Once Saint Peter stopped by an old lady’s cottage because he was feeling tired and hungry after the day’s fasting. The lady was baking cakes on the hearth. Since he was feeling weak with fasting, he asked her for a cake from her store of cakes. The selfish lady tried to bake small cakes but each time they seemed too big for her to give away. Finally, she baked one that was as thin as a wafer. Unable to part with it too, she put it on a shelf and did not give any cake to the Saint.

So, Saint Peter was very angry with her behaviour and said she was too selfish to live as a human and have food, shelter and a fire to keep her warm. He punished her by changing that lady into a woodpecker that would have to build a nest to live in and bore for food in the trunks of trees. Her clothes were burned and she was left with her scarlet cap on her head as she flew out through the chimney. Even today, she lives in the woods boring and boring for food. Every country school boy has seen her.