Hard by a great forest dwelt a wood-cutter with his wife,
who had an only child, a little girl three years old.
They were so poor,
however, that they no longer had daily bread,
and did not know how to get food
for her. 
One morning the wood-cutter went out sorrowfully to his work in the
forest,
and while he was cutting wood,
suddenly there stood before him a tall
and beautiful woman,
with a crown of shining stars on her head, who said to him
'I am the Virgin Mary, mother of the child Jesus.
You are poor and needy, bring
your child to me,
I will take her with me and be her mother, and care for her.'
The wood-cutter obeyed, brought his child,
and gave her to the virgin Mary,
who
took her up to heaven with her.
There the child fared well, ate sugar-cakes, and
drank sweet milk,
and her clothes were of gold, and the little angels played
with her.
And when she was fourteen years of age, the virgin Mary called her one
day and said
'Dear child, I am about to make a long journey,
so take into your
keeping the keys of the thirteen doors of heaven.
Twelve of these you may open,
and behold the glory which is within them,
but the thirteenth, to which this
little key belongs, is forbidden you.
Take care not to open it, or you will be
unhappy.'
The girl promised to be obedient, and when the virgin Mary was gone,
she began to examine the dwellings of the kingdom of heaven.
Each day she opened
one of them, until she had made the round of the twelve.
In each of them sat one
of the apostles in the midst of a great light,
and she rejoiced in all the
magnificence and splendor,
and the little angels who always accompanied her
rejoiced with her.
Then the forbidden door alone remained,
and she felt a great
desire to know what could be hidden behind it,
and said to the angels 'I will
not open it entirely, and I will not go inside, but I will unlock it so that we
can see just a little through the opening.'
'Oh'no, said the little angels, 'that would be a sin. The virgin Mary has
forbidden it, and it might easily
cause your unhappiness.'
Then she was silent, but the desire in her heart was
not stilled,
but gnawed there and tormented her, and let her have no rest.
And
once when the angels had all gone out,
she thought 'Now I am quite alone, and I
could peep in. If I do, no one will ever know.'
She sought out the key, and when
she had got it in her hand,
she put it in the lock, and when she had put it in,
she turned it round as well.
Then the door sprang open, and she saw there the
trinity sitting in fire and splendor.
She stayed there awhile, and looked at
everything in amazement,
then she touched the light a little with her finger,
and her finger became quite golden.
Immediately a great fear fell on her. She shut the door violently, and ran away.
Her terror too would not quit her, let her do what she might,
and her heart beat continually and would not be still;
the gold too stayed on her finger, and would not go away,
let her rub it and wash it never so much.