Weed Maid Illustrated by 4th 5th 6th 7th and 8th grade ESL students at West Clayton Elementary, Fountain Elementary, and Forest Park Middle School in Clayton County, near Atlanta, Georgia 1993-1994 Annette Burton, ESL teacher

The idea for this book started with this newspaper clipping. The Atlanta newspaper printed stories for children every Saturday. Ms. Burton rewrote the story to make it easier for students learning English. Then each student chose a part of the story to illustrate.

Once there was a rich man. He lived in a beautiful house.

He had three daughters. He wanted to know how much they loved him. He called the first daughter. “How much do you love me?” he said. She smiled. “I love you with all my heart,” she said. The father was happy.

He called the second daughter. “How much do you love me?” he said. She smiled. “I love you more than all the world,” she said. The father was very happy. He called the third daughter. “I love you like food loves salt,” she said. And that was true.

The father was very unhappy. He was mad. “You don’t love me!” he said. “Go away from here!”

So the third girl went out. She took her three best dresses.

She came to a river. She picked some weeds.

She made a dress of weeds. She made a hood for the dress. She hid her good dresses.

She walked to a big house. She tapped on the door. “I need a job,” she said. “I will do hard work. Please let me come in.” The maid said, “Come in and wash pots.”

Time passed. She worked very hard. One day the maid said, “There is a party. We can go see the rich people. They wear beautiful dresses.”

They all did their work fast. At sundown they said to her, “Are you coming?” She said, “No. I’m too tired.” They went to the party without her.

She went to the river. She took a bath and put on her silver dress.

She went to the party. The people all looked at her, because she shone like the moon. The prince fell in love with her.

At midnight, she ran to the river. She put on her weed dress. In the morning, the maids said, “You should have seen the silver maiden. The prince never took his eyes away from her.” She said nothing.

When there was a second party, she said she was too tired to go When there was a second party, she said she was too tired to go. They went to the party without her. She went to the river. She took a bath and put on her gold dress.

She went to the party. The people all looked at her, because she shone like the summer sun. The prince wanted to dance only with her. At midnight, she ran to the river. She put on her weed dress.

When there was a third party, she said she was too tired to go. They went to the party without her. She went to the river. She took a bath and put on her feather dress.

She went to the party. The prince was happy to see her. He danced only with her. “What is your name?” he said. She said nothing. Before midnight, he said, “Take this ring. I want to marry you.”

At midnight, she ran to the river. She put on her weed dress.

Time passed. The prince got tired and pale. He asked everyone about the girl. No one knew who she was. No one knew where she was. He was very sad. He was so sick he could not get out of bed.

One day the weed maid was washing the floor. The cook said, “The prince is dying. I will take him some soup. He needs to eat.”

The weed maid ran to the cook. “Please let me make the soup,” she said. The cook was lazy, so he said, “Okay.”

She made some good soup. She put the ring in the soup. The cook took the soup to the prince. He ate all the soup, because it was so good. When he saw the ring, he said, “Who made this soup?”

The cook was afraid. He ran to get the girl.

She came into the prince’s room. He looked at the girl in the weed dress. He said, “Did you make this soup?” “I did,” she said. “Where did you get this ring?” he said. “From the man who gave it to me,” she said. Then she took off her weed hood. The prince knew who she was. He knew she was the girl he loved.

Soon he was well. All the people were invited to the wedding. Her rich father was invited too.

On her wedding day, she went to the cook. She said, “Cook all the food with no salt.” The cook did.

The wedding was beautiful.

All the people sat down to eat. When her father took a bite of the food, he could not eat any more. Tears ran down his face. “I understand now,” he said. “ My daughter was telling me she loved me best.”

The girl ran to her father and kissed his cheek. She said, “I love you like food loves salt.”

They lived happily ever after.