St. Joseph in the forest

The eldest daughter was ill-mannered and ill-minded; The second daughter, though flawed, was much better than the eldest; Only the youngest daughter is filial and sweet. But the mother was very strange. She liked the eldest daughter best, but not the younger one, and wanted to get rid of her all day long. And often she sent the poor little girl out into a great forest, that she might lose her way and never return home, and that she might be driven away. But every good child has his own angel to protect her, the angel did not abandon her, every time to show her the right way home. Once the guardian did not seem to be near her, and the little girl could not find her way out of the forest. She walked on and on until night fell. Then she saw a faint light in front of her. She ran forward and came to a small wooden house. She knocked at the door, which opened; She went to the second door, knocked again, and a venerable old man with a white beard opened it for her. It was none other than St. Joseph himself. The old man said kindly to the girl, "Come in! My dear child, sit down and warm yourself in my little chair by the fire! You must be thirsty! I'll get you some water to drink, and there's nothing else for you to eat in the forest, except a few carrots, and you must scrape them before you cook them."

St. Joseph handed her the turnips, and the little girl scraped them carefully and took out the pancakes and croutons her mother had asked her to bring. She put everything in a pot and made a pot of porridge. When the porridge was ready, St. Joseph said, "I am very hungry. Please give me some porridge." The little girl was more than happy to pour the old man half. But with God's blessing, she was still full. When they had finished their meal, St. Joseph said, "It is time to go to bed, but I have only one bed. Go to bed, and I will sleep on the grass on the ground." "Oh, no," said the little girl, "you'd better go to bed! The straw is soft enough for me." But Joseph picked up the little girl and put her on the bed. After the girl had said her prayers, she fell asleep. The next morning she woke up and tried to say "good morning" to the old man, only to find that he was gone. She got up and looked for him, but there was no sign of him anywhere. At last she found a bag of money left behind the door, just big enough for her to carry. It says: To the girl who slept here last night. After seeing these words, the little girl took up the money bag and went home. She returned safely to her mother and gave her all the money, but she could do nothing but express her satisfaction.

The next day, the second daughter was also excited to go into the forest. Mother gave a much larger pancake and bread. It was the same with her sister. In the evening, she went to St. Joseph's hut. The old man handed her the radishes and asked her to make porridge. When the porridge was ready, the old man also said to her: "I am very hungry, give me a bit of your share to drink!" "Let's drink together," said the little girl. After dinner St. Joseph offered her his bed and said, "No, lie down on the bed. It's big enough for both of us." St. Joseph picked her up and put her to bed, while he lay down on the grass and slept.

The next morning, the girl woke up and looked for St. Joseph. He was gone. But behind the door the girl found a purse the size of a hand, with a note on it: For the child who slept here last night. The girl picked up the money bag and trotted home. She gave it to her mother, but kept two pieces.

The eldest daughter had been curious, the next day also insisted on going into the forest. Mother gave her as many pancakes as she wanted, plus some bread and cheese. At night, like her two sisters, she also found St. Joseph's cabin. When the porridge was ready, St. Joseph said, "I am very hungry. Give me some of your food." The response: "What's the rush! What's the rush! You can eat when I'm full!" But she ate so little that the old man scraped the bottom of the plate. After dinner, the old man let her sleep in his bed and prepared to sleep on the grass. The girl did not refuse to lie down on the bed and went to sleep, leaving the hard grass to the old man. When she woke up the next morning, she too found that the old man had disappeared. She did not bother to look for it, but walked behind the door to look for the purse. She thought she spotted something on the ground, but because she could not make out what it was, she bent down and accidentally touched it with the tip of her nose. She got up and saw that the other nose was joined to hers, and for a moment she was so frightened that she began to howl. But it was no use at all. The nose was so long that you had to look at it if you didn't want to. Screaming, she ran out of the house and met St. Joseph again. She knelt at the old man's feet and begged him for help. Finally, out of pity, he took off her nose and gave her two coins. Then she went home. Her mother, who was standing at the door, saw her and asked, "What have you got?" She quickly lied and said, "A bag of gold. I got a bag of gold, but I lost it on the way." So the mother took her by the hand and asked her to go with her. At first she cried and did not want to go, but she went anyway. So many lizards and snakes came at them in the road, and they could do nothing about it. At last they killed the wicked child and hurt the mother on the foot, because she had not taught her daughter well.