sions in the house to
last you three years. But see you do not open the door to anyone till we
come home again.'

'Very well, dear father,' replied the girls.

For two years they never left the house or unlocked the door; but one
day, when they had washed their clothes, and were spreading them out on
the roof to dry, the girls looked down into the street where people were
walking to and fro, and across to the market, with its stalls of fresh
meat, vegetables, and other nice things.

'Come here,' cried one. 'It makes me quite hungry! Why should not
we have our share? Let one of us go to the market, and buy meat and
vegetables.'

'Oh, we mustn't do that!' said the youngest. 'You know our father
forbade us to open the door till he came home again.'

Then the eldest sister sprang at her and struck her, the second spit at
her, the third abused her, the fourth pushed her, the fifth flung her to
the ground, and the sixth tore her clothes. Then they left her lying on
the floor, and went out with a basket.

In about an hour they came back with the basket full of meat and
vegetables, which they put in a pot, and set on the fire, quite
forgetting that the house door stood wide open. The youngest sister,
however, took no part in all this, and when dinner was ready and the
table laid, she stole softly out to the entrance hall, and hid herself
behind a great cask which stood in one corner.

Now, while the other sisters were enjoying their feast, a witch passed
by, and catching sight of the open door, she walked in. She went up
to the eldest girl, and said: 'Where shall I begin on you, you fat
bolster?'

'You must begin,' answered she, 'with the hand which struck my little
sister.'

So the witch gobbled her up, and when the last scrap had disappeared,
she came to the second and asked: 'Where shall I begin on you, my fat
bolster?'

And the second answered, 'You must begin on my mouth, which spat on my
sister.'

And so on to the rest; and very soon the whole six had disappeared.
And as the witch was eating the last mouthful of the last sister, the
youngest, who had been crouching, frozen with horror, behind the barrel,
ran out through the open door into the street. Without looking behind
her, she hastened on and on, as fast as her feet would carry her, till
she saw an ogre's castle standing in front of her. In a corner near the
door she spied a large pot, and she crept softly up to it and pulled the
cover over it, and we