Part 3 (2/2)
”'What are you doing, mother?' asked the beautiful princess, whose heart was kind.
”And the crooked old woman answered, 'I am gathering jewels of happiness on the sh.o.r.e of the sea of life.'
”'But those ugly, dirty pebbles are not jewels, mother,' said the lady.
'See, these are the jewels of happiness.' And she showed the poor, ignorant old woman the bright, s.h.i.+ny stones that she had gathered.
”And the crooked old crone looked at the princess and laughed--a curious, creepy, crawly, crooked laugh.
”Then the old woman offered to the princess one of the ugly, dirt-colored pebbles that she had gathered. 'Take this, my dear,' she croaked, 'and wear it, and you shall see that I am right--that this is the jewel of happiness.'
”Now the beautiful princess did not want to wear that ugly, dirt-colored stone--no princess would, you know. But, nevertheless, because her heart was kind and she saw that the poor, crooked old woman would feel very bad if her gift was not accepted, she took the dull, common pebble and put it with the bright, s.h.i.+ny jewels that she had gathered.
”And that very night the fairy appeared to the princess again.
”'Did you do as I told you?' the fairy asked. 'Did you look for the jewel of happiness on the sh.o.r.e of the sea of life?'
”'Oh, yes,' cried the princess. 'And see what a world of lovely ones I found!'
”The fairy looked at all the pretty, s.h.i.+ny stones that the princess had gathered. 'And what is this?' the fairy asked, pointing to the ugly, dirt-colored pebble.
”'Oh, that,' replied the princess, hanging her head in embarra.s.sment,--'that is nothing but a worthless pebble. A poor old woman gave it to me to wear because she thinks it is beautiful.'
”'But you will not wear the ugly thing, will you?' asked the fairy.
'Think how every one would point at you, and laugh, and call you strange and foolish.'
”'I know,' answered the princess, sadly, 'but I must wear it because I promised, and because if I did not and the poor old lady should see me without it, she would be so very, very unhappy.'
”And, would you believe it, no sooner had the beautiful princess said those words than the fairy disappeared--poof! just like that! And right there, on the identical spot where she had been, was that old ragged and crooked woman.
”'Oh!' cried the princess.
”And the old woman laughed her curious, creepy, crawly, crooked laugh.
'Don't be afraid, my dear,' she said, 'you shall have your jewel of happiness. But look!' She pointed a long, skinny, crooked finger at the s.h.i.+ny jewels on the table and there, right before the princess' eyes, they were all at once nothing but lumps of worthless dirt.
”'Oh!' screamed the princess again. 'All my lovely jewels of happiness!'
”'But look,' said the old woman again, and once more pointed with her skinny finger. And would you believe it, the princess saw that ugly, dirt-colored pebble turn into the most wonderfully splendid jewel that ever was--the true jewel of happiness.
”And so,” concluded the Interpreter, ”the beautiful princess whose heart was kind lived happy ever after.”
Little Maggie clapped her thin hands with delight.
”Gee,” said Bobby, ”wish I knowed where that there place was. I'd get me enough of them there jewel things to swap for a autermobile an'
a--an' a flyin' machine.”
”If you keep your eyes open, Bobby,” answered the old basket maker, ”you will find the place all right. Only,” he added, looking away toward the big house on the hill, ”you must be very careful not to make the mistake that the princess lady is making--I mean,” he corrected himself with a smile, ”you must be careful not to pick up only the bright and s.h.i.+ny pebbles as the princess in the story did.”
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