On a Pincushion by Mary de Morgan

Many years ago, in a country far over the sea, was a little village standing by a great river; and over the river was a bridge, with gates which were opened and shut when carriages and horses went through. A little white cottage stood close beside the bridge, and in it lived an old woman and her two granddaughters, whose business it was to open and shut the heavy iron gates. The woman was very old, and her two granddaughters were the children of her two sons, who were both dead; so the young girls were cousins. They were just the same age, but not the least alike. They were named Zaire and Blanchelys. Blanchelys had gold-coloured hair, and eyes like blue cornflowers, and she laughed and sang from morning till night. Zaire's hair was black as a raven's wing, and her eyes were like large sloes. She was called the prettiest girl in all the village, but no one loved her as they did the blue-eyed Blanchelys.

The old grandmother did nothing but sit by the fire and knit; so one or other of the girls was always out attending to the gates and receiving the tolls of the passersby. Zaire grumbled at the work, but Blanchelys did it cheerfully, and always said a pleasant word to each of the villagers as they came over the bridge.