Once upon a time there were seven sisters.
The eldest sister was married. One day, when her family came to visit, her husband said she had left him. The youngest sister wondered why her sister had not returned home after leaving her husband, and lit a white candle.
The second eldest sister worked as a seamstress for a rich woman. One day, they were told that she tripped on a bolt of fabric, fell, hit her head on a spindle, and died. The youngest sister wondered why her fastidious sister had left fabric on the ground, and lit a white candle.
The third eldest sister went to a dinner party. The next day, she fell ill and days later died. The youngest sister wondered why no one else at the dinner had fallen ill, and lit a white candle.
The middle sister went for a horse ride through the woods. Hours later, a hunter knocked on the family’s door to tell them she had been knocked off her horse and hit her head. The youngest sister wondered what could have spooked the horse, and lit a white candle.
The third youngest sister went to the market one morning and did not return. The market sellers told the family they had seen the sister talking to some girls from her school. The youngest sister wondered why her sister would have talked to the school girls who bullied her, and lit a white candle.
The second youngest sister went down to the river to wash clothes. When she did not return with the clothes, the youngest sister went to the river and found her sister drowned in the river. She wondered how her sister, who knew how to swim, could have fallen in the river, and lit a white candle.
One night, the youngest sister left home in the middle of the night with her six white candles. The next day, her parents heard of several house fires that had occurred during the night. Of course, they thought it was a shame that they included their daughter’s husband, their daughter’s former employer, their daughter’s friend, the hunter that lived in the woods, their daughter’s classmates, and their neighbour on the other side of the river.
The youngest daughter, however, suppressed a smile when her parents asked her where her candles had gone.
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Why, yes, I have been watching nothing but crime-solving TV dramas lately. How can you tell?
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[Could not find original photo credit]