提 要
「勤奮是好運之母」（Diligence is the mother of good luck）是富蘭克林（Benjamin Franklin）的名言之一。富蘭克林是美國革命時重要領導人，參與多項重要文件草擬，出任駐法國大使成功取得法國支持美國獨立，被視為美國國父之一。他所說的名言呼應下面的小故事：「勤奮真的會帶來好運」。
Once upon a time there was a widow who had two daughters; one of them was beautiful and diligent, the other ugly and lazy. The mother, however, loved the ugly and lazy one best, because she was her own daughter, and so the other, who was only her stepdaughter, was made to do all the work of the house, and was quite the Cinderella of the family. The stepmother sent her out every day to sit by the well in the high road, there to spin until she made her fingers bleed.
One day some blood fell on to the spindle, and as the girl stopped over the well to wash it off, the spindle suddenly sprang out of her hand and fell into the well. She ran home crying to tell of her misfortune, but her stepmother spoke harshly to her, and said unkindly, "As you have let the spindle fall into the well you may go yourself and fetch it out."
The girl went back to the well not knowing what to do, and at last in her distress she jumped into the water after the spindle.
She remembered nothing more until she awoke and found herself in a beautiful meadow, full of sunshine, and with countless flowers blooming in every direction.
She walked over the meadow, and presently she came upon a baker's oven full of bread, and the loaves cried out to her, "Take us out, take us out, or alas! we shall be burnt to a cinder; we were baked through long ago." So she took the bread-shovel and drew them all out.
She went on a little farther, till she came to a tree full of apples. "Shake me, shake me, I pray," cried the tree; "my apples, one and all, are ripe." So she shook the tree, and the apples came falling down upon her like rain; but she continued shaking until there was not a single apple left upon it. Then she carefully gathered the apples together in a heap and walked on again.
The next thing she came to was a little house, and there she saw an old woman looking out, with such large teeth, that she was terrified, and turned to run away.
But the old woman called after her, "What are you afraid of, dear child? Stay with me; if you will do the work of my house properly for me, I will make you very happy. You must be very careful, however, to make my bed in the right way, for I wish you always to shake it thoroughly, so that the feathers fly about; then they say, down there in the world, that it is snowing; for I am Mother Holle." The old woman spoke so kindly, that the girl summoned up courage and agreed to enter into her service.
She took care to do everything according to the old woman's bidding and every time she made the bed she shook it with all her might, so that the feathers flew about like so many snowflakes. The old woman was as good as her word: she never spoke angrily to her, and gave her roast and boiled meals every day.
So she stayed on with Mother Holle for some time, and then she began to grow unhappy. She could not at first tell why she felt sad, but she became conscious at last of great longing to go home; then she knew she was homesick, although she was a thousand times better off with Mother Holle than with her mother and sister. After waiting awhile, she went to Mother Holle and said, "I am so homesick, that I cannot stay with you any longer, for although I am so happy here, I must return to my own people."
Then Mother Holle said, "I am pleased that you should want to go back to your own people, and as you have served me so well and faithfully, I will take you home myself."
Thereupon she led the girl by the hand up to a broad gateway. The gate was opened, and as the girl passed through, a shower of gold fell upon her, and the gold clung to her, so that she was covered with it from head over heels.
"That is a reward for your diligence," said Mother Holle, and as she spoke she handed her the spindle which she had dropped into the well.
The gate was then closed, and the girl found herself back in the old world close to her mother’s house. As she entered the courtyard, the cock who was perched on the well, called out:
"Cock-a-doodle-doo!
Your golden daughter's come back to you."
Then she went in to her stepmother and sister, and as she was so richly covered with gold, they gave her a warm welcome. She related to them all that had happened, and when the mother heard how she had come by her great riches, she thought she should like her ugly lazy daughter to go and try her fortune. So she made the sister go and sit by the well and spin, and the girl pricked her finger and thrust her hand into a thorn-bush, so that she might drop some blood on to the spindle; then she threw it into the well, and jumped in herself.
Like her sister she awoke in the beautiful meadow, and walked over it till she came to the oven. "Take us out, take us out, or alas! we shall be burnt to a cinder; we were baked through long ago," cried the loaves as before. But the lazy girl answered, "Do you think I am going to dirty my hands for you?" and walked on.
Presently she came to the apple-tree. "Shake me, shake me, I pray; my apples, one and all, are ripe," it cried. But she only answered, "A nice thing to ask me to do, one of the apples might fall on my head," and passed on.
At last she came to Mother Holle's house, and as she had heard all about the large teeth from her sister, she was not afraid of them, and engaged herself without delay to the old woman.
The first day she was very obedient and industrious, and exerted herself to please Mother Holle, for she thought of the gold she should get in return. The next day, however, she began to dawdle over her work, and the third day she was more idle still; then she began to lie in bed in the mornings and refused to get up. Worse still, she neglected to make the old woman’s bed properly, and forgot to shake it so that the feathers might fly about. So Mother Holle very soon got tired of her, and told her she might go. The lazy girl was delighted at this, and thought to herself, "The gold will soon be mine." Mother Holle led her, as she had led her sister, to the broad gateway; but as she was passing through, instead of the shower of gold, a great bucketful of pitch came pouring over her.
"That is in return for your services," said the old woman, and she shut the gate.
So the lazy girl had to go home covered with pitch, and the cock on the well called out as she saw her:
"Cock-a-doodle-doo!
Your dirty daughter's come back to you."
