Diamonds and Toads
There was once upon a time a widow who had two daughters. The eldest was so much liker her in face and disposition that whoever looked upon the daughter saw the mother. They were both so disagreeable there was no living with them.
The youngest, who was the very picture of her father for courtesy and sweetness of temper, was one of the most beautiful girls ever seen. As people naturally love their own likeness, this mother doted on her eldest daughter, and at the same time had a horrible dislike for the youngest.
Among other things, this poor child was forced twice a day to travel as far as a mile and a half away from the house to draw water and then to bring back a full pitcher. One day, when she was at the fountain, there came to her an old woman, who begged her for a drink.
“Oh yes, with all my heart, ma’am,” said the pretty little girl; and rinsing the pitcher immediately, she took up some water from the clearest part of the fountain, and gave it to the poor woman, holding up the pitcher for a while, that she might drink more easily.
Having drunk, the woman said to her, “You are very beautiful, my dear, so good and so mannerly, that I cannot help giving you a gift.” For this was a fairy who had taken the form of a country woman to see just how kind and well-mannered this girl could be. “I will give you a gift,” continued the fairy, “so that, at every word you speak, there shall come out of your mouth either a flower or a jewel.”
When the girl came home her mother scolded her for staying so long at the fountain.
“I beg your pardon Mama,” said the girl, “for not hurrying.” And in speaking these words there came out of her mouth two roses, two pearls, and two diamonds.
“What is it I see there?” said her mother, quite astonished. “I think I see pearls, and diamonds come out of the this girl’s mouth! How did this happen?” 
The poor creature told her the entire story of how this had come about and as she spoke an enormous amount of jewels and flowers came out of her mouth.
“In good faith,” cried the mother, “what’s good for one daughter is good for the other. Come here girl, look what has come out of your sister’s mouth when she speaks. Would you not be glad my dear, for the same fate? You have nothing else to do but go and draw water out of the fountain, and when a certain old woman asks you to let her drink, you must give it to her very politely.”
“That will be the day,” said the ill-mannered sister, “when I go draw water.”
“You shall go” said the mother, “and this very minute!”
So she went, but grumbling all the way, taking with her the best silver tankard in the house. She was no sooner at the fountain than she saw coming out of the woods a lady most gloriously dressed, who came up to her, and asked to drink. This was, you must know, the very same fairy who appeared to her sister, but had now taken the air and dress of a princess, to see just how rude and unmannerly this saucy girl was.
“Am I here to wait on the likes of you?” said the girl. “Get your own water.”
“You are not very generous,” answered the fairy, without putting herself in a great stir. “Well then, since you have so little kindness, and are so rude, I will give you a gift so that at every word you speak there shall come out of your mouth a lizard or a toad.”
So soon as her mother saw her coming she cried out, “well daughter?”
“Well mother?” answered the nasty girl, throwing from her mouth two vipers, two lizards, and two toads.
“Oh no,” cried the mother, “what is this I see? OH! It is that wretch your sister who brought this upon us, but she shall soon pay.” The mother immediately ran to beat the girl but she fled, hiding herself in the forest.
The King’s son, on his return from hunting, met her, and seeing her so very pretty, and in such distress, asked her what she did there alone weeping in the woods.
“Alas, kind sir, my mama has turned me out of doors.”
The King’s son, who saw five or six pearls and as many other jewels come from her mouth, desired her to tell him how that too had happened. She thereupon told him the whole story, and so the King’s son fell in love with her, for her kindness as well as her inner beauty. He considered that such a gift as hers was worth more than any marriage dowry, so he took her off to the palace to meet the King so that he could marry her.
As for the sister left at home, she made herself so hated that her own mother turned her out as well, and the miserable wretch wandered about a good while without finding anyone to take her in, finally going to a corner of the woods and dying there. 
Cheery little tale wasn’t it? LOL! That is a picture of the cover of the book I was looking for. We read pretty much every story in it for many years. We all know most of them by heart still. This is the one that kept coming back to me last week, I felt like the girl with toads flying out of her mouth every time I spoke. The past few days have been so much better, now I am spewing roses and jewels. (Figuratively anyway.)
Our card today is (nicely enough) from Doreen’s Healing with the Fairies deck. Enjoy the day, Dan and I will be with the kids.
“Moving Forward Fearlessly.
You are making big breakthroughs in your life by putting your Divinely inspired ideas into action. Trust that you are guided each step of the way.
Those gut feelings, dreams, and strong impulses you have been getting aren’t just examples of wishful thinking. They represent the germination of new projects and situations that are vehicles for your Divine life mission. Do not ignore these gifts from heaven, which come on the wings of repetitive, strong thoughts and feelings.
The fairies ask you to honor your inner feelings by taking at least one step today in the direction of making your dreams and desires reality. Fearlessly take one step to dismantle any part of your life that is out of integrity. Take another step toward realizing your heart’s desire. Even a tiny step that is remotely related to improve your life will make you feel that you are soaring with the fairy realm. Keep taking one step a day, and soon your dreams will be reality.
Affirmation: I move forward fearlessly, trusting that each step I take is perfectly guided.
