"My cock, my hen,
My brindled cow,
What say you now?
What say you now?"

The cock, the hen, and the brindled cow all opened their mouths and
called out together,--

"Oh, let her stay!
We'll not say nay."

Then the old man sent Carla to prepare supper. Just as her sister had
done, she cooked and ate and gave not so much as a glance or a thought
to the hungry animals. "Now I am satisfied," said Carla at last.
"Show me where to sleep." The animals said nothing, but the old man
told her to prepare the two beds in the loft. After spreading them
with fresh linen the girl laid herself down upon one of the beds and
fell fast asleep.

When the old man climbed to the loft and saw Carla lying in a sound
slumber, he opened the curious door again and let her also down into
the cellar.

Now when Carla failed to return home. Mother Grougans was lost in
grief and she forbade her youngest daughter, Alween, to go into the
wood on any account whatsoever. And she said, "Shall I lose my
youngest and my dearest also?" But soon mother and daughter were both
so hungry that Alween was forced to go into the forbidden forest in
search of food. In her eagerness to get the largest and the sweetest
berries for her mother, she too strayed away from the path, and all
happened with her as it had with her sisters.

When Alween entered the hut and begged for food and shelter, the old
man turned to his animals and said,--

"My cock, my hen,
My brindled cow,
What say you now?
What say you now?"

The cock, the hen, and the brindled cow all opened their mouths and
called out together,--

"Oh, let her stay!
We'll not say nay."

Then Alween thanked the animals for their kindness and, going close to
them, she stroked the smooth feathers of the cock and the hen and
patted the brindled cow on the white star in her forehead. She made
ready the supper and set it before the old man; but, before satisfying
her own hunger, she said, "The good animals are hungry too. I must
first get food for them." So she placed a bundle of hay in front of
the brindled cow and scattered wheat and barley for the cock and the
hen and brought a fresh drink of water for all. Then she herself ate
and was satisfied.

That night Alween slept soundly in the loft of the little hut, but not
before she had seen the old man tucked snugly into his bed and fast
asleep. When she wakened, with the first rays of morning light, she
thought,