The Two Caskets -LSB- Hans Andersen . -RSB- Far , far away , in the midst of a pine forest , there lived a woman who had both a daughter and a stepdaughter . Ever since her own daughter was born the mother had given her all that she cried for , so she grew up to be as cross and disagreeable as she was ugly . Her stepsister , on the other hand , had spent her childhood in working hard to keep house for her father , who died soon after his second marriage ; and she was as much beloved by the neighbours for her goodness and industry as she was for her beauty . As the years went on , the difference between the two girls grew more marked , and the old woman treated her stepdaughter worse than ever , and was always on the watch for some pretext for beating her , or depriving her of her food . Anything , however foolish , was good enough for this , and one day , when she could think of nothing better , she set both the girls to spin while sitting on the low wall of the well . ` And you had better mind what you do , ' said she , ` for the one whose thread breaks first shall be thrown to the bottom . ' But of course she took good care that her own daughter 's flax was fine and strong , while the stepsister had only some coarse stuff , which no one would have thought of using . As might be expected , in a very little while the poor girl 's thread snapped , and the old woman , who had been watching from behind a door , seized her stepdaughter by her shoulders , and threw her into the well . ` That is an end of you ! ' she said . But she was wrong , for it was only the beginning . Down , down , down went the girl -- it seemed as if the well must reach to the very middle of the earth ; but at last her feet touched the ground , and she found herself in a field more beautiful than even the summer pastures of her native mountains . Trees waved in the soft breeze , and flowers of the brightest colours danced in the grass . And though she was quite alone , the girl 's heart danced too , for she felt happier than she had since her father died . So she walked on through the meadow till she came to an old tumbledown fence -- so old that it was a wonder it managed to stand up at all , and it looked as if it depended for support on the old man 's beard that climbed all over it . The girl paused for a moment as she came up , and gazed about for a place where she might safely cross . But before she could move a voice cried from the fence : ` Do not hurt me , little maiden ; I am so old , so old , I have not much longer to live . ' And the maiden answered : ` No , I will not hurt you ; fear nothing . ' And then seeing a spot where the clematis grew less thickly than in other places , she jumped lightly over .
` May all go well with thee , ' said the XXXXX , as the girl walked on .
Trees end fence grass ground heart man mother voice woman