" And, taking her hand, he led her home, and celebrated the
wedding directly.
After they had been married a little while, Hans said one morning,
"Wife, I will go out to work and earn some money; do you go into the
field and gather some corn wherewith to make bread."
"Yes," she answered, "I will do so, dear Hans." And when he was gone,
she cooked herself a nice mess of pottage to take with her. As she
came to the field she said to herself, "What shall I do? Shall I cut
first, or eat first? Ay, I will eat first!" Then she ate up the
contents of her pot, and when it was finished, she thought to herself,
"Now, shall I reap first or sleep first? Well, I think I will have a
nap!" and so she laid herself down amongst the corn, and went to
sleep.
Meanwhile Hans returned home, but Alice did not come, and so he said,
"Oh, what a prudent Alice I have! She is so industrious that she does
not even come home to eat anything." By-and-by, however, evening came
on, and still she did not return; so Hans went out to see how much
she had reaped; but, behold, nothing at all, and there lay Alice fast
asleep among the corn! So home he ran very fast, and brought a net
with little bells hanging on it, which he threw over her head while
she still slept on. When he had done this, he went back again and shut
to the house-door, and, seating himself on his stool, began working
very industriously.
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