there was once upon a time a very old woman, who lived with her flock of geese in a waste place among the mountains, and there had a little house. the waste was surrounded by a large forest, and every morning the old woman took her crutch and hobbled into it. there, however, the dame was quite active, more so than any one would have thought, considering her age, and collected grass for her geese, picked all the wild fruit she could reach, and carried everything home on her back.