_If one possesses no unusual trait or talent, he deserves all the
more consideration from his parents and companions._
Once upon a time there was a mother who had three daughters. One
was called One-Eye, because she had only one eye. Another was
called Three-Eyes because she had three eyes. The third daughter
was like other people and had two eyes, so she was called Two-Eyes.
The mother was very fond of One-Eye and Three-Eyes, but she did not
like Two-Eyes because she was just like other people. So Two-Eyes
was made miserable and had all the hard work to do, and besides
that she had only the scraps to eat.
Every day she had to take the goat to pasture. One day little
Two-Eyes was in the meadow crying because she was very tired and
hungry. A strange old woman appeared and comforted her. The old
woman was really a fairy, but Two-Eyes did not know that. The
strange woman told Two-Eyes what to say when she was hungry.
The next day Two-Eyes was in the meadow again looking after the
goat. She was very hungry, for there had been no scraps that day.
She thought she would try the old woman’s directions, so she said:
“Little kid, bleat; I wish to eat!”
Sure enough there stood before her a table, full of good things to
eat. When she had eaten all she cared for, she said:
“Little kid, bleat; clear away the meat.”
When she said this, the table disappeared.
After this Two-Eyes did not touch the scraps left for her. Every
day she said the little rhymes and got all the food she needed. Her
mother noticed that she did not eat the scraps and thought some one
must be feeding Two-Eyes in the meadow. So to find out the truth
she sent One-Eye with Two-Eyes.
One-Eye was not used to such a long walk, so she sat down to rest
and soon fell asleep. So she knew nothing of what happened.
The next day the mother sent Three-Eyes with Two-Eyes to the
meadow. When she rested only two of her eyes were asleep, although
she pretended that the third was asleep, too. As soon as Two-Eyes
thought she was asleep, she said:
“Little kid bleat; I wish to eat.”
Then the table appeared, and Two-Eyes ate all she wished. When she
had finished eating, she said:
“Little kid bleat; take away the meat.”
Then the table disappeared as before. But Three-Eyes had been
watching with one eye, and had heard and seen everything.
When they reached home Three-Eyes reported everything to her
mother. The mother was so angry that she killed the goat, and poor
little Two-Eyes had to go back to eating scraps after all.