Once upon a time in a distant village, there was a little girl named Penzi. She was kind-hearted and very obedient; that's all one could say about her. Her appearance was neither admirable nor stunning. She simply had a good heart, and that was her strength.
Penzi was an orphan, living with her stepmother and her stepmother's two daughters, all of whom were more beautiful than Penzi. The stepmother treated Penzi just as Cinderella's stepmother did, if you know the story of Cinderella.
She had to do all the household chores, go to the barter market, wash the dishes, do the laundry at the river, fetch water, chop firewood, and cook food for the queens of the house. In short, she was good for nothing but work.
What surprised everyone was that Penzi never complained, nor was she ever sad or angry about her situation. On the contrary, she took pleasure in fulfilling all the household tasks. Meanwhile, her stepsisters did nothing but stroll around the village, hoping to find husbands who would make their family rich and less poor.
One morning, Penzi's stepmother woke her up very early. The moon was still dancing in the sky, and it was barely daylight.
"Come on, wake up, go wash the dishes. We'll have guests today, so all the plates must be clean before they arrive."
Without complaining or saying a word, Penzi woke up and went to their straw-thatched hut to get the plates. She slept in the same room as the sheep she raised. But apparently, it was not a problem for her; she took pleasure in it. No matter what this woman did, Penzi was never sad or angry, which greatly irritated her stepmother.