And now she had nothing left but her little shirt.
It grew dark, and the wind was cold, and the little girl crept into the
woods, to sleep for the night. But in the woods a child stood, weeping and
naked. "I am cold," she said, "give me your little shirt!" And the little
girl thought, "It is dark, and the woods will shelter me; I will give her
my little shirt"; so she did, and now she had nothing left in all the
world.
She stood looking up at the sky, to say her night-time prayer. As she
looked up, the whole skyful of stars fell in a shower round her feet.
There they were, on the ground, shining bright, and round. The little girl
saw that they were silver dollars. And in the midst of them was the finest
little shirt, all woven out of silk! The little girl put on the little
silk shirt, and gathered the star dollars; and she was rich, all the days
of her life.
THE LION AND THE GNAT[1]
[Footnote 1: This story has been told by the Rev. Albert E. Sims to
children in many parts of England. On one occasion it was told to an
audience of over three thousand children in the Great Assembly Hall, Mile
End, London.]
Far away in Central Africa, that vast land where dense forests and wild
beasts abound, the shades of night were once more descending, warning all
creatures that it was time to seek repose.
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