As she walked along, she came to a tree full of apples.

The tree cried, "Shake me! shake me! my apples are all quite ripe!"

"Indeed I will!" cried the maiden.

So she shook the tree again and again, until there was not an apple left
on its branches.

Then she picked up the apples, one by one, and piled them in a great
heap.

[Illustration]

When she had picked up all the apples, she walked on.

At last she came to a small house.

In the doorway sat an old woman who had such large teeth that the girl
felt afraid of her and turned to run away.

Then the old woman cried, "What do you fear, my child? Come in and live
here with me. If you will do the work about the house, I will be very
kind to you. Only take care to make my bed well.

You must shake it and pound it so that the feathers will fly about. Then
the children down on the earth will say that snowflakes are falling, for
I am Mother Frost."

The old woman spoke so kindly that she won the maiden's heart.