The Girl in the Well
Once upon a time, there lived a man and his wife. The wife had a stepdaughter. The girl was spinning by the well and accidentally dropped her spindle into the water. She went home crying. Her stepmother asked:— Why are you crying?
— I dropped my spindle into the water!
The stepmother began to scold her, shouting and yelling, and said:
— Go and get your spindle, and don’t come back without it!
The girl went to the well and threw herself in. She found herself in a meadow. As she walked, she met some sheep:
— Girl, tend to us, clean up after us, and we’ll give you a sheep and a lamb.
She tended to them and cleaned up, and they said:
— When you go home, we’ll give you your reward.
She bowed and continued on her way. Soon she met some cows:
— Girl, tend to us, clean up after us, and we’ll give you a cow and a heifer.
She tended to them and cleaned up, and they said:
— Thank you, girl. When you return, we won’t forget our debt.
She walked across the meadow and the long field, and then she met some stallions:
— Girl, tend to us, clean up after us.
She did everything they asked, and they said:
— When you return, we won’t let you down!
She walked further and came to a little hut where an old man and an old woman lived. Her spindle was there. The old woman said:
— You must redeem your spindle, girl, by serving us faithfully for a year.
So she began to serve them. She worked so well that the old couple grew fond of her. She lived with them for three years, but by the fourth year, she grew homesick.
— Let me go home to my father, she begged the old couple.
They let her go, giving her many gifts. As she stepped through the gate, she was showered with gold.
She walked home, and along the way, she met shepherds who gave her a cow, a sheep, and a colt. She returned home with great wealth, covered in gold. When she reached the gate, the dog barked:
— Our daughter has returned, yap, yap, bringing good fortune, yap, yap!
But the old woman shouted:
— Quiet, the devils ate her long ago!
Then the girl entered, all covered in gold.
Word of this spread, and suitors came to woo her. She refused a peasant, a deacon, a nobleman, and a lord, but when Ivan the Tsarevich proposed, she accepted.
The old woman was furious! She sent her own daughter to the well to fetch a spindle. The girl jumped in and fell. She got up and walked on. As she went, she met some sheep:
— Girl, tend to us, clean up after us, and we’ll give you a sheep!
But she was rude and mean, and she said:
— What nonsense! I didn’t come here for manure—I came for riches!
She walked on and met some cows:
— Girl, tend to us, clean up after us, and we’ll give you a heifer.
— I didn’t come for that—I came for gold!
She arrived at the little hut where the old man and old woman lived.
— Give me my golden spindle! she demanded. (Though it wasn’t golden at all—just a wooden one.)
The old woman said:
— You must earn your spindle by serving us.
So she began to serve, but she did everything poorly, spoiled things, and was lazy and sloppy. After three days, she asked to go home. They let her go, giving her a basket of goods. She walked to the gate and thought:
— Let me see what’s in the basket!
But when she opened it, toads, snakes, and filth crawled out, covering her. Then tar poured from the gate, drenching her. She ran home, reached the gate, and the dog barked:
— Yap, yap, our daughter has returned covered in tar!
The old woman shouted:
— Quiet, our daughter will come covered in gold!
But the girl entered, covered in tar. Her mother rushed to her, clung to her, and they both perished together.
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