Once a poor woman earned her livelihood by picking up sticks in the forest to sell for firewood. One day as she was returning home with a bundle, she saw a kitten lying against the trunk of a tree, mewing piteously. She felt sorry for it, put it in her apron and carried it home. Her two children came to meet her and asked what she had in her apron. They wanted her to give them the kitten, but she would not let them have it, for she feared they might tease and distress it. She took the kitten carefully home and put it on some soft rags and gave it milk to drink.
The kitten stayed in the house till it was quite recovered. Then suddenly it disappeared.
Some time afterwards, when the woman was again in the forest and was returning home with her bundle of firewood at her back, just as she passed the place where she had found the kitten, an old dame was standing there. The dame beckoned to her and gave her five knitting-needles. The poor woman did not know what to make of this gift and thought the needles were not of much value to her. However, she carried them home and laid them on the table at night.
The next morning she found a pair of newly made stockings on the table beside the needles. The woman was much astonished, and after thinking things over, left the needles the following evening in the same place. A second pair of stockings was the result the next day. Every night a fresh pair of stockings was made.
She now supposed that she had got the wonderful needles as a reward for being kind to the kitten. Many were eager to buy such stockings, and paid so well that she had enough for herself and her children to live on.
No comments:
Post a Comment