Once upon a time, a peasant's wife died, leaving him with twin children, a boy and a girl. He remarried, hoping for peace, but his new wife was cruel to the twins, starving and beating them. Determined to be rid of them, she sent them into a gloomy wood to visit a "granny," who was actually a wicked witch.
The wise children first visited their own grandmother, who warned them of the danger and gave them food. She advised them to be kind and never take what wasn't theirs. In the wood, they found the witch's hut. The witch gave them impossible tasks: the girl must spin yarn, and the boy must carry water in a sieve.
As the girl wept, mice offered to spin for her in exchange for bread. They told her the witch's cat loved ham and could help them escape. The boy, struggling with the sieve, was helped by wrens who, for crumbs, told him to plug the holes with clay. The children then found the cat, fed it the ham, and received a magic handkerchief and comb for their escape.
That night, terrified, they barely slept. The next morning, the witch gave them more difficult tasks before leaving. The children immediately fled with the magic items. On their way, they kindly gave their remaining bread to the witch's watchdog and tied up the hindering birch branches with a ribbon.
Back at the hut, the cat pretended to be the girl weaving. When the witch discovered the escape, she was furious, but the cat, the dog, and the birch tree all rebuked her for her past cruelty compared to the children's kindness. The witch mounted her broom and gave chase.
Hearing her approach, the children threw down the handkerchief, creating a wide river. The witch eventually crossed it. As she drew near again, they threw down the comb, which sprouted into an impenetrable forest, finally stopping her.
The twins ran home and told their father everything. Enraged, he drove the stepmother away forever. He and the children then lived happily together.