ONCE UPON A TIME there was a young peasant girl, who was honest and diligent, and who worked as a servant in a house of a sick, elderly couple. She swept the floor every day with much patience, took good care of her masters and always kept the table tidy and clean. The breadcrumbs that used to fall from the table, however, she gave to the pigeons in the yard outside.

One morning, and as she picked up the mop to start her day, she found a letter on a heap of trash. As she didn't know how to read, she took it straight to her masters. They told her it was an invitation from the elves who wanted her to be a godmother for one of her children.

The girl had no idea what to do in the beginning, as both her masters were sick and in much need of her assistance, but as they insisted, she accepted the invitation. "It wouldn't be polite to decline such an invitation", they told her. So, she cooked their favorite dinner, placed the plates on the table and left hurriedly.

Three elves came to pick her up, leading her to a hollow mountain were these tiny people where to be found. Everything was small in size, yet so nicely decorated that one would find it hard to describe. Their houses were built of the finest stone, and their roofs covered with gold. The baptismal font even made of pure silver. The young mother was laying on a bed decorated with precious jewels and finely crafted ornaments taken out of some kind of fairy tale. The young peasant girl did her part in the ceremony as a godmother, then sat on the table to eat and celebrate with the elves. At some point, however, she thought that she had much work left behind and had to go back.

The elves begged her to stay with them for another three days and three nights. She agreed, and time passed joyfully. The young elves did everything to keep her happy.

After the three days had passed, and with her mind occupied with thoughts of duty and her sick masters, she excused herself and headed back home. To thank her, the elves filled her pockets with gold and escorted her outside their hideout. When she reached home, however, she found it empty and got anxious as to whether something was wrong.

She then took the broom and started cleaning the breadcrumbs from the floor. When she reached the kitchen, she found the table was exactly the way she left it, with the plates untouched. Pigeons were to be found on it, who didn't touch the food but only looked for breadcrumbs.

When the pigeons saw the girl, they all turned towards her side. Then one of them spoke with a human voice: "Good girl, your masters packed their belongings and departed only half an hour after you left. We waited your return each and every day, never to touch the plates you prepared for them out of gratitude for the breadcrumbs you've been feeding us all this time. They left you this letter".

As soon as the peasant girl opened the letter and read it, she burst into tears. Her masters had left her the house, in order to thank her for her diligence, as they felt their time had come and would prefer to spend the last of their days in a monastery.