Sweet Porridge

Once upon a time, there was a poor, pious little girl that lived all alone with her mother. When they had nothing left to eat, the child went out into the wood where she met an old woman. The aged woman already knew about the girl’s woes and gave her a small pot. “Tell the pot ‘Little pot, cook!’ and it will cook you good, sweet porridge. And if you tell it ‘Little pot, stop!’, it will promptly stop cooking.”

The little girl thanked her and brought the pot home to her mother. From that day on, they were free of their poverty and their hunger. They ate sweet porridge as often as they desired to do so.

Then one day, when the little girl had gone out, the mother felt hungry and so she told the pot: “Little pot, cook!” And it cooked her the sweetest porridge. She ate until she was full. But when she wanted to tell the pot to stop cooking, she could not remember the words. So it cooked and cooked and soon the porridge boiled right over. It cooked and cooked until the porridge filled the whole house. And then the neighbouring house and the whole street as if it wanted to feed the whole world. Nobody knew what to do.

Finally – when only one house in the whole town was left – the little girl returned. When she saw what had happened, she hurried to call: “Little pot, stop!” And the pot promptly stopped. But whoever wanted to enter the town, had to eat their way through.