Hardy, Softy, and Sweetie

An old woman went into the forest to pick berries. She encountered a she-bear. Out of fear, the old woman climbed up a tree, and the she-bear growled beneath the tree:

"Hey, old woman! Come down! I'll eat you!"

"Oh, no, please, she-bear! Don't eat me! I'm old, very old! You'd better come to my house this evening. I have three granddaughters. Three sisters, three clever girls. The first is called Tverdushka (Hardy), the second is Myagushka (Softie), and the youngest is Sladushka (Sweetie)! Whichever one you choose, I'll give her to you!"

The she-bear left her alone. The old woman climbed down from the tree and ran as if she had shed a couple of decades. She only caught her breath when she reached her doorstep. She quickly called her granddaughters inside. The three of them locked the door tightly.

In the middle of the night, the she-bear came. She stomped her feet and banged on the door with her paws:

"Hey, old woman! Bring me Tverdushka!"

"Tverdushka propped the door with a big rock and fell fast asleep!"

"Old woman! Then give me Myagushka!"

"Myagushka ate and drank her fill and lay down to sleep next to Tverdushka!"

"Old woman! Then bring me Sladushka!"

"Sladushka is sleeping next to Myagushka, Sladushka is sleeping next to Tverdushka. Sladushka is such a clever girl, so wise! She taught her old granny a lesson—to lock the door tightly and never go into the forest alone!!!" Fairy girl