There was once upon a time a wicked woman who had a daughter and a
step-daughter. The daughter was ugly and of an evil disposition, but the
step-daughter was most beautiful and good, and all who knew her wished
her well. When the girl's step-mother and step-sister saw this they
hated the poor girl.
One day it chanced that she was sent by her step-mother to the well to
draw water. When the girl came there she saw a little hand held out of
the water, and a voice said--
"Maiden, beautiful and good, give me your golden apple, and in return
for it I will thrice wish you well."
The girl thought that one who spoke so fairly to her would not do her an
ill turn, so she put the apple into the little hand. Then she bent down
over the spring, and, taking care not to muddy the water, filled her
bucket. As she went home the guardian of the well wished that the girl
would become thrice as beautiful as she was, that whenever she laughed a
gold ring might fall from her mouth, and that red roses might spring up
wherever she trod. The same hour all that he wished came to pass. From
that day the girl was called the Maiden Swanwhite, and the fame of her
loveliness spread all through the land.
When the wicked step-mother perceived this, she was filled with rage,
and she thought how her own daughter might become as beautiful as
Swanwhite. With this object she set herself to learn all that had
happened, and then she sent her own daughter to fetch water. When the
wicked girl had come to the well, she saw a little hand rise up out of
the water, and heard a voice which said--
"Maiden, beautiful and good, give me your gold apple and I will thrice
wish thee well."
But the hag's daughter was both wicked and avaricious, and it was not
her way to make presents. She therefore made a dash at the little hand,
wished the guardian of the well evil, and said pettishly--
"You need not think you'll get a gold apple from me."
Then she filled her bucket, muddying the water, and away she went in a
rage. The guardian of the well was enraged, so he wished her three evil
wishes, as a punishment for her wickedness. He wished that she should
become three times as ugly as she was, that a dead rat should fall from
her mouth whenever she laughed, and that the fox-tail grass might spring
up in the footsteps wherever she trod. So it was. From that day the
wicked girl was called Maiden Foxtail, and very much talk was there
among the folk of her strange looks and her ill-nature. The hag could
not bear her step-daughter should be more beautiful than her own
daughter, and poor Swanwhite had to put up with all the ill-usage and
suffering that a step-child can meet with.
Swanwhite had a brother whom she loved very much, and he also loved her
with all his heart. He had long ago left home, and he was now the
servant of a king, far, far off in a strange land. The other servants of
the king bore him no good-will because he was liked by his master, and
they wished to ruin him if they could find anything against him.