“How did you sleep?” and “Will you marry me?”
“To your first question, I slept terribly. I had to get up in the middle of the night to try and open the cellar door where I could hear my two missing sisters screaming for help to escape. It was impossible to open the door so we decided to wait until morning for you whoever you really are, to release them.”
“I´ll have them released immediately. With your kindness you have changed us back to our true form.”
“Maybe so,” said Sally. “To your second question, the answer is no. I was lost in the wood and then thankfully you let me stay the night. But where is it written that I had to repay your kindness by making you dinner and fixing up the beds. How do you know my sisters weren´t planning to pay you back once they got back to their house? For your treatment of my sisters I could never marry scum like you. And as for your footmen. I liked them better as animals. I didn´t ask for breakfast in bed. Open the cellar door and let us be off. You ought to be ashamed of yourself.”
She nagged on and on at him for about half an hour until he opened the cellar door and ordered the footmen to show the three sisters the right way home.
Once home Sally declared to all the household that the next time the woodcutter had a great idea he could shove it where the sun don´t shine.
The end
The following day over breakfast you would think the wood cutter would have shown some concern for the disappearance of his two daughters. Instead he ordered Sally to bring him his lunch. So later that day Sally headed into the forest to track him down with his lunch under her armpit.
Of course she wasn´t going to leave a trail of seeds or breadcrumbs. She painted all the trees she passed with a white arrow. However she didn´t have much luck finding the whereabouts of her father either. It started to rain. She went into a dark cave to escape the down pour.
When she came out she realised that the paint she had used was completely inferiour to the real stuff and the rain had washed away her only means of getting home. She wandered around for a bit trying to look for landmarks but without success.
After some time, she came across the same little cottage with the smoke curling out of the chimney.
“Come in,” croaked an old voice. She did. An old man sat at a wooden table. Behind the table were a horse, a donkey and a fox.
“Can I stay?” she asked.
The old man looked at the animals, they replied, “yes, no, maybe so.”
This was interpreted as yes. The old man told Sally to go into the kitchen and make herself something to eat. She did just that and she also made something for the old man and the animals.
The old man told her to go into the spare bedroom and make the bed for herself. She did just that and she also made up the beds for the old man and the animals.
Finally, after doing the wash up for them she went to bed.
The following morning she awoke to a great surprise. She sat up in a bed that was plushy and comfy. Three foot men knocked and entered the room bringing her breakfast and glamorous gowns to wear. Finally a handsome prince came into the room and asked her two questions.
Meanwhile back at the house on the edge of the forest the wood cutter came up with the ingenious idea of sending his second daughter – Stella, into the forest with his lunch. The family protested of course, especially as Sue hadn´t returned yet. However, there was no arguing with him and the very next day Stella headed into the forest with his lunch.
She left a trail of breadcrumbs in order to find her way back. She got lost and when she tried to find her way back to the house the birds had eaten up all the breadcrumbs. So what did she do only sit on a log and eat the woodcutter´s lunch.
Night fell. She wandered around until she saw a cottage. She knocked on the door.
“Come in,” croaked an old voice. She did. An old man sat at a wooden table. Behind the table were a horse, a donkey and a fox.
“Can I stay?” she asked.
The old man looked at the animals, they replied, “yes, no, maybe so.”
This was interpreted as yes. The old man told Stella to go into the kitchen and make herself something to eat. She did.
The old man told her to go into the spare bedroom and make the bed for herself. She did.
Finally, when she dropped off the old man came into the room and pulled a lever on the wall. Down she went into the cellar. The animals clapped.
The story is based on a real fairytale. This is a rewrite of an obviously incorrect account of proceedings.
Once upon a time there was a family that lived on the edge of a forest and on the edge of society. The household was made up of a stout mother a short father and three bad looking daughters. They were Sad Sue, Stubborn Stella and Silly Sally.
One fine day the father, who happened to be a wood cutter had an idea. He didn´t often have one so he was right proud of himself whenever he did get one. He announced his great idea over the dinner table.
“As of from now I am not going to carry my own lunch with me every morning when I head off into the forest. I have enough to carry between my axe and the wood I cut.”
“But you have a pony and cart,” said the wife, “ I don´t see why you can´t carry the lunch in that too?”
“Listen woman,” began the wood cutter, “do you want the story to develop or not, the original story has less detail than this one.”
“Fair enough so,” said the stout lady.
The wood cutter proceeded to explain how he thought it would be an excellent idea if the eldest girl, Sue, brought the lunch to him every day at noon. And of course there was no arguing with him even though it was quite obviously a waste of everyone´s time. However that´s the way the original story goes.
So the next day the wood cutter went to work as usual. At lunchtime Sue headed out the door with his lunch under her arm and a bag of seeds. Halfway into the forest she had to leave a trail of seeds in order to be able to find her way back. Now what I didn´t understand from the original story is how the woodcutter got in and out of the forest no bother, while she needed the seeds.
In the end she didn´t even find the wood cutter to give him his lunch. To make matters worse she didn´t find the trail back home either because the birds ate up all the seeds.
She sat down on a log and ate the wood cutter´s lunch. What was she going to do now?
Night fell. She wandered around a bit until she saw in the distance a cottage with welcoming smoke curling out of the chimney.
She knocked on the door. “Come in,” said an old voice. Inside was an old man at a wooden table and behind the table stood a horse, a donkey and a fox. In the original story I can´t remember exactly what type of animals they were. This is near enough.
“Can I stay?” she asked.
The old man looked at the animals, they replied, “yes, no, maybe so.”
This was interpreted as yes. The old man told Sue to go into the kitchen and make herself something to eat. She did.
The old man told her to go into the spare bedroom and make the bed for herself. She did.
Finally when she dropped off the old man came into the room and pulled a lever on the wall. Down she went into the cellar. The animals clapped.