Then the maiden was obedient, and put on the paper frock, and went out with the basket. Far and wide there was nothing but snow, and not a green blade to be seen. When she got into the wood she saw a small house out of which peeped three dwarfs. She wished them good day, and knocked modestly at the door. They cried, “Come in,” and she entered the room and seated herself on the bench by the stove, where she began to warm herself and eat her breakfast. The elves said, “Give us, too, some of it.”

“Willingly,” she said, and divided her bit of bread in two and gave them the half.

They asked, “What dost thou here in the forest in the winter time, in thy thin dress?”

“Ah,” she answered, “I am to look for a basketful of strawberries, and am not to go home until I can take them with me.”