A poor old woman was cooking beans. She started a fire with a handful of straw. As she put the beans in the pot, one bean fell on the floor. It landed next to a piece of straw. Suddenly, a hot coal jumped out of the fire and landed near them.
The three of them talked about how they had escaped death. "The woman almost burned me," said the straw. "I almost became soup," said the bean. "And I almost turned to ashes," said the coal. They decided to leave the village and travel together to a new country.
Soon, they reached a small river. There was no bridge. The straw had an idea: "I will lie across the water, and you can walk over me." The straw stretched from one side to the other. The coal started to walk across, but in the middle, she heard the water rushing and got scared. She stopped moving, but because she was hot, she burned the straw in half!
The straw and the coal both fell into the water and disappeared. The bean, who was still on the bank, thought this was so funny that she laughed until she burst. Luckily, a tailor was resting nearby. He felt sorry for the bean and sewed her back together. He only had black thread, and that is why, to this day, all beans have a black seam.