THE LITTLE
PEAR GIRL
Once upon a time, a peasant worked
hard to make a living from his land.
Every year his pear tree produced four basketfuls
of fruit which had to be
given to the king, a greedy ruler who grew rich at
the expense of the poor.
One year, part of the pear
harvest went bad and the peasant was able to
pick only three and a half baskets of fruit. The
poor man was beside himself
with fear, for the king refused to take less than
four basketfuls, and the
peasant would be cruelly punished.
All he could do was put his
youngest daughter into one of the baskets and
cover her with a layer of pears, so that the basket
looked full. The king's
servants took away the four baskets without ever
noticing the trick, and the
little girl found herself all alone in the pantry,
under the pears.
One day, the cook went into the pantry and
discovered her. Nobody could
understand where on earth she had come from, and
not knowing what to do with
her, it was decided she should become a maid in the
castle. Folk called her
Violetta, for her eyes reminded them of the colour
of violets.
Violetta was a pretty girl, sweet and generous. One
day, as she was
watering the flowers in the royal gardens, she met
the king's son, a youth of
her own age, and the two became friends. The other
maids, jealous of
Violetta's beauty and of the affection many people
in the castle felt for the
girl, did everything they could to get her into
trouble, by spreading nasty
rumours about her. One day, the king sent for her
and said severely:
"I'm told you boast of being able to steal the
witches' treasure trove.
Is
that true?" Violetta said 'no,' but the king
refused to believe her and drove
her out of his kingdom.
"You may return only when you have laid hands on
the treasure," he said.
All Violetta's fondest friends, including the
prince, were sorry to hear of
the king's decision, but could do nothing to stop
her going. The girl wandered
through the forest and, when she came to a pear
tree, she climbed into its
branches and fell asleep. She was wakened at dawn
by an old woman calling her:
"What are you doing up there,
all by yourself?" Violetta told the old woman
her tale. She offered to help the little girl, gave
her some round loaves, a
broom, a little oil and some good advice, and the
girl again set off. She
reached a clearing with a large wood stove and saw
three women tearing their
hair, using it to sweep the ashes from the stove.
Violetta offered them the
broom and the women pointed out the way to the
witches' palace.
Suddenly, two hungry mastiffs blocked her path.
Violetta threw them the
loaves, the dogs ate them and let her pass. Then
she came to the bank of a
river in flood, but remembering the old woman's
advice, she sang:
Clear Sparkling River
Let me cross over,
and the minute her song wafted into the air, the
water stopped flowing.
Violetta thus crossed the river and at last reached
the witches' palace. The
door was unlocked, but Violetta could not push it
open for the hinges were
rusted. So she rubbed on a little oil and the door
swung open. The little girl
walked through the empty halls till she came to a
splendid room in which lay a
magnificent coffer full of jewels. Holding the
coffer under her arm, Violetta
made for the door, but the coffer, being enchanted,
cried out:
"Door! Don't let her out!" However,
the door did open, for Violetta had
oiled the hinges. Down at the river, the coffer
cried out. This time it said:
"Water! Drown her!" But the river did not stop the
little girl from
crossing; the two mastiffs did not attack and the
three strange women did not
burn her in their stove. For each, in its own way,
repaid the girl's courtesy.
Back at the king's palace again, the prince ran
happily to meet Violetta,
telling her:
"When my father asks you what
you want as a reward, ask him for the basket
of pears in the pantry!" And this Violetta did.
Pleased at paying such a
modest price, the king instantly ordered the humble
basket to be brought. But
nobody ever imagined for a minute that underneath
the pears lay the prince.
The young man came out of his hiding place, swore
he was in love with Violetta
and that he wanted to marry her.
In this way, the king was forced to give his
consent. Violetta brought her
family to court and they all began a new and happy
life.