The Daughter and the Stepdaughter

A father, a stepmother, and two stepsisters, Alyona and Natasha, lived in one house. Both girls were learning to spin, but the adults often compared them. The…

A father, a stepmother, and two stepsisters, Alyona and Natasha, lived in one house. Both girls were learning to spin, but the adults often compared them. The father suggested that each girl spend an evening in the forest workshop, while he promised to sleep in the cottage next door. Alyona chose the first evening. She lit the stove, put on a pot of porridge, and prepared the yarn, hoping to finish a new skein in peace.

A little mouse peeped out from beneath a bench and asked for some porridge. Alyona shared her supper and set out water. At midnight, a brown bear who inspected the forest workshops knocked at the door. He suggested a safe game of blindman’s buff: there would be no pushing, and anyone could stop the game by saying “enough.” The mouse rang a bell, Alyona guessed the direction, and the bear made sure that no one bumped into the furniture.

After the game, Alyona showed them her yarn and asked how the workshop could be improved. The bear repaired a shelf, and the mouse found a spindle. In the morning, the forest neighbors brought wool, a wooden loom, and seeds—their shared contribution to the future workshop. The father helped take everything home. Natasha saw the gifts and decided that the next evening she would be certain to receive twice as much.

Natasha cooked porridge, but she chased the mouse away because she was afraid of losing her share. She immediately demanded gifts from the bear. He replied that friendship could not be bought and that the workshop valued care and honesty. Natasha called the mouse back, shared her porridge, and apologized. Then they all played by the same rules. The girl listened carefully for the bell and stopped the game when she noticed an unsteady stool.

In the morning, the bear gave Natasha tools, and the mouse gave her a ball of strong thread. She did not return with two cartloads, but she did return with a useful skill and a new friend. The stepmother realized that comparisons had harmed the girls, and she began dividing the work equally. Alyona worked at the loom, Natasha repaired furniture, and both of them left a little saucer for the mouse. The forest workshop became a shared school without fear or unfair trials.