Journeys through Bookland : a new and original plan for reading applied to the world's best literature for children . down on a bed in the room,and worn out with sorrow the young girl soon fellasleep. Then the old woman placed herself at the tablebj^ the feathers. Ah! how they flew and sorted them-selves under the touch of her withered hand! andvery soon the whole twelve pounds were the maiden awoke, there they lay in largesnowy heaps, and everything in the room was neatand in order; but the old woman had vanished. The maidens heart was full of thankfulness, andshe sat still till
Journeys through Bookland : a new and original plan for reading applied to the world's best literature for children . down on a bed in the room,and worn out with sorrow the young girl soon fellasleep. Then the old woman placed herself at the tablebj^ the feathers. Ah! how they flew and sorted them-selves under the touch of her withered hand! andvery soon the whole twelve pounds were the maiden awoke, there they lay in largesnowy heaps, and everything in the room was neatand in order; but the old woman had vanished. The maidens heart was full of thankfulness, andshe sat still till the evening, when her stepmothercame into the room. She was truly astonished when she found the The Three Tasks 249 feathers finished. See, now, she said at last, whatpeople can do when they are industrious! But whyare you sitting there with your hands in your lap?Can you find nothing else to do? As she left theroom she said to herself, The creature can do any-thing; I must give her something more difficult nexttime. On the morrow she called the maiden to her, andsaid, There is a large spoon for you; now go and. ladle out the water from the pond that lies near thegarden, and if by evening you have not reached thebottom you know what you have to expect. The maiden took the spoon, and saw that it wasfull of holes; and even if it had not been it wouldhave been impossible for her to empty the pondwith it. She made an attempt, however—knelt by thewater, into which her tears fell, and began to scoopit out. But the good old woman agam made herappearance, and when she saw the cause of her sor-row she said, Be comforted, my child, and go andrest in the shrubbery; I will do your work for you. As soon as the old woman was alone she merely 250 The Three Tasks touched the water; it immediately rose like a mistin the air, and mingled itself with the clouds. Grad-ually the pond became empty, and when at sunsetthe maiden awoke, the water had disappeared, andshe saw only the fish writhing in
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectchildre, bookyear1922
