The Old Woman and Her Maids

191. THE OLD WOMAN AND HER MAIDS A thrifty old Widow kept two Servant-Maids, whom she used to call up to their work at cock-crow. The Maids disliked exceedingly this early rising, and determined between themselves to wring off the Cock’s neck, as he was the cause of all their trouble by waking their mistress so early. They had no sooner done this, than the old lady missing her usual alarum, and afraid of oversleeping herself, continually mistook the time of day, and roused them up at midnight.
Too much cunning overreaches itself. [more info]

The Woman and the Servants

075. THE WOMAN AND THE SERVANTS. You will find the fable in English on this page; scroll to see if there are multiple English versions. [more info]

The Old Woman and her Maids

147. THE OLD WOMAN AND HER MAIDS. A certain old woman had several maids, whom she used to call up to their work, every morning, at the crowing of the cock. The wenches, who found it grievous to have their sweet sleep disturbed so early, combined together, and killed the cock, thinking that when the alarm was gone, they might enjoy themselves in their warm beds a little longer.
The old woman, grieved for the loss of her cock, and having, by some means or other, discovered the whole plot, was resolved to be even with them: for, from that time, she obliged them to rise constantly at midnight. [more info]

The Woman and her Maids

14. THE WOMAN AND HER MAIDS. A Widow had two Maids, whom she was in the habit of waking at cockcrow in the morning. Aggrieved by such a course, the Maids resolved to kill the cock, but when they had done so, their mistress, no longer hearing the time from the crow of the cock, woke them up to their work in the middle of the night. MORAL. The plans of most men are causes of evil to them. [more info]

The Old Woman and her Maids

037. THE OLD WOMAN AND HER MAIDS. A certain old woman had several maids, whom she used to call up to their work, every morning, at the crowing of the cock. The wenches, who found it grievous to have their sweet sleep disturbed so early, combined together, and killed the cock, thinking that when the alarm was gone, they might enjoy themselves in their warm beds a little longer.
The old woman, grieved for the loss of her cock, and having, by some means or other, discovered the whole plot, was resolved to be even with them: for, from that time, she obliged them to rise constantly at midnight. [more info]

The Woman and her Servants

20. THE WOMAN AND HER SERVANTS. An old widow-woman loved work so dearly that she got up every morning as soon as she heard the cock crow: and, more than this, she made all her servants get up at the same time. They, not liking to get out of bed at so early an hour, grew very discontented, and thinking it was the fault of the cock for waking their mistress, they made up their minds to kill him.
This they did, and hoped that afterwards they would be able to sleep till later, but their cruel deed had its own reward, for the widow, having no cock to arouse her at a regular hour, from that time forward woke them up very much earlier—sometimes even in the middle of the night. [more info]

The Old Woman and her Two Servants

05.06: THE OLD WOMAN AND HER TWO SERVANTS.
A beldam kept two spinning maids,
Who plied so handily their trades,
Those spinning sisters down below
Were bunglers when compared with these.
No care did this old woman know
But giving tasks as she might please.
No sooner did the god of day
His glorious locks enkindle,
Than both the wheels began to play,
And from each whirling spindle
Forth danced the thread right merrily,
And back was coil'd unceasingly.
Soon as the dawn, I say, its tresses show'd,
A graceless cock most punctual crow'd.
The beldam roused, more graceless yet,
In greasy petticoat bedight,
Struck up her farthing light,
And then forthwith the bed beset,
Where deeply, blessedly did snore
Those two maid-servants tired and poor.
One oped an eye, an arm one stretch'd,
And both their breath most sadly fetch'd,
This threat concealing in the sigh—
'That cursed cock shall surely die!'
And so he did:—they cut his throat,
And put to sleep his rousing note.
And yet this murder mended not
The cruel hardship of their lot;
For now the twain were scarce in bed
Before they heard the summons dread.
The beldam, full of apprehension
Lest oversleep should cause detention,
Ran like a goblin through her mansion.
Thus often, when one thinks
To clear himself from ill,
His effort only sinks
Him in the deeper still.
The beldam, acting for the cock,
Was Scylla for Charybdis' rock.
[more info]

