the sweet porridge

Tale of the Brothers Grimm, translated by Ruth Salles

Once upon a time there was a poor and pious girl who lived with her mother, and the two of them no longer had anything to eat. So the girl went to the forest. While there, an old woman met him who knew of his misery.

The old woman gave her a small pot to which she was to say: “Little pot, cook!”. And then she would make a delicious sweet millet porridge. And when you said “Panelinha, stop!”, she stopped cooking.

The girl took the pot home, gave it to her mother, and now they were free from poverty and hunger and ate sweet porridge whenever they wanted. Once, the girl went out, and the mother said: “Panelinha, cook!”. She cooked, and the mother ate until she was full. At that, she wanted the pan to stop cooking, but she didn't know what words to say. So the little pan continued to cook, and the porridge spilled over the edge of the pan and filled the kitchen, and the whole house, and the house next door and the street, as if it wanted the whole world to eat until it was full. . And it was a complication, and nobody knew what to do to help.

Finally, when there was only one house left to fill with porridge, the girl came back, and it was only for her to say “Panelinha, stop!”, and the pan stopped cooking; but whoever wanted to go to the city had to make his way by eating.

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