Once upon a time, there lived an old man and a woman. They had a little house and a little field by the house. They grew all kinds of things in the little field and were very happy with every harvest. That year they had already harvested most of it, but there was still a bed of beets left. Grandfather went to harvest in the evening and put the beets in the wheelbarrow one by one.
Then he came to the last one and rolled his eyes. What a big one! He wanted to pull it out, he squeezed it with all his might, but the beet didn’t even wobble. He called his wife to help him. She grabbed him around the waist and pulled him along. But even in a pair, the pulling was of no use; the beet was stuck in the ground as if held by chains.
So they called their granddaughter Eva, who was visiting them, to help. The old man grabbed the beet, the old woman grabbed the old man, their granddaughter grabbed the old woman, and together they pulled, and pulled, but still the beet would not budge! So they called the dog to help them. The old man grabbed the beet, the old woman grabbed the old man, the granddaughter grabbed the old woman and the dog grabbed the granddaughter. Together they pulled, and pulled, but still the beet would not budge! So they called the cat to help. The old man grabbed the beet, the old woman grabbed the old man, the granddaughter grabbed the old woman, the dog grabbed the granddaughter, the cat grabbed the dog. Together they pulled, and pulled, and pulled, but still the beet would not budge.
“We don’t have enough strength for the beet and there is no one left to help us,” they all agreed sadly.
“I’m here,” came a squeaky voice from the ground. They searched for a while until they spotted a little mouse.
“Gee, little mouse, I don’t think you’re going to be much help,” they all agreed.
“Why wouldn’t I? Come on, let’s give it another try,” the little mouse urged them. As small as she was compared to the others, she was more determined than any of them. And so they all got back into the swing of things. The old man grabbed the beet, the old woman grabbed the old man, granddaughter grabbed the old woman, the dog grabbed the granddaughter, the cat grabbed the dog. The mouse hurriedly spat in her paws, came behind the cat and pulled with the others followed by a hearty shout of “Heave-ho!” And suddenly, out popped the enormous beet! It rolled out of the ground and all the pullers fell and made a huge heap.
What a joy it was that they finally made it! For a while they were still rolling around the beet hole, all out of breath and laughing. The hole was so big they could have made a swimming pool in it.
The grandmother then used the giant beet to make spreads, soups, preserves and buns. Even the mouse, without which they wouldn’t have been able to get the beet out of the ground, earned a good helping of beet goodies. She was the smallest of all, but her determination was definitely not lacking. And that’s often what makes the difference.
