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Speaker 1: Today's story is about a lonely water sprite. A little

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Speaker 1: brother and sister are playing by the edge of a

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Speaker 1: well that belongs to the water sprite and fall in.

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Speaker 1: They go to the water sprite's house, and each day

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Speaker 1: she gives them chores to do that are impossible to finish.

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Speaker 1: The little brother and sister decide to run away. The

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Speaker 1: water cat tells them they will not be able to

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Speaker 1: run away unless they take three things with them from

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Speaker 1: the water sprite's house. They gather up the three things

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Speaker 1: and head on their way, But will they be able

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Speaker 1: to get away the water sprite. A little brother and

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Speaker 1: sister were playing one day on the edge of a

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Speaker 1: well that belonged to a water sprite. The little girl

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Speaker 1: held her brother's hand and leaned far over to look

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Speaker 1: down into it. It seems to me that down below

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Speaker 1: there I can see green meadows and flocks of sheep

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Speaker 1: moving over them, she said. It is only a reflection

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Speaker 1: of the clouds, said the little boy. But be careful,

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Speaker 1: I'm afraid you will fall in. Even as he spoke,

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Speaker 1: the little girl slipped and fell into the well, and

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Speaker 1: as she had hold of her brother's hand, she pulled

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Speaker 1: him in after her the two children went down, down,

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Speaker 1: down through the waters, and when they came to the bottom,

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Speaker 1: they found themselves in a country of green meadows and

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Speaker 1: trees and streams, and before them stood a shining castle

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Speaker 1: with domes and towers. The castle belonged to the water Sprite,

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Speaker 1: who owned the well. The little brother and sister went

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Speaker 1: up to the castle and knocked at the door, and

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Speaker 1: at once the water Sprite opened it to them. Come in,

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Speaker 1: Come in, She said, I saw you playing on the

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Speaker 1: edge of the well, and it was I who made

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Speaker 1: you fall in. I am lonely here, so you shall

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Speaker 1: stay with me and be my helpers. And whatever I

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Speaker 1: ask you to do, you must do. The water Sprite

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Speaker 1: would have been beautiful if only she had not been

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Speaker 1: so green. Her face was green, and her hair was green,

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Speaker 1: and her eyes were green. Only her teeth were white.

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Speaker 1: The Sprite led the children into the kitchen, and there

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Speaker 1: she gave the little girl a bucket that had no bottom. Go,

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Speaker 1: she said, and fetch me some water to boil the

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Speaker 1: dumpling for supper. And you, she said to the little boy,

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Speaker 1: must cut me some wood. And she gave him an

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Speaker 1: axe that had no edge. It was as blunt as

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Speaker 1: a hammer. The little sister went out to the spring

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Speaker 1: that the water Sprite showed her and tried to bring

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Speaker 1: up some water, But as fast as she dipped it up,

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Speaker 1: it ran out again, for the bucket had no bottom.

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Speaker 1: The brother began to chop at a tree nearby. He chopped,

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Speaker 1: and he chopped, and he chopped, but he could scarcely

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Speaker 1: make a dent. The axe was just too dull. When

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Speaker 1: the children came back to the castle without either wood

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Speaker 1: or water, the Sprite was very angry with them. I

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Speaker 1: can easily see that you are both very silly, she said,

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Speaker 1: But sit down, sit down at the table. Even if

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Speaker 1: you are silly, I suppose you must eat. The children

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Speaker 1: sat down at the table, and the water Sprite set

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Speaker 1: before them a dish of dumplings. But as the dumplings

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Speaker 1: had not been cooked and were only raw dough, the

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Speaker 1: children could not eat them. They slipped them into their pockets,

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Speaker 1: and then, when the sprite was not looking, they gave

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Speaker 1: the dumplings to the water cat that rubbed about their chairs.

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Speaker 1: After that, the children went to bed and slept. The

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Speaker 1: next day, it was the same thing over again. The

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Speaker 1: water Sprite gave them tasks that they could not possibly do,

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Speaker 1: and gave them only doe to eat. So the children

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Speaker 1: made up their minds to run away. They waited, however,

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Speaker 1: until afternoon, when the water Sprite went up to the

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Speaker 1: top of the well to look around her. When they

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Speaker 1: were about to set out, the water cat said to them,

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Speaker 1: you will do well to run away. You would not

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Speaker 1: be happy here. But do not think my master will

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Speaker 1: allow you to escape if she can help it. When

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Speaker 1: she comes home and finds you gone, she will at

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Speaker 1: once said out and chase you. She can go much

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Speaker 1: faster than you, and she will certainly catch you unless

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Speaker 1: you take with you her comb, her brush, and her mirror.

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Speaker 1: These are magic things. Each time you see that she

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Speaker 1: is about to catch you, throw one or other of

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Speaker 1: these things over your shoulder. By this means, and by

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Speaker 1: this means only, can you hope to escape. The children

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Speaker 1: thanked the little cat and did as it had advised them.

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Speaker 1: They took the water Sprite's brush and comb and mirror

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Speaker 1: and carried them off with them and ran as fast

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Speaker 1: as they could along the road that led to the

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Speaker 1: upper world. Soon after they had left, the water Sprite

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Speaker 1: came home. When she found them gone, she only stopped

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Speaker 1: long enough to scold the cat. And then she put

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Speaker 1: on her shoes of swiftness and started after them. Soon

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Speaker 1: the children looked behind them and saw her coming. She

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Speaker 1: came so fast with her shoes of swiftness that it

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Speaker 1: seemed as though they could not possibly escape her. However,

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Speaker 1: the children remembered what the water cat had told them.

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Speaker 1: They threw the comb behind them, and at once it

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Speaker 1: spread and grew into a wall of spikes, really stiff

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Speaker 1: and high. It took the water sprite a long time

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Speaker 1: to climb over this wall, and the children were well

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Speaker 1: on their way before they heard her behind them again.

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Speaker 1: Then the little girl threw the brush over her shoulder.

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Speaker 1: At once the brush became a great thick forest through

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Speaker 1: which the water Sprite could hardly find her way. But

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Speaker 1: she got through it at last, and then it did

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Speaker 1: not take her long to be at their heels again.

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Speaker 1: And now we have only one more thing left, said

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Speaker 1: the brother, and he threw the mirror behind him. At once.

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Speaker 1: The mirror became a hill of glass, so steep and

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Speaker 1: smooth that no one could possibly climb it. The sprite

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Speaker 1: to run up it. But no sooner had she gone

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Speaker 1: a step or so than she slipped back again. At last,

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Speaker 1: with a shriek of rage, she turned and fled back

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Speaker 1: to her castle, and that was the last of her.

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Speaker 1: The children continued on their way, and the road led

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Speaker 1: them straight to the upper world and the door of

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Speaker 1: their home. After that, they were always careful to keep

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Speaker 1: away from the edge of the water sprites well, and

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Speaker 1: that is the end of our story. Good Night, sleep tights.

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Speaker 1: M