The Story of Peasie and Beansie

Once upon a time there were two sisters who lived together; The elder sister, Beansie by name, was a hard quarrelsome creature, apt to disagree with everybody. But Peasie, the younger, was soft and most agreeable.
Now, one day, Peasie, who was for ever trying to please somebody, said to her sister, ‘Beansie, my dear! donʼt you think we ought to pay a visit to our poor old father? He must need our help—it is harvest time, and he is left alone in the house.ʼ
‘I donʼt care if he is tired or needs our help!ʼ replied Beansie. ‘Go yourself! Iʼm not going to walk about in the heat to please any old man!ʼ
So kind Peasie set off alone, and on the way she met a plum-tree. ‘Oh, Peasie!ʼ cried the tree, ‘stop a bit, be a good soul, and tidy up my thorns a little; they are scattered about so that I feel quite uncomfortable!ʼ
‘So they are, I declare!ʼ replied Peasie, and set to work with such a will that ere long the tree was as neat as a new pin.
A little farther on she met a fire, and the fire cried out, ‘Oh, sweet Peasie! tidy up my hearth a bit, for I am half choked in the ashes!ʼ
‘So you are, I declare!ʼ returned good-natured Peasie, setting herself to clear them away, until the fire crackled and flamed with pleasure.
Farther on she met a pîpal tree, and the pîpal called out, ‘Oh, kind Peasie! bind up this broken branch for me, or it will die, and I shall lose it!ʼ
‘Poor thing! poor thing!ʼ cried soft-hearted Peasie; and tearing a bandage from her veil, she bound up the wounded limb carefully. The Pipal tree thanked her, and on she went.
After a while she met a stream, and the stream cried out, ‘Pretty Peasie! clear away the sand and dead leaves from my mouth, for I cannot run when I am choked!ʼ

‘No more you can!ʼ replied obliging Peasie; and in a few moments, she made the channel so clear and clean that the water flowed on swiftly.
At last she arrived, rather tired, at her old fatherʼs house. Je was delighted to at see her, and he would scarcely let her away in the evening. He insisted on giving her a spinning-wheel, a buffalo, some brass pots, a bed, and all sorts of things, just as if she had been a bride going to her husband. She put the things put on the buffaloʼs back, and set off homewards.
Now, as she passed the stream, she saw a web of fine cloth floating down.
‘Take it, Peasie, take it!ʼ tinkled the stream; ‘I have carried it far, as a reward for your kindness.ʼ
So she gathered up the cloth, laid it on the buffalo, and went on her way.
By and by she passed the pîpal tree, and lo! on the branch she had tied up hung a string of pearls.
‘Take it, Peasie, take it!ʼ rustled the pîpal; ‘I caught it from a Princeʼs turban as a reward for your kindness.ʼ Then she took the pearls, fastened them round her pretty slender throat, and went on her way rejoicing.
Farther on she came to the fire, burning brightly, and on it was a plate with a nice hot sweet-cake. ‘Take it, Peasie, take it!ʼ crackled the fire; ‘I have cooked it to a turn, in reward for your kindness.ʼ
So lucky Peasie took the nice hot cake, and, dividing it into two pieces, put one aside for her sister, and ate the other while she went on her way.
Now when she reached the plum-tree, the topmost branches were bending down, covered with ripe yellow fruit.
‘Take some, Peasie, take some!ʼ groaned the laden tree; ‘I have ripened these as a reward for your kindness.ʼ