this one is a hard one

[stella_says]

this one is hard, but i figure i might try asking about it here

Comments

[greatleaps]

I vaguely remember something slightly similar--a fountain that bewitched a person or siblings (not sure which) and either jewels or bugs or something else would fall out the person's mouth depending on when they went to the fountain...

Might be retellings of the same story? Dunno, thought it might help.

[manda_babylon]

You are thinking of a version of the Mother Holle story, I think, but that doesn't quite match with the OP's story.

[manda_babylon]

This sounds vaguely like the Chinese story Two of Everything, where the farmer finds a pot that replicates whatever is put into it, but it's not a sad story so much as a silly one. I'll keep looking, because the thing that makes gold and the thing that makes food sounds very familiar.

[manda_babylon]

I may be thinking of The Black Bull of Norroway, where the bull has the girl eat out of one of his horns and drink out of the other, which doesn't fit your story at all. Hmm. :/

You might find better luck at surlalunefairytales.com's forums.