The good housewife shut the door, but just then
she heard another knock.
``Who is there?'' said she.
``Tell Quary, good housewife. Open the door
to me,'' said another wee, wee voice. ``As long as
I have you'll get.''
And when she opened the door there was another
queer, little woman, in a lilac frock and a green
cap, standing on the threshold.
She, too, ran into the house without waiting
to say, ``By your leave,'' and picking up the distaff,
began to put some wool on it.
Then before the housewife could get the door
shut, a funny little manikin, with green trousers
and a red cap, came running in, and followed the
tiny women into the kitchen, seized hold of a handful
of wool, and began to card it. Another wee,
wee woman followed him, and then another tiny
manikin, and another, and another, until it
seemed to the good housewife that all the fairies
and pixies in Scotland were coming into her
house.
The kitchen was alive with them. Some of them
hung the great pot over the fire to boil water to
wash the wool that was dirty. Some teased the
clean wool, and some carded it. Some spun it
into yarn, and some wove the yarn into great webs
of cloth.
And the noise they made was like to make her
head run round. ``Splash! splash! Whirr! whirr!
Clack! clack!'' The water in the pot bubbled
over.
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