A little brother and sister were playing by a well when they both fell in.
A water-nix lived below. "Now I have you!" she said. "You shall work hard for me!" She took them away. The girl had to spin dirty, tangled flax and fetch water with a leaky bucket. The boy had to chop down a tree with a blunt axe. They were fed only dumplings as hard as stones.
Finally, the children grew impatient. One Sunday, while the nix was at church, they ran away. After church, the nix saw they were gone and followed them with great strides.
Seeing her from afar, the girl threw a brush behind her. It turned into a huge hill of bristles with thousands of spikes. The nix scrambled over it with great difficulty but succeeded.
Seeing this, the boy threw a comb behind him. It formed a vast hill of combs with countless teeth. The nix steadied herself and crossed it.
Then the girl threw a mirror behind her. It created a slippery hill of mirrors, impossible for the nix to cross. "I'll fetch my axe and cut this glass hill in half!" she thought.
However, long before she returned and could cut through the glass, the children had escaped far away. The water-nix was forced to return to her well.