169 – The Hut in the Woods

A wood-cutter lived with his wife and three daughters near a large forest. They were very poor so they lived in a small hut. One day, the father went out to cut wood in the forest. “I will be too late for dinner,” he said to his wife. “Ask our oldest daughter to bring me my dinner.” 

“But the forest is so big. The poor girl will get lost,” said the wife. 

“I will take a bag of seeds and drop them on the way,” said the father. So off he went through the forest, dropping seeds on his way. 

Soon it was dinner time and the father was late. So the wife sent oldest daughter off into the forest. “Go out and find your father. Take him this bowl of soup. Look for the trail of seeds to find your way,” she told the girl.

So the oldest daughter went off. She started walking where she saw seeds her father had left. But soon, the girl lost her way. She looked and looked. But the seeds had disappeared. The birds of the forest had found them and eaten them all. The girl went on sadly, and soon she was deep in the forest. 

Night fell. “I am so hungry!” said the girl. So she ate up her father’s dinner. She kept walking through the forest. 

Soon, the girl was very lost, and she became afraid. “This is terrible! I will never find my way home!” she cried. At that moment, she saw a house in the forest. “A house! But who lives there? Will they give me some food and a bed for the night?” she asked. 

Soon she came up to the house. “Come in, come in,” said an old man. Then, the girl saw an old gray-haired man. He lived all alone with his animals. There was a hen, a cock, and a brown cow. The girl told the old man that she was lost. “Please, may I have a bed for the night? And some food?” said the girl.

The old man petted his animals. They were his best friends. Then he turned and said to the animals:

“Pretty little hen,

Pretty little cock,

And pretty brown cow,

What do you say to that?”

“CLUCK CLUCK,” said the hen and cock. “MOO,” said the cow. The animals seemed to say “yes.” Then the old man said, “See the pot over there? Go find something to eat. But please bring a bowl to my little friends and me.” The man sat petting his animals. 

The girl went to the pot. She took out two bowls of delicious soup. But she did not think about the animals. She carried the full bowls to the table. She sat and ate quickly, not stopping to look at the man. The old man was not happy with the girl for she had ignored the animals.  

When the girl had had enough, she said, “I am tired. Where is a bed for me?”

At that moment, something strange happened. The hen and cock did not “CLUCK CLUCK.” And the cow did not “MOO.” The animals began to talk. They cried at the girl:  

“You ate with him,

You sat with him,

But you did not think about us,

So find your own bed for the night.”

The girl was scared, but the old man said, “Upstairs there is a bed for you. But wait and do not sleep until I am done.” The old man went off to work, getting the animals to bed.

But the girl did not wait. Straight away, she went up to the beds. Quickly, she laid down clean blankets and slept.

Soon after, the old man went upstairs. He looked at the sleeping girl, and he was not happy at all.

Then again, something strange happened. The walls creaked; the floor shook. The girl woke from her sleep. She looked and saw that the bed had disappeared. The old man and the animals had disappeared too. The girl was suddenly down in a dark cellar.

Late at night the wood-cutter came home. “Where is my dinner?” he said to his wife. “It is not my fault,” she said, “the girl went out with your dinner, but she must be lost.”

Quickly, the wood-cutter went back into the forest. “I will look for our daughter. But I may be out late,” he said. “I will take a bag with nuts. They are larger than seeds so our daughter will see them.”

The father was gone all that day. So again, the mother said to her second-oldest daughter, “Go out and find your father. Take him this bowl of soup. Look for the trail of nuts to find your way.”

So the girl went off with the food, but she soon lost her way. Animals had come again, and the nuts had disappeared. The girl walked here and there in the forest. Soon, she saw the little house. She went in and saw the old man. Again, the girl asked the old man for a bed for the night and some dinner.

The old man petted his animals and said to them:

“Pretty little hen,

Pretty little cock,

And pretty brown cow,

What do you say to that?”

“CLUCK CLUCK,” said the hen and cock. “MOO,” said the cow. So again, the old man said, “Go find something to eat in that pot. But please bring a bowl to my little friends and me.”

Everything happened just as it had happened before. The girl ate with the old man, but she did not think about the animals. Again, the animals cried out as if by magic:

“You ate with him,

You sat with him,

But you did not think about us,

So find your own bed for the night.”

And again the second girl went to sleep without helping the animals. She woke up down into the cellar.

The next day, the wood-cutter said to his wife, “Send our youngest child out with my dinner to-day, she is a good girl. She will not get lost.” The mother did not want to do it, and said, “We have lost two girls, and soon the third as well?”

“I will take some peas with me and drop them on the way,” said the father. “They are larger than nuts or seeds, and they will show her the way.”

So off he went through the forest, dropping seeds on his way. But when the girl went out with the soup  for her father, she was soon lost. The forest animals had found the peas and ate them all up! The poor girl  was scared, but she thought only how hungry her father would be. She did not eat her father’s soup, and she kept walking all night.

Soon the girl saw the the house in the forest. She asked to spend the night there, and the man with the white beard once more asked his animals,

“Pretty little hen,

Pretty little cock,

And pretty brown cow,

What do you say to that?”

“CLUCK CLUCK,” said the hen and cock. “MOO,” said the cow. So again, the old man said, “Go find something to eat in that pot. But please bring a bowl to my little friends and me.”

The girl went to the pot and quickly got bowls for the animals. She petted the cock and hen, and said, “Here, I hope you like this dinner.” She went to the cow, saying “This is for you, dear cow.”  

Finally, she went to the table with two bowls. She had walked all day, and she was hungry. But she said, “What about water? The poor animals need water as well as food!” Then she got a bucket of water for the animals. The cock and hen dipped their beaks in. Then, the cow took a drink too.

When the animals were fed, the girl sat at the table by the old man. The girl ate with the old man. The man looked very happy and said, “Thank you for being good to my animal friends.”

Soon it was time for bed. “Please sir,” said the girl. “Can I have a bed for the night?”

But the old man said nothing. It was the animals who talked, saying,

“You ate with us,

You sat with us,

You were kind to us,

So we wish you a good night.”

“Talking animals!” said the girl happily. She petted the hen, the cock, and the cow, and said “Good night.” Then, she laid blankets down for the old man, herself, and all the animals. Finally, everyone laid down to sleep.

They slept and slept. But soon, something strange happened. The walls creaked; the floor shook. The girl woke from her sleep. She was very scared. Then, she looked and saw that the bed had disappeared. The girl was suddenly in a beautiful palace. The blanket she slept on was the finest silk. The bed was solid gold!

She looked for the old man, but he had disappeared too. In his place, there was a handsome prince.

He woke up, sat up in bed, and said, “I am a King’s son. But a wicked witch transformed me into an old man. She made me live in this forest, with no one but my three best friends. The witch transformed my friends into a cock, a hen, and a cow. The spell was not to be broken until a girl came to us whose heart was good…so good that she would be kind to me and my friends.”

The prince held the dear girl and fell in love. The prince let the two other girls go, as they had learned their lesson. And the girl and her prince lived happily ever after.