The Old Woman and her Maids

037. THE OLD WOMAN AND HER MAIDS. You will find the fable in English on this page; scroll down to see if there are multiple English versions. [more info]

The Old Woman and her Two Servants

012. THE OLD WOMAN AND HER SERVANTS.
A beldam kept two spinning maids,
Who plied so handily their trades,
Those spinning sisters down below
Were bunglers when compared with these.
No care did this old woman know
But giving tasks as she might please.
No sooner did the god of day
His glorious locks enkindle,
Than both the wheels began to play,
And from each whirling spindle
Forth danced the thread right merrily,
And back was coil'd unceasingly.
Soon as the dawn, I say, its tresses show'd,
A graceless cock most punctual crow'd.
The beldam roused, more graceless yet,
In greasy petticoat bedight,
Struck up her farthing light,
And then forthwith the bed beset,
Where deeply, blessedly did snore
Those two maid-servants tired and poor.
One oped an eye, an arm one stretch'd,
And both their breath most sadly fetch'd,
This threat concealing in the sigh—
'That cursed cock shall surely die!'
And so he did:—they cut his throat,
And put to sleep his rousing note.
And yet this murder mended not
The cruel hardship of their lot;
For now the twain were scarce in bed
Before they heard the summons dread.
The beldam, full of apprehension
Lest oversleep should cause detention,
Ran like a goblin through her mansion.
Thus often, when one thinks
To clear himself from ill,
His effort only sinks
Him in the deeper still.
The beldam, acting for the cock,
Was Scylla for Charybdis' rock.
[more info]

The Lazy Housemaids

10. THE LAZY HOUSEMAIDS.
Two Maids killed the Rooster whose warning
Awoke them too soon every morning:
But small were their gains,
For their Mistress took pains
To rouse them herself without warning.
LAZINESS IS ITS OWN PUNISHMENT
[more info]

Perry 055. The Woman and her Overworked Maidservants

L'Estrange: A Woman and her Maids.
It was the Way of a Good Housewifely Old Woman, to call up her Maids every Morning just at the Cock-Crowing. The Wenches were loth to rise so soon, and so they laid their Heads together, and kill'd the Poor Cock: For, say they, if it were not for his waking our Dame, she would not wake us: But when the Good Woman's Clock was gone, she'd mistake the Hour many times, and call em up at Midnight: So that instead of mending the Matter, they found themselves in a worse Condition now than before.
One Error makes way for another. First, we complain of small things: Then we shift, and instead of mending the Matter, we find it worse, 'till it comes at last to the Tinker's Work of Stopping one Hole, and making Ten.

VERNON JONES

THE MISTRESS AND HER SERVANTS

A Widow, thrifty and industrious, had two servants, whom she kept pretty hard at work. They were not allowed to lie long abed in the mornings, but the old lady had them up and doing as soon as the cock crew. They disliked intensely having to get up at such an hour, especially in winter-time: and they thought that if it were not for the cock waking up their Mistress so horribly early, they could sleep longer. So they caught it and wrung its neck. But they weren't prepared for the consequences. For what happened was that their Mistress, not hearing the cock crow as usual, waked them up earlier than ever, and set them to work in the middle of the night.

Milo Winter (not illustrated)... same as Stickeny!

THE WIDOW AND HER LITTLE MAIDS

A WIDOW who had great reputation as a housekeeper, because she was so fond of cleaning, was waited upon by two little Maids.

She herself was wakened before dawn by the crowing of the cock, and would rise at once and call her Maids.

The Maids, who had no taste for such excessive tidiness, and who were kept weary by such constant labor, held a spite against the poor cock for rousing their mistress so early.

"If it were not for him," they said, "the mistress would sleep till the sun is well up. Let us kill the cock, since there is no other way to stop his loud crowing."

But the mistress, no longer hearing the cock, was unable to tell the time, and so often woke her Maids in the middle of the night and set them to work.