ever she did and whithersoever she went, and they scolded her and
abused her so that she never had an hour's peace. They made her do all
the hard work, and hard words fell to her lot early and late, but little
enough food accompanied them.

One day they sent her to the brook to fetch some water home, and an ugly
and horrible head rose up out of the water, and said, 'Wash me, girl!'

'Yes, I will wash you with pleasure,' said the girl, and began to wash
and scrub the ugly face, but she couldn't help thinking that it was a
very unpleasant piece of work. When she had done it, and done it well,
another head rose up out of the water, and this one was uglier still.

'Brush me, girl!' said the head.

'Yes, I will brush you with pleasure,' said the girl, and set to work
with the tangled hair, and, as may be easily imagined, this too was by
no means pleasant work.

When she had got it done, another and a much more ugly and
horrible-looking head rose up out of the water.

'Kiss me, girl!' said the head.

'Yes, I will kiss you,' said the man's daughter, and she did it, but
she thought it was the worst bit of work that she had ever had to do in
her life.

So the heads all began to talk to each other, and to ask what they
should do for this girl who was so full of kindliness.

'She shall be the prettiest girl that ever was, and fair and bright as
the day,' said the first head.

'Gold shall drop from her hair whenever she brushes it,' said the
second.

'Gold shall drop from her mouth whenever she speaks,' said the third
head.

So when the man's daughter went home, looking as beautiful and bright as
day, the step-mother and her daughter grew much more ill-tempered, and
it was worse still when she began to talk, and they saw that golden
coins dropped from her mouth. The step-mother fell into such a towering
passion that she drove the man's daughter into the pig-stye--she might
stay there with her fine show of gold, the step-mother said, but she
should not be permitted to set foot in the house.

It was not long before the mother wanted her own daughter to go to the
stream to fetch some water.

When she got there with her pails, the first head rose up out of the
water close to the bank. 'Wash me, girl!' it said.

'Wash yourself!' answered the woman's daughter.

Then the second head appeared.

'Brush me, girl!' said the head.

'Brush yourself!' said the woman's daughter.

So down it went to the bottom, and the thi