daughters, and they were very different from the first.

The old woman loved her own daughters, and gave them red kisel jelly
every day, and honey too, as much as they could put into their greedy
little mouths. But poor little Martha, the eldest, she got only what
the others left. When they were cross they threw away what they left,
and then she got nothing at all.

The children grew older, and the stepmother made Martha do all the
work of the house. She had to fetch the wood for the stove, and light
it and keep it burning. She had to draw the water for her sisters to
wash their hands in. She had to make the clothes, and wash them and
mend them. She had to cook the dinner, and clean the dishes after the
others had done before having a bite for herself.

For all that the stepmother was never satisfied, and was for ever
shouting at her: "Look, the kettle is in the wrong place;" "There is
dust on the floor;" "There is a spot on the tablecloth;" or, "The
spoons are not clean, you stupid, ugly, idle hussy." But Martha was
not idle. She worked all day long, and got up before the sun, while
her sisters never stirred from their beds till it was time for dinner.
And she was not stupid. She always had a song on her lips, except when
her stepmother had beaten her. And as for being ugly, she was the
prettiest little girl in the village.

Her father saw all this, but he could not do anything, for the old
woman was mistress at home, and he was terribly afraid of her. And as
for the daughters, they saw how their mother treated Martha, and they
did the same. They were always complaining and getting her into
trouble. It was a pleasure to them to see the tears on her pretty