“What do you want, good woman?” said she.
And the little old woman answered: “You have been very kind, ma’am, in giving me a house and furniture, and clothes, and a maid, and a pony and a cart; but now, if you please, ma’am, I should like a coach and six. For it is like all the farmers’ wives to ride about in a cart.”
Then the fairy said: “Oh, you discontented little old woman! The more I give you, the more you want. Go back to your vinegar-bottle.”
So the little old woman went home, and she found everything gone—her cart, and her pony, and her maid, and her clothes, and her furniture, and her house. Nothing remained but the little old vinegar-bottle, with the ladder to get up the side.
THE SNOW QUEEN
Once upon a time there was a little boy called Kay. And there was a little girl. Her name was Gerda.
They were not brother and sister, this little boy and girl, but they lived in tiny attics next door to one another.
When they were not playing together, Gerda spent her time peeping at Kay, through one of the little panes in her window. And Kay peeped back at Gerda.