Grimm's Household Tales

There was a poor but good little girl who lived alone with her mother, and they no longer had anything to eat. So the child went into the forest, and there an aged woman who knew of her sorrow met her and presented her with a little pot. When she said, “Cook, little pot, cook,” it would cook good, sweet porridge, and when she said, “Stop, little pot,” it stopped cooking. The girl took the pot home to her mother, and now they were freed from their poverty and hunger and ate sweet porridge as often as they chose. Once, when the girl had gone out, her mother said, “Cook, little pot, cook.” And it did cook, and she ate until she was satisfied, and then she wanted the pot to stop cooking but did not know the word. So it went on cooking, and the porridge rose over the edge, and still it cooked on until the kitchen and the whole house were full, and then the next house, and then the whole street, just as if it wanted to satisfy the hunger of the whole world. There was the greatest distress, but no one knew how to stop it. At last, when only one single house remained, the child came home and just said, “Stop, little pot,” and it stopped and gave up cooking, and all who wished to return to the town had to eat their way back.