Once there lived a widow who had two daughters: one was diligent and gentle, while the other was idle and ill-tempered. The good girl was made to do all the household labour, and each day she sat beside a well spinning until her fingers were sore.

One day her spindle fell into the water. Fearing her stepmother’s anger, she leapt after it and awoke in a strange and beautiful meadow. There she found a loaf of bread crying to be taken from the oven, and an apple tree begging to be shaken free of its ripe fruit. The girl gladly helped them both.

At last she came to the house of an old woman with great teeth, who was called Mother Holle. Though frightened at first, the girl agreed to serve her. Her chief duty was to shake and fluff the old woman’s feather beds so thoroughly that the feathers flew abroad; and whenever she did so, snow fell upon the world of men.

The girl worked faithfully and was treated with kindness, yet after a time she longed for home. Mother Holle praised her honesty and led her to a great gate. As she passed beneath it, a shower of gold fell upon her and clung to her garments forever.

When the lazy sister heard of this fortune, she too jumped into the well. But she refused to help the bread and apples, performed her tasks carelessly, and soon demanded to return home. Mother Holle led her beneath the same gate; but instead of gold, a great kettle of black pitch poured over her, and no washing could remove it.

Thus the diligent girl was rewarded for kindness and good service, while the selfish one carried the mark of her idleness ever after.