“Help me on my feet, please!” it begged. Conquering her fear, the girl picked up the beetle. At that moment, the insect changed into a snow-white pigeon, which held in its beak a golden ring with a large pearl. “Let me put this ring on your finger,” it said. “You too must come back here the day after tomorrow, with your father and sisters. But tell no one what you saw or heard.” Then the pigeon flew away.

Needless to say the girls were excited about the beautiful ornaments they had received. Finally, they rolled themselves into the blankets they had brought and slept through the night without any further disturbance. It was a peaceful place!

The next day. The next morning, when they arrived home, their stepmother noticed the precious rings. She could see that each was worth a fortune, but the girls refused to say how they had obtained them. Naturally, the stepmother was jealous. So she told her own daughters: “This evening you too must go to that house; all six of you together. Search it thoroughly, you will surely find hidden treasures.” So, that afternoon, the six young girls set out with blankets, brooms, and buckets, in search of treasure.

The cruel younger sisters, showed nothing but contempt for the spirits and other living things.

Alas, no matter how hard they searched, they found only dust, dead flies, and spiderwebs. They cruelly killed all the beetles and other creatures they encountered, then began cooking their meal. As soon as the fish were in the pan, the floating hand appeared, but the six scared sisters chased it away with curses and knives. Then, during the meal, the colored, many-nosed, man-shaped monsters entered the room, but they were greeted with screams and ugly oaths. When the girls started hitting them with their brooms, the men vanished.

The next day the girls were expected by their parents, but they never returned home. It is not known what happened to them.

The day after this, the six elder girls persuaded their father to accompany them to the empty house. Upon arriving, they were met by six handsome gentlemen, all in new suits, accompanied by a cadi (holy man). Each gentleman, as was the proper custom, asked the father’s permission to marry one of his daughters. One by one, each bridegroom gave the father a precious gemstone of inestimable value as bridewealth. The cadi then performed marriage ceremonies between each of the six couples.