But, try what she would, she could not get the pitch off and it stuck to her as long as she lived.
解 說
曾經有一個寡婦與兩個女兒一起生活，其中一個美麗勤奮，另一個卻醜陋懶惰。然而，寡婦卻鍾愛自己醜又懶的女兒，讓她的繼女做所有的工作，美麗勤奮的女兒可說是家裡的「灰姑娘」。那繼母每天都派她去井邊不停打水，直到她手指流血。
有一天，她手指滲血落在承軸上，當女孩停下來想清洗時，承軸突然從手中脫落，掉進井裡。她跑回家哭訴這不幸，但是她的繼母罵完之後對她殘酷地說：「妳把軸子掉入井裡，要自己去拿出來。」
女孩回到井邊，不知道該怎麼辦，最後在絕望的痛苦中，跳入井裡找承軸。
她沒想到，醒來發現自己在一個充滿陽光的美麗草地上，數不清的花朵在四周綻放。
她走過草地，不一會兒到了麵包師的麵包烤爐，爐裡的麵包向她喊叫：「帶我們出去，帶我們出去，唉唷！我們快被燒焦掉到煤渣了，我們烤很久了。」於是她拿起麵包鏟，把它們全部取出來。
她走得更遠一些，看到結實櫐櫐的蘋果樹。「搖我搖我，我祈禱有人搖我。」蘋果樹叫著， 「我的蘋果一顆顆都成熟了。」於是她搖了搖樹，蘋果像雨一樣地落下來。但她繼續搖擺，直到所有蘋果都下來。然後，她仔細地將蘋果堆在一起，再繼續往下走。
接下來，看到了一個小房子，有一位有巨大牙齒的老婦人往外看，她覺得一陣害怕，轉身就跑。
但老太太叫她：「妳害怕什麼呢，親愛的孩子？跟我在一起，如果妳在我的房子照規矩做家事，我會讓妳很快樂。但妳必須非常小心，以正確的方式照顧我的床，因為我希望充分搖勻羽毛，讓它像雪花般落下。我是霍爾媽媽。」那位老太太說得很客氣，女孩鼓起勇氣，同意進屋照規矩做事。
女孩按照老太太的標準打理所有事，每當整理霍爾媽媽的床舖時，她都用盡力量搖晃，讓羽毛像雪花一樣飄落。老太太說話算話：從不對女孩發怒，每天給她為她烤煮餐點。
於是她和霍爾媽媽一起度過了一段日子，然後開始感到不開心。起初不明白為什麼難過，然後察覺自己思鄉，雖然與霍爾媽媽一起，比跟後母她們好一千倍。但她還是對霍爾媽媽說：「我很想家，雖然在這裡很開心，但我必須回到自己的家園。」
霍爾媽媽聽了之後說：「我很高興妳想回到家人身邊，妳為我這麼盡心，我送妳回家。」
她把女孩帶到一個廣闊的出入口，大門已經打開了，美麗勤奮的女孩通過時，一陣黃金灑落在她身上，金子緊緊貼著，她從頭到腳被覆蓋了。
「這是對妳勤奮的獎勵。」霍爾媽媽說，同時把她掉進井裡的軸子還給她。
大門被關上後，女孩發現自己已經回到繼母家附近的「舊世界」。當她進入庭院時，棲息井邊的公雞啼叫著：
「公雞啼呀……咕嚕咕嚕……金碧輝煌的女兒回來了。」
她全身被金子覆蓋著，繼母和妹妹對她表示熱烈的歡迎。當繼母聽完她富有的過程，認為她那醜陋的懶女兒也該「依樣畫葫蘆」嘗試尋找自己的財富。於是讓懶女兒坐下、刺傷手指、擠出血滴在軸上……然後把它扔進井裡、隨後跳了進去。
像姐姐一樣，懶女孩在美麗的草地醒來，途中經過烤箱，爐裡的麵包向她喊叫：「帶我們出去，帶我們出去，唉唷！我們快被燒焦掉到煤渣了，我們烤很久了。」但懶女孩說：「你以為我會為你弄髒手嗎？」扭頭走了。
然後她走到蘋果樹旁，「搖我搖我，我祈禱有人搖我。」蘋果樹叫著， 「我的蘋果一顆顆都成熟了。」但懶女孩只是回答：「要是我做了，蘋果有可能砸在我的頭上。」然後又走了。
最後，她到了霍爾媽媽家，因為聽過姐姐形容，所以不怕她的大牙齒，也毫不遲疑地推荐自己給進了老太太家。
在第一天，懶女孩非常聽話又勤勉，並且刻意討好霍爾媽媽，為了那金子作酬勞；第二天，她開始磨蹭不願工作；第三天，她更怠惰，早晨躺著不動、拒絕起床，更糟糕的，是她忽略了老太太的床、完全不理羽毛飄不飄。霍爾媽媽因此很快就厭倦她的存在，告訴她：「可以回去了。」。懶惰的女孩很高興，並且認為：「黃金很快就我的了。」霍爾帶她走姐姐走過的門，但是當她通過時，灑下來的不是黃金，而是一大桶的瀝青。
「那是為了報答妳的『服務』。」老太太說完，關上了門。
於是渾身瀝青的懶惰女孩回家了，哼了一聲，當公雞看見她的時候，在井邊喊叫：
「公雞啼呀……咕嚕咕嚕…… 髒兮兮的女兒回來了。」
但無論怎麼嘗試做，她就是除不掉那黏滿全身的瀝青。