Sweet Porridge (Grimm)
Division into chapters is editorial.
The magic pot and its gift
In a time of great hardship, a poor but good little girl lived alone with her mother in desperate circumstances. Their poverty had reached such depths that they no longer had anything to eat, facing the grim prospect of starvation. Driven by necessity and hope, the child ventured into the forest to search for food or help.
There was a poor but good little girl who lived alone with her mother, and they no longer had anything to eat. So the child went into the forest...
Deep in the woodland, the girl encountered an aged woman who seemed to understand her desperate situation.
This mysterious stranger was aware of the girl's sorrow and took pity on her plight.
...there an aged woman met her who was aware of her sorrow, and presented her with a little pot, which when she said, 'Cook, little pot, cook,' would cook good, sweet porridge
The magical vessel would cease its cooking when commanded with the words 'Stop, little pot.' Armed with this wonderful gift, the girl hurried home to share the miraculous discovery with her mother. The enchanted pot transformed their lives completely, freeing them from the crushing burden of poverty and hunger that had plagued them for so long.
The unstoppable porridge flood
The girl took the pot home to her mother, and now they were freed from their poverty and hunger, and ate sweet porridge as often as they chose.
For a time, the magical pot brought nothing but joy and abundance to their humble home. However, disaster struck one fateful day when the girl had gone out, leaving her mother alone with the enchanted vessel. Feeling hungry, the mother decided to use the pot herself.
She confidently spoke the activation command: 'Cook, little pot, cook.' The pot obediently began producing delicious, sweet porridge, and the mother ate until she was completely satisfied. However, when she wanted the cooking to cease, she discovered a terrible problem - she had forgotten the crucial stopping word that would halt the pot's magical production.
Without the proper command to stop it, the pot continued cooking relentlessly. The sweet porridge rose over the edge of the vessel and began spreading throughout the kitchen. Still the magical pot cooked on, and the porridge flowed beyond the kitchen to fill the entire house. The unstoppable flood of porridge then spilled into the next house, and from there it continued down the whole street.
...until the kitchen and whole house were full, and then the next house, and then the whole street, just as if it wanted to satisfy the hunger of the whole world...
The porridge flood seemed to have an insatiable appetite for expansion, as if it truly intended to feed every hungry person on earth. Throughout the town, there was the greatest distress as people watched helplessly while their homes and streets became buried under the endless stream of sweet porridge. No one knew how to stop the magical catastrophe that was engulfing their community. The situation grew more desperate as the porridge continued its relentless advance, consuming building after building until only one single house in the entire town remained untouched by the sticky deluge.
The girls return and resolution
Just when all hope seemed lost and the final house stood threatened by the advancing porridge tide, the girl returned home from her outing. She immediately grasped the severity of the situation and the cause of the disaster. Without hesitation, she spoke the magic words that her mother had forgotten in her panic.
...the child came home and just said, 'Stop, little pot,' and it stopped and gave up cooking, and whosoever wished to return to the town had to eat his way back.
The magical pot immediately ceased its cooking, bringing an end to the porridge flood that had overwhelmed the entire town. However, the aftermath of the disaster created a unique challenge for the townspeople - anyone who wished to return to their homes had to literally eat their way back through the thick layers of sweet porridge that now covered every street, every building, and every pathway in the community.