Shaja’s tale begins with two orphaned sisters, left alone to wander through the mountains.  When the two sisters were hungry they ate wild fruits and vegetables, and when they were thirsty they drank from mountain streams.  One day, they were walking along the edge of the forest at the foot of the mountains and found a small house.  Though the house was empty, it was comfortable, clean, and outfitted with everything one might need.  The girls were very hungry but all they could find to eat was a giant pea, which gave out a strange green light.  After they ate the pea, the girls found and devoured another just as large, this one giving off a red light.  Both girls became pregnant at that moment, and both of them bore daughters.

The older sister named her daughter Bobu, the younger sister named hers Shaja, and the four lived in the house at the foot of the mountains.  But when Shaja was seven years old, her mother died, and poor Shaja had to take over most of the household tasks.  She cooked all the meals for her aunt and cousin and did all the sewing, all the while eating only leftovers and wearing only rags.

One day Bobu and her mother were going to a wedding, and as they left, the aunt told Shaja that she would have to separate two shovelfuls of mixed grain into piles of wheat and oat grains.  If she failed to do it properly by the time they returned, her aunt said threateningly, she would go without dinner.

Shaja sadly went about the task.  As she separated the wheat from the oats she saw a white-haired woman standing by her.  Shaja was frightened, but the old woman sat beside her and calmly asked, “Why are you not going to the party?”

Shaja wiped the tears from her eyes and answered, “As my aunt and cousin left for the party, they told me I had to separate the grains in this pile.  If I don’t finish by the time they return, I will have no dinner.  And besides,” she sobbed, “how could I go to a party dressed as I am?”

"Dear child, there is no need to cry," said the old woman in a comforting voice. “Just outside this house there is a cellar, and inside that cellar is a trunk with all manner of dresses and shoes.  Go there and take whatever you wish, dress yourself, and go to the party.  Do not worry about this pile of grain.  I will do that for you.”

Shaja did as she was bid.  In the cellar she found a beautiful dress, not too long and not too short, and a pair of red shoes that fitted her perfectly.  She ran back to the house, put on the dress, and saw in the mirror a young girl so beautiful that she did not recognize herself.  Happily she ran off to the party.