One day, however, the little girl went out, and in her absence the
mother said: "Boil, little pot!" So it began to cook, and she soon ate
all she wished; but when the poor woman wanted to have the pot stop,
she found she did not know the word. Away, therefore, the pot boiled,
and very quickly was over the edge; and as it boiled and boiled the
kitchen presently became full, then the house, and the next house, and
soon the whole street. It seemed likely to satisfy all the world, for,
though there was the greatest necessity to do so, nobody knew how to
stop it. At last, when only a very small cottage of all the village
was left unfilled with soup, the child returned and said at once:
"Stop, little pot!"
Immediately it ceased to boil; but whoever wishes to enter the village
now must eat his way through the soup!!!
* * * * *
THE STRAW THE COAL AND THE BEAN
All alone, in a quiet little village, lived a poor old woman. One day
she had a dish of beans which she wanted to cook for dinner, so she
made a fire on the hearth, and in order that it should burn up quickly
she lighted it with a handful of straw.
She hung the pot over the fire, and poured in the beans; but one fell
on to the floor without her noticing it, and rolled away beside a
piece of straw.
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