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Tale Summary

There once lived a charcoal burner and his wife, who were very poor and destitute. One evening, the king was hunting nearby when he heard sobbing coming from within their hut, and stopped to listen. He learned they were poor and starving, and heard the woman say that it was all the fault of Eve, who should have been like her and not have any desire to know anything. The king was let inside and asked them to come with him to his castle to live as if they were in Paradise if only they obeyed his one condition. As they left, he instructed the woman to lock the door behind her and put the keys in her pocket. They reached the palace after walking several miles, and each was given all sorts of luxurious things that they had never even dreamed of. After bathing in green-marble baths and dressing in fine silks, the two were invited to dinner, when the king told him of his one condition: there was a soup tureen in the middle of the table, and they must not ever lift the lid or it would mean the end of their good fortune. They agreed, but still the woman was curious about what could be inside. For some time the charcoal burner and his wife lived very happily, and on occasion the king came to see them. He would smile at the man who had become rosy and plump, but would sneak a smug look at the woman. She had become quieter, refusing food, and wondered aloud about what was being hidden from them. One day when they were sitting down to eat, she began insisting that they look. The woman persuaded her husband, telling him that the king was too good-natured to turn them away, that no one would even know, that it would only be a peek. He felt that if it would make his wife happy, it was well worth the risk, and so he raised the handle as she leaned in to look. A small mouse sprang out and ran around the room, and although they tried, they could not recapture it. The king entered and ordered the couple to come out from underneath the table where they had hid from him, and told the charcoal burner that they would be escorted back to their hut, and that his wife had the key.

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