked to be allowed to spend the night there. The man with the white beard once more asked his animals,

"Pretty little hen, Pretty little cock, And beautiful brindled cow, What do you say to that?"

"Duks," said they. Then the girl went to the stove where the animals were lying. She petted the cock and hen and stroked their smooth feathers with her hand, and she caressed the brindled cow between her horns.

When, in obedience to the old man's orders, she had made some good soup and the bowl was placed on the table, she said, "Am I to eat as much as I want while the good animals have nothing? Outside there is plenty of food.

I will look after them first." So she went and brought some barley and cooked it for the cock and hen, and a whole armful of sweet-smelling hay for the cow. "I hope you will like it, dear animals," she said, "and you shall have a refreshing drink in case you are thirsty." Then she fetched a bucket of water.

The cock and hen jumped onto the edge, dipped their beaks in, and then held up their heads as birds do when they drink. The brindled cow also took a hearty drink. When the animals were fed, the girl sat down at the table by the old man and ate what he had left.

It was not long before the cock and hen began to tuck their heads under their wings, and the cow's eyes began to blink. Then the girl said, "Shouldn't we go to bed?"

"Pretty little hen, Pretty little cock, And pretty brindled cow, What do you say to that?"

The animals answered "Duks,"

"You have eaten with us, You have drunk with us, You have kindly thought of all of us, We wish you good night."

Then the girl went upstairs, shook the feather beds, and laid clean sheets on them. When she was done, the old man came and lay down on one of the beds, and his white beard reached down to his feet. The girl lay down on the other, said her prayers, and fell asleep.

She slept quietly until midnight. Then there was such a noise in the house that she awoke. There was a sound of cracking and splitting in every corner. The doors sprang open and beat against the walls. The beams groaned as if they were being torn from their joints.

It seemed as if the staircase were falling down, and at last there was a crash as if the whole roof had caved in. But when all grew quiet again and the girl was not hurt, she stayed lying where she was and fell back asleep.

When she woke up in the bright sunshine, what did her eyes behold? She was lying in a vast hall. Everything around her shone with royal splendor. On the walls, golden flowers grew on a background of green silk. The bed was of ivory, and the canopy was of red velvet.

On a chair nearby lay a pair of shoes embroidered with pearls. The girl thought she was dreaming. But three richly dressed servants came in and asked what orders she would like to give. "If you will go," she replied, "I will get up at once and prepare some soup for the old man, and then I will feed the pretty little hen, the cock, and the beautiful brindled cow." She thought the old man was already up, and she looked at his bed.

But he was not lying in it—a stranger was. As she looked at him, realizing that he was young and handsome, he awoke, sat up in bed, and said, "I am a king's son. I was bewitched by a wicked witch and made to live in this forest as an old gray-haired man.

No one was allowed to be with me except my three servants in the form of a cock, a hen, and a brindled cow. The spell could only be broken when a girl came whose heart was so good that she showed love not only to humans but also to animals.

That you have done, and at midnight we were set free. The old hut in the forest has turned back into my royal palace." When they had arisen, the king's son ordered the three servants to go and fetch the girl's father and mother for the wedding feast.

"But where are my two sisters?" asked the maiden. "I have locked them in the cellar," he said. "Tomorrow they shall be led into the forest and live as servants to a charcoal burner until they have become kinder and do not leave poor animals to suffer hunger."