“What do you want, ugly wench?”
“I’ve thrown my wool away, and I don’t know what to do.”
“Take this filbert, and when you come before the prince crack it. But you don’t deserve to be helped.”
The next day the whole court was assembled and the three women gave their skeins of wool, and then the prince turned to the girl and said:—
“What have you done?”
“Baa, baa,” said she, and cracked the filbert. There was a skein of the finest wool that could be imagined, and all said that the sheep had done best.
Then the prince gave each one a puppy, and said:—
“The one whose puppy grows into the most beautiful dog shall be my bride.”
So the three women took their puppies, and brushed them and combed them and washed them and fed them, till they were so fat they could hardly move; but the poor girl let hers run away.