There was a poor but good little girl who lived alone with her mother, and they no longer had anything to eat. So the child went into the forest, and there an aged woman met her who was aware of her sorrow, and presented her with a little pot, which when she said, "Cook, little pot, cook," would cook good, sweet porridge, and when she said, "Stop, little pot," it ceased to cook. The girl took the pot home to her mother, and now they were freed from their poverty and hunger, and ate sweet porridge as often as they chose. Once on a time when the girl had gone out, her mother said, "Cook, little pot, cook." And it did cook and she ate till she was satisfied, and then she wanted the pot to stop cooking, but did not know the word. So it went on cooking and the porridge rose over the edge, and still it cooked on until the kitchen and whole house were full, and then the next house, and then the whole street, just as if it wanted to satisfy the hunger of the whole world, and there was the greatest distress, but no one knew how to stop it. At last when only one single house remained, the child came home and just said, "Stop, little pot," and it stopped and gave up cooking, and whosoever wished to return to the town had to eat his way back.
从前有一个家境贫穷，但是心地善良的小姑娘和母亲过着孤苦伶丁的生活，她们总是吃不饱肚子。 有一天小姑娘走进森林，遇到了一位老婆婆，老婆婆察觉到小姑娘的困境，送给她一口小锅。 当她对着锅说"小锅，煮吧"时，锅里就会煮出香甜的粥。 当她再对锅说："别煮啦，小锅"时，它就停止了。 小姑娘把锅拿回家给母亲，从此，她们不再有贫穷和饥饿了，并且经常能喝到香甜的粥。 一天，小姑娘出门去，她母亲说："煮吧，小锅，煮吧。"小锅煮出了粥，她吃呀吃，一直到吃饱了肚子。 可是当她想让锅停止煮粥时，却忘记说什么了。 所以锅不停地煮呀煮，粥都溢出了锅檐，它还在煮，结果粥流满了厨房和整个房子，然后蔓延到隔壁的房子里，又流进了街道，仿佛要让全世界挨饿的人们都吃饱，可是这却造成了一场大灾难，因为没有人能够停住它。 最后只剩下一栋房子没有被粥淹没时，小姑娘回到了家，她只说了一句"别煮啦，小锅"，小锅立刻停止了煮粥，可是任何人想回到城里，他必须吃开一条路，方能进去了。