There was once a little child whose mother gave her every afternoon a small bowl of milk and bread, and the child seated herself in the yard with it. But when she began to eat, a paddock came creeping out of a crevice¹ in the wall, dipped its little head in the dish, and ate with her. The child took pleasure in this, and when she was sitting there with her little dish and the paddock did not come at once, she cried, paddock, paddock, come swiftly hither come, thou tiny thing, thou shalt have thy crumbs² of bread, thou shalt refresh thyself with milk.

Then the paddock came in haste, and enjoyed its food. It even showed gratitude³, for it brought the child all kinds of pretty things from its hidden treasures, bright stones, pearls, and golden playthings. The paddock, however, drank only the milk, and left the bread-crumbs alone. Then one day the child took its little spoon and struck the paddock gently on its head, and said, eat the bread-crumbs as well, little thing. The mother, who was standing⁴ in the kitchen, heard the child talking to someone, and when she saw that she was striking a paddock with her spoon, ran out with a log of wood, and killed the good little creature.

From that time forth⁵, a change came over the child. As long as the paddock had eaten with her, she had grown tall and strong, but now she lost her pretty rosy⁶ cheeks and wasted away. It was not long before the funeral bird began to cry in the night, and the redbreast to collect little branches and leaves for a funeral wreath and soon afterwards the child lay on her bier.

II An orphan⁷ child was sitting by the town walls spinning, when she saw a paddock coming out of a hole low down in the wall. Swiftly she spread out beside it one of the blue silk handkerchiefs for which paddocks have such a strong liking⁸, and which are the only things they will creep on. As soon as the paddock saw it, it went back, then returned, bringing with it a small golden crown, laid it on the handkerchief, and then went away again. The girl took up the crown, which glittered and was of delicate golden filagree work. It was not long before the paddock came back for the second time, but when it did not see the crown any more, it crept up to the wall, and in its grief smote⁹ its little head against it as long as it had strength to do so, until at last it lay there dead. If the girl had but left the crown where it was, the paddock would certainly have brought still more of its treasures out of the hole.

III The paddock cries, huhu, huhu. The child says, come out. The paddock comes out, whereupon the child inquires about her little sister, have you not seen little red-stockings. The paddock says, no, I have not. Have you. Huhu, huhu, huhu.