n
you have passed the dog, you will see in the courtyard a miserable woman
trying in vain to let down a bucket into the well with her plaited hair.
You must give her the rope. In the kitchen you will find a still more
miserable woman trying to clean the hearth with her tongue; to her you
must give the broom. You will see the casket on the top of a cupboard,
take it as quickly as you can, and leave the house without a moment's
delay. If you do all this exactly as I have told you, you will not be
killed.'

So Prunella, having listened carefully to his instructions, did just
what he had told her. She reached the house, oiled the hinges of the
door, threw the loaf to the dog, gave the poor woman at the well the
rope, and the woman in the kitchen the broom, caught up the casket from
the top of the cupboard, and fled with it out of the house. But the
witch heard her as she ran away, and rushing to the window called out to
the woman in the kitchen: 'Kill that thief, I tell you!'

But the woman replied: 'I will not kill her, for she has given me a
broom, whereas you forced me to clean the hearth with my tongue.'

Then the witch called out in fury to the woman at the well: 'Take the
girl, I tell you, and fling her into the water, and drown her!'

But the woman answered: 'No, I will not drown her, for she gave me this
rope, whereas you forced me to use my hair to let down the bucket to
draw water.'

Then the witch shouted to the dog to seize the girl and hold her fast;
but the dog answered: 'No, I will not seize her, for she gave me a loaf
of bread, whereas you let me starve with hunger.'

The witch was so angry that she nearly choked, as she called out: 'Door,
bang upon her, and keep her a prisoner.'

But the door answered: 'I won't, for she has oiled my hinges, so that
they move quite easily, whereas you left them all rough and rusty.'

And so Prunella escaped, and, with the casket under her arm, reached the
house of her mistress, who, as you may believe, was as angry as she was
surprised to see the girl standing before her, looking more beautiful
than ever. Her eyes flashed, as in furious tones she asked her, 'Did you
meet Bensiabel?'

But Prunella looked down, and said nothing.

'We shall see,' said the witch, 'who will win in the end. Listen, there
are three cocks in the hen-house; one is yellow, one black, and the
third is white. If one of them crows during the night you must tell me
which one it is. Woe to you