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THE GREEN FAIRY BOOK |
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sisters to give you the heart of the dead goat and bury it in the earth before the house door; that will bring you good luck." Then she disappeared, and Little Two-eyes went home and said to her sisters: "Dear sisters, do give me something of my goat. I ask nothing better than its heart." Then they laughed and said: "You can have that if you want nothing more." And Little Two-eyes took the heart and buried it in the evening when all was quiet, as the wise woman had told her, before the house door.
The next morning, when they all awoke and came to the house door, there stood a most wonderful tree, which had leaves of silver and fruit of gold growing on it—you never saw anything more lovely and gorgeous in your life! But they did not know how the tree had grown up in the night. Only Little Two-eyes knew that it had sprung from the heart of the goat, for it was standing just where she had buried it in the ground. Then the mother said to Little One-eye: "Climb up, my child, and break us off the fruit from the tree." Little One-eye climbed up, but just when she was going to take hold of one of the golden apples the bough sprang out of her hands; and this happened every time so that she could not break off a single apple, however hard she tried. Then the mother said: "Little Three-eyes, do you climb up. You with your three eyes can see round better than Little One-eye." So Little One-eye slid down and Little Three-eyes climbed up, but she was not any more successful. Look round as she might, the golden apples bent themselves back.
At last the mother got impatient and climbed up herself, but she was even less successful than Little One-eye and Little Three-eyes in Patching hold of the fruit, and only grasped at the empty air. Then Little Two-eyes said: "I will just try once. Perhaps I shall succeed better." The sisters called out: "You with your two eves will no doubt succeed!" But Little Two-eyes climbed up, and the golden apples did not jump awav from her, but behaved quite properly, so that she could pluck th em off, one after the other, and brought a whole apronful down with her. The mother took them from her, and instead of behaving better to poor Little Two-eyes, as they ought to have done, they were jealous that she onlv could reach tne fruit and behaved still more unkindly to her.
it happened one day that when they were all standing |
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