Long, long ago, a poor maiden named Ellen served a wicked and greedy farmer. Her miserly master let her do all the work so he wouldn’t have to pay other people. Ellen was an orphan, so she had to endure whatever the farmer could think of. She took care of the cattle, cleaned the house, in short, did whatever they told her to do.
One evening she went into the stable to milk the cows as usual. Then she heard a strange noise and noticed something crawling in the corner. She walked closer and saw a snake with a golden crown on its head. After an initial startle, she noticed that the snake was looking at a bucket of milk.
“You must be thirsty, aren’t you?” She said, tilting the bucket towards him. The snake crawled over to the bucket and began to drink.He must have been incredibly thirsty; he drank so much that it was hard to believe it could all fit inside the snake. Ellen was glad she had helped the thirsty snake, even though she was afraid that she would get scolded. The farmer’s wife always kept a careful eye on the amount of milk. But a strange thing happened. There was even more milk in the bucket than usual! Even the farmer’s wife, who was usually stern, smiled happily when Ellen brought the milk.
From then on, a snake with a crown kept coming to the barn every evening and every morning. Each time Ellen offered him a drink of milk, a wondrous spell made all that the snake drank reappear in the bucket—only now, there was even more than before.
And so it went on for several years, while Ellen grew in beauty. When she was of age, she met a very nice boy in the village, George, who took a liking to her. And the wedding took place. Suddenly, during the wedding feast, a snake crawled up to the bride. He shook his golden crown off his head and slithered away.
Ellen placed the serpent king’s crown into her money bag—and that’s when his other magic kicked in. From that moment on, any money she spent would reappear in the bag, along with a little extra. Though Ellen had worked hard since childhood and had known little love, she never had to worry about money again. And more importantly, she was showered with love—first from her husband George, and later from their children.
