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Overview
The neglected tree asks the industrious girl to remove caterpillars and dry branches. She carefully does so. On her homeward journey its ripe yellow pears appear, and it bends its branches for her to eat and carry fruit. Its own spoken promise links this hospitality to the previous care.
The other stepsister refuses the same request. On her return the pear tree is again laden, but grows a thousand times taller, with branches reaching the clouds, preventing her from tasting any fruit. It is a tree that speaks, bends and changes height, without a narrated humanoid body or resident nymph. The fountain and oven alongside it also repay care, but are not treated here as separate biological creatures.
Origins & earliest records
Roumanian Fairy Tales, collected by Mite Kremnitz, adapted and arranged by J. M. Percival (New York: Henry Holt, 1885), The Two Step-Sisters, pp. 130–138.
Records & interpretation
Complete selected English narrative through both chest openings and the final marriage. Preface assigns tale 14 to Creanga.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Roumanian Fairy Tales: The Two Step-Sisters, pp. 130–138
Preface assigns tale 14 to Creanga in Convorbiri Literare. Complete English adaptation; Romanian original not collated.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary historical English adaptationKremnitz/Percival 1885: The Two Step-SistersResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
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