"No, I entreat you, do not," said Kitty, "and do not offer it to my
husband, for maybe he has not been warned as I have."
Just then the woodman came in.
"I have been thanking your wife for my good entertainment," said the
Ouphe, "and if there is anything in reason that I can give either of
you--"
"Will, we do very well as we are," said his wife, going up to him and
looking anxiously in his face.
"I don't deny," said the woodman, thoughtfully, "that there are one or
two things I should like my wife to have, but somehow I've not been able
to get them for her yet."
"What are they?" asked the Ouphe.
"One is a spinning-wheel," answered the woodman; "she used to spin a
good deal when she was at home with her mother."
"She shall have a spinning-wheel," replied the Ouphe; "and is there
nothing else, my good host?"
"Well," said the woodman, frankly, "since you are so obliging, we should
like a hive of bees."
"The bees you shall have also; and now, good morning both, and a
thousand thanks to you."
So saying, he took his leave, and no pressing could make him stay to
breakfast.
"Well," thought Kitty, when she had had a little time for reflection, "a
spinning-wheel is just what I wanted; but if people had told me this
time yesterday morning that I should be offered a knapsack full of
money, and should refuse it, I could not possibly have believed them!"
THE FAIRY WHO JUDGED HER NEIGHBORS
There was once a Fairy who was a good Fairy, on the whole, but she had
one very bad habit; she was too fond of finding fault with other people,
and of taking for granted that everything must be wrong if it did not
appear right to her.
One day, when she had been talking very unkindly of some friends of
hers, her mother said to her: "My child, I think if you knew a little
more of the world, you would become more charitable. I would therefore
advise you to set out on your travels; you will find plenty of food, for
the cowslips are now in bloom, and they contain excellent honey. I need
not be anxious about your lodging, for there is no place more delightful
for sleeping in than an empty robin's nest when the young have flown.
And if you want a new gown, you can sew two tulip leaves together, which
will make you a very becoming dress, and one that I should be proud to
see you in."
The young Fairy was pleased at this permission to set out on her
travels; so she kissed her mother, and bade good-by to her nurse, who
gave her a little ball of spiders' threads to sew with, and a beautiful
little box, made of the egg-shell of a wren, to keep her best thimble
in, and took leave of her, wishing her safe home again.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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