who is able to do that ; if she cannot do that, she ts not worth
having," said the prince. "Well, that was easy enough," said
the stepmother and agreed to this trial. Well, the princess
with the long nose set to washing the best she could, but the
more she washed the bi^er grew the stains. " Why, you can-
not wash," said the old witch, her step-mother; "let me try!"
— but no sooner did she take the shirt than it got still wors?,
and the more she washed and rubbed the bigger and blacker the
stains grew.
So did the other trolls try their hands at washing, but the longer
they worked at it the dirtier the shirt grew, till at last it looked as if it had been up the chimney. " Ah, you are not worth anything, the whole lot of you ! " said the prince ; " there's a poor girl under the window just outside here, and I am sure she can wash much better than any of you. Come in, my girl!" he shouted out to her, — Yes, she would come in. — " Can you wash this shirt clean .' " asked the prince. — "Well, I don't know," she said, "but I will try." And no sooner had she taken the shirt and dipped it in the water, than it was as white as the driven snow, if not whiter.
