The Baker’s Daughter

A long, long time ago, in a small town in Hertfordshire, there lived a baker who was extremely greedy. Although he sold yummy breads and sweet pastries, he knew every trick in the book when it came to cheating customers out of their money. To him, that was the most important part of the business. Every night he would sit at his kitchen table and count how much profit he had made that day, cackling gleefully.

The baker had a daughter who helped him in the shop, and she was just as rotten as her father. One day, when she was working alone, an old woman entered the bakery.

“Please, my dear,” said the woman, “would you be so kind as to give me a bit of bread dough? I haven’t eaten for three days and haven’t even two farthings to rub together.”

The girl was reluctant to give anyone anything for free, but the old woman wouldn’t go away. She thought it would be bad for business if there was a beggar in the shop for too long. Finally, the girl agreed and gave the woman a teeny-tiny bit of dough, just to get rid of her. She had no patience for this kind of thing.

The old woman gladly accepted the piece of dough, but then requested the girl’s attention again.

“Please, my dear, I hate to be a bother, but would you be so kind as to bake this tiny bit of dough in your oven? You see, I don’t have an oven, and I’m so terribly hungry.”

“Fine,” the girl snapped, “give it to me.” She took the tiny bit of dough and put it in the oven.

The old woman happily sat down and waited.

After a while, the baker’s daughter went…