Punishing the Unkind

There lived a baker. He was a very mean fellow and he was greedy too. So, he spent most of the day trying to be clever and to cheat his customers somehow. His daughter grew up helping him in his bakery. Since she was always watching him, she picked up all his nasty ways and became more and more like him as she grew up.
One morning, a poor old woman came to the bakery. The baker’s daughter was alone at that time as the baker had gone out to buy a few things.
“Child, will you give me something to eat?” asked the woman, “I’m old and hungry and can’t walk much longer.”
The baker’s daughter rudely shooed her out of the shop, but in a while the woman returned. “Please, dear, give me a bit of dough if you can,” she pleaded in a faint voice.
The baker’s daughter thought that giving a little dough was fine, so she gave the old woman a little dough.

“May I bake it in your oven?” asked the old woman.
There didn’t seem much harm in that, so the girl permitted the dough to be put into the oven. But when she looked into the oven to check if it was baked, the baker’s daughter saw a large loaf inside it! She pretended that the dough had fallen out of the oven and looked around. She was mean like her father.
“I think the dough must have fallen out,” she told the woman, not wishing to give her such a large loaf.
The old woman pleaded for some more dough and after a while, the baker’s daughter gave her some dough. Once again, when she went to look at the dough in the oven, she found an even bigger loaf inside it! And again, she pretended that the dough had fallen out.

The third time, the old woman begged for one more bit of dough and the baker’s daughter put it into the oven. This time, the old woman stood near the oven when it was opened. The loaf was really large now.
“Ah!” said the old woman, “This one is mine!”
“No!” said the girl, “How can a small bit of dough become such a large loaf? It’s not possible. I won’t give this to you.”
The old woman turned towards her and said sternly, “I have come to test you, my girl, and I find you have become mean and greedy.” She waved her stick and the baker’s daughter turned into an owl! The baker’s daughter hooted sadly as the old woman flew out of the door.

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