"Well, little one," says the old merchant, "and don't you want your
fairing too? I went from one end of the market to the other before I
could get what you wanted. I bought the silver saucer from an old Jew,
and the transparent apple from a Finnish hag."

"Oh, thank you, father," says the little one.

"And what will you do with them?" says he.

"I shall spin the apple in the saucer," says the little pretty one,
and at that the old merchant burst out laughing.

"They don't call you 'Little Stupid' for nothing," says he.

Well, they all had their fairings, and the two elder sisters, the bad
ones, they ran off and put on the new dress and the new necklace, and
came out and strutted about, preening themselves like herons, now on
one leg and now on the other, to see how they looked. But Little
Stupid, she just sat herself down beside the stove, and took the
transparent apple and set it in the silver saucer, and she laughed
softly to herself. And then she began spinning the apple in the
saucer.

Round and round the apple spun in the saucer, faster and faster, till
you couldn't see the apple at all, nothing but a mist like a little
whirlpool in the silver saucer. And the little good one looked at it,
and her eyes shone like yours.

Her sisters laughed at her.