them! And because she had never worked at all it made her very tired
even to try; she was tired before the morning was over, every day. The
maid would come and say, "How shall I do this?" or "How shall I do
that?" and Elsa would have to say, "I don't know." Then the maid would
pretend that she did not know, either; and when she saw her mistress
sitting about doing nothing, she, too, sat about, idle.

Elsa's husband had a hard time of it; he had only poor food to eat, and
it was not ready at the right time, and the house looked all in a
muddle. It made him sad, and that made Elsa sad, for she wanted to do
everything just right.

At last, one day, Elsa's husband went away quite cross; he said to her,
as he went out of the door, "It is no wonder that the house looks so,
when you sit all day with your hands in your lap!"

Little Elsa cried bitterly when he was gone, for she did not want to
make her husband unhappy and cross, and she wanted the house to look
nice. "Oh, dear," she sobbed, "I wish I could do things right! I wish I
could work! I wish--I wish I had ten good fairies to work for me! Then I
could keep the house!"

As she said the words, a great grey man stood before her; he was wrapped
in a strange grey cloak that covered him from head to foot; and he
smiled at Elsa. "What is the matter, dear?" he said. "Why do you cry?"

"Oh, I am crying because I do not know how to keep the house," said
Elsa. "I cannot make bread, I cannot sweep, I cannot sew a seam; when I
was a little girl I never learned to work, and now I cannot do anything
right. I wish I had ten good fairies to help me!"