The Magic Porridge Pot
The Magic Porridge Pot:
A poor girl lived with her mother in a town. They were hungry, but they had nothing to eat.
The girl said, ‘I’ll go into the wood to look for mushrooms and berries.’
There she met an old woman who said, ‘Take this pot. When you say to the pot: ‘Pot cook!’ then it will cook tasty porridge for you. When you say: ‘Pot stop!’ then it will stop cooking.’
‘Thank you, many thanks,’ said the girl, and she went home with the gift.
At home the girl said, ‘Pot cook!’
The porridge was sweet and tasty and eventually mother and daughter were full up.
‘Pot stop!’ said the girl, and the pot gave no more porridge.
One day the girl went to visit friends. Later, her mother felt hungry, so she said, ‘Pot cook!’
The mother ate, but when she’d had enough porridge, she had forgotten the correct word to stop the pot.
The pot cooked … and cooked … and cooked! The kitchen was soon full of porridge! The house was soon full of porridge! The road and the neighbours’ houses were full of porridge!
At last the girl came home again.
‘Pot stop!’ shouted the girl.
The pot cooked no more porridge, but the people had to eat a great deal of porridge in order to get back into their houses!
