It was not yet dawn when Màro was awakened by voices calling her. She thought it was her three friends who always joined her early every Wednesday morning to go to the waterfall in the Peneus stream. Quickly, she got dressed, gathered her laundry as usual, and hurried down the path to the oak forest in the faint moonlight.

Màro was surprised not to find her friends waiting for her along the way. "Maybe it's late," she thought, "and they're already at the waterfall." But when she reached the familiar stones beside the pool at the foot of the fall where they always did their washing together, she was still all alone, and daylight had not yet appeared in the eastern sky. Màro was confused. She stood hesitating on the stones, unsure whether to start her work or go back home.

As she glanced toward the waterfall, she thought she saw the forms of three maidens, combing out their long hair. She looked again but could only see the oak leaves shivering in the breeze. She dipped her hands in the water and began her washing.

"Will you let us help you?" came a soft voice unfamiliar to Màro. Three forms seemed to move among the trees near the water. She was frightened, but the strange shapes disappeared again among the thick shadows. She continued with her work.