Tonight's bedtime reading is the classic tale of Mother Holly about a widow who has two daughters.
One daughter is her own daughter,
Who is unattractive and unkind,
And whom Mother Holly loves dearly.
The other is her stepdaughter,
Who of course is quite lovely as usual with these vintage stories,
And is mistreated and unloved.
So let's find out together now,
What exactly happens in this story that seems to have a very similar theme as the story of Cinderella.
And so,
As always my friend,
Take a moment to settle in comfortably into your bed.
Feel the softness of the pillows and blankets.
.
.
Feeling all comfy and cozy as the day now comes to an end.
Take a full,
Comfortable breath.
.
.
And as you exhale,
Relax and let go.
.
.
Allow any tension to just melt away.
.
.
Sinking deeper and deeper down into the surface below.
There is nothing else to do,
And nowhere else to be.
.
.
So just lay back,
Relax,
And enjoy the story.
There was once a widow who had two daughters,
One of whom was pretty and industrious,
While the other was unattractive and lazy.
But she was much fonder of the unattractive and lazy one,
Because she was her own daughter,
And the other,
Who was a stepdaughter,
Was obliged to do all the work and be the Cinderella of the house.
Every day,
The poor girl had to sit by a well in the highway and spin and spin till her fingers bled.
Now it happened that one day the shuttle was marked with her blood,
So she dipped it in the well to wash the mark off,
But it dropped out of her hand and fell to the bottom.
She began to weep and ran to her stepmother and told her of the mishap,
But of course she scolded her sharply and was so merciless as to say,
Since you have let the shuttle fall in,
You must fetch it out again.
So the poor girl went back to the well and did not know what to do,
And in the sorrow of her heart,
She jumped into the well to get the shuttle.
She lost her senses,
And when she awoke and came to herself again,
She was in a lovely meadow where the sun was shining and many thousands of flowers were growing.
Along this meadow she went,
And at last came to a baker's oven full of bread,
And the bread cried out,
Oh,
Take me out,
Take me out,
Or I shall burn.
I have been baked a long time.
So she went up to it and took out all the loaves one after another with the bread shovel.
After that,
She went on till she came to a tree covered with apples,
Which called out to her,
Oh,
Shake me,
Shake me,
We apples are all ripe.
So she shook the tree till the apples fell like rain and went on shaking till they were all down,
And when she had gathered them into a heap,
She went on her way.
At last she came to the little house out of which an old woman peeped,
But she had such large teeth that the girl was frightened and was about to run away,
But the old woman called out to her,
What are you afraid of,
Dear child?
Stay with me.
If you will do all the work in the house properly,
You shall be better for it.
Only you must take care to make my bed well and to shake it thoroughly till the feathers fly,
For then there is snow on the earth.
I am Mother Holly.
As the old woman spoke so kindly to her,
The girl took courage and agreed to enter her service.
She attended to everything to the satisfaction of her mistress,
And always shook her bed so vigorously that the feathers flew about like snowflakes.
So she had a pleasant life with her,
And never an angry word.
She stayed some time with Mother Holly,
And then she became sad.
At first she did not know what was the matter with her,
But found at length that it was homesickness,
Although she was many times better off here than at home,
Still she had a longing to be there.
At last she said to the old woman,
I have a longing for home,
And however well off I am down here,
I cannot stay any longer.
I must go up again to my own people.
Mother Holly said,
I am pleased that you long for your home again,
And as you have served me so truly,
I myself will take you up again.
Thereupon she took her by the hand,
And led her to a large door.
The door was open,
And just as the maiden was standing beneath the doorway,
A heavy shower of golden rain fell,
And all the gold remained sticking to her,
So that she was completely covered with it.
You shall have that because you are so industrious,
Said Mother Holly,
And at the same time she gave her back the shuttle which she had let fall into the well.
Thereupon the door closed,
And the maiden found herself up upon the earth not far from her mother's house,
And as she went into the yard,
The cock cried,
Cock-a-doodle-doo,
Your golden girls come back to you.
So she went into her mother,
And as she arrived thus covered with gold,
She was well received both by her and her sister.
The girl told all that had happened to her,
And as soon as the mother heard how she had come by so much wealth,
She was very anxious to obtain the same good luck for the ugly and lazy daughter.
She had to seat herself by the well and spin,
And in order that her shuttle might be stained with blood,
She stuck her hand into a thorn bush and pricked her finger.
Then she threw her shuttle into the well and jumped in after it.
She came,
Like the other,
To the beautiful meadow,
And walked along the very same path.
When she got to the oven,
The bread again cried,
Oh,
Take me out,
Take me out,
Or I shall burn,
I have been baked a long time,
But the lazy thing answered,
As if I had any wish to make myself dirty,
And on she went.
Then she came to the apple tree,
Which cried,
Oh,
Shake me,
Shake me,
We apples are all ripe,
But she answered,
I like that,
One of you might fall on my head,
And so went on.
When she came to mother Holly's house,
She was not afraid,
For she had already heard of her big teeth,
And she hired herself to her immediately.
The first day,
She forced herself to work diligently,
And obeyed mother Holly when she told her to do anything,
For she was thinking of all the gold that she would give her.
But on the second day,
She began to be lazy,
And on the third day,
Still more,
And then she would not get up in the morning at all,
Neither did she make mother Holly's bed as she ought,
And did not shake it so as to make the feathers fly up.
Mother Holly was soon tired of this,
And gave her notice to leave.
The lazy girl was willing enough to go,
And thought that now the golden rain would come.
Mother Holly led her too to the great door,
But while she was standing beneath it,
Instead of the gold,
A big kettle full of pitch was emptied over her.
That is the reward of your service,
Said mother Holly,
And shut the door.
So the lazy girl went home,
But she was quite covered with pitch,
And the cock by the wellside,
As soon as he saw her cried,
Cock-a-doodle-doo,
Your pitchy skrull came back to you,
But the pitch stuck fast to her,
And could not be got off as long as she lived.
And as the storytelling comes to a conclusion,
You can just rest here now,
Following my voice as I gently guide you into a deeper feeling of relaxation.
And as you focus on my words,
And the silent pauses between my words,
You may notice a feeling of sleepiness beginning to grow and expand,
And it feels wonderful.
And as you give way to this sleepy feeling,
It makes you feel heavier and heavier,
Sleepier and sleepier,
Letting go,
Letting go,
And surrendering the weight of your body,
Sinking down into the softness of that cozy bed.
And as this feeling of relaxation naturally grows and expands,
It pulls you down easily,
Deeper and deeper down,
Helping you sink all the way down into that comfort beneath you.
And as you melt deeper down into your bed,
Imagine an orange sparkly mist floating above you like a soft cloud,
And this orange mist has a calming effect over your body,
Your mind,
Your entire being.
It calms your breathing,
And as your breathing calms down,
It naturally slows down the beating of your heart,
And even your thoughts calm down.
Imagine the comforting energy that this orange mist radiates,
Like a comfy blanket,
And you feel safe and at ease.
And the more at ease you feel,
The easier it is to give way to this sleepy relaxation.
There is nothing left to do,
My friend,
And nowhere else to be.
It is time to rest.
It is time to sleep.
And when you feel ready,
And in your own way and time,
You will easily drift off into a sound and restful sleep.
And so,
Sweet dreams,
My friend.
Sleep well.
