The Old Witch facts for kids
The Old Witch is a classic English fairy tale. It was first written down by Joseph Jacobs in his book More English Fairy Tales in 1894. This story also appears in other collections, like A Book of Witches by Ruth Manning-Sanders and A Book of British Fairy Tales by Alan Garner.
This tale is known as an "Aarne-Thompson type 480" story. These stories often feature a "kind girl" and an "unkind girl." Other famous tales like this include Diamonds and Toads, Mother Hulda, and Father Frost.
Contents
The Story of The Old Witch
Once upon a time, there was a family with two daughters. Their father had no work, so they were quite poor. The daughters decided they needed to find a way to earn money. One of the girls, who was very kind, said she would go out and find a job. Her mother agreed, hoping she would find a good place to work.
A Kind Girl's Adventure
The kind daughter set off on her journey. She searched everywhere but could not find any work. As she walked, she came across an oven filled with bread. The bread called out to her, begging her to take it out before it burned. The girl, being helpful, quickly pulled all the bread from the hot oven.
She continued on her way and soon found a cow. The cow asked her to milk it because its udder was full. The girl kindly milked the cow, making it feel much better. Further along, she saw an apple tree. The tree begged her to shake its branches so its ripe apples would fall. She did this too, gathering the apples for the tree.
Finally, the girl arrived at a strange house. It belonged to an old witch. The witch offered her a job cleaning the house. The witch gave her one strict rule: she must never look up the chimney. The girl worked hard, cleaning the house every day.
One day, her curiosity got the best of her. She looked up the chimney, even though the witch had told her not to. To her surprise, bags of money tumbled down! The girl quickly gathered the money. She knew she had to escape, so she ran away as fast as she could.
The Chase and Escape
The witch soon realized what had happened. She was very angry and chased after the girl. The witch was fast, but the kind girl had friends to help her. When the witch got close, the apple tree hid the girl among its branches. The witch passed by without seeing her.
After a while, the witch caught up again. This time, the cow hid the girl behind its large body. The witch was tricked again and went past. Finally, the girl reached the oven where she had helped the bread. The baker, who owned the oven, hid her behind it.
The baker then tricked the witch into climbing into the oven, saying something was inside. Once the witch was in, the baker quickly closed the door, trapping her for a long time. The kind girl was safe! She used the money she found to marry a wealthy man and lived happily.
The Unkind Sister's Turn
When the kind sister returned home with her fortune, her other sister decided to try the same thing. She wanted to get rich too. However, she was not as kind as her sister.
As she walked, the bread in the oven asked for help, but she refused. She told the bread to stay where it was. The cow asked her to milk it, but she said no, telling it to milk itself. The apple tree begged her to shake its apples, but she ignored it.
When she reached the witch's house, she also stole the gold from the chimney. But when the witch chased her, the apple tree refused to hide her. The cow also refused to help. The witch caught the unkind sister. She beat her and took back all the money. The unkind sister learned a hard lesson about being kind.
