“Oh, shake me!
Shake me!
We apples are all ripe!”
So she shook the tree till the apples fell like rain, and went on shaking till they were all down, and when she had gathered them into a heap, she went on her way.
At last she came to a little house out of which peeped an old woman. The old woman had such large teeth that the girl was frightened, and was about to run away.
But the old woman said, “What are you afraid of, dear child? Stay with me; if you will do all the work in the house properly, you shall be the better for it. Only you must take care to make my bed well, and to shake it thoroughly till the feathers fly—for then there is snow on the earth. I am Mother Holle.”
The old woman spoke so kindly to her, the girl took courage and agreed to enter her service. She did everything so well that she pleased her mistress, and always shook her bed so vigorously that the feathers flew about like snowflakes. She had a pleasant life with the old woman, never an angry word, and boiled or roast meat every day.
But after she had stayed some time with Mother Holle, she became sad. At first she did not know what was the matter with her, but at last she felt it was homesickness. Although she was many thousand times better off here than at home, still she had a longing to be there. So one day she said to the old woman, “I wish I were home, no matter how well off I am down here, I cannot stay any longer; I must go up again to my own people.” Mother Holle said, “I am glad that you long for your home, and as you have served me so truly, I myself will take you up again.” She took her by the hand, and led her to a large door. The door opened, and just as the maiden was standing beneath the door-way, a heavy shower of golden rain fell, and all the gold remained on her, so that she was covered with it.
“You shall have that because you are so industrious,” said Mother Holle; and at the same time she gave her back the shuttle which the girl had let fall into the well. Then the door closed, and the maiden found herself up above the earth, not far from her mother’s house.
As she went into the yard, the cock standing by the well-side cried,