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There had been no rain in the land for a very long time.
It was so hot and dry that the flowers were withered,
the grass was parched and brown, and even the big,
strong trees were dying. The water dried up in the creeks
and rivers, the wells were dry, the fountains stopped
bubbling. The cows, the dogs, the horses, the birds, and
all the people were so thirsty!
Everyone felt uncomfortable and sick.
There was one little girl whose mother grew very ill.
"Oh," said the little girl, "if I could only find some
water for my mother I´m sure she will be well again.
I must find some water." So she took a tin cup and started
out in search of water. By and by she found a tiny little
spring away up on a mountainside. It was almost dry.
The water dropped, dropped, ever so slowly from under the
rock. The little girl held her cup carefully and caught
the drops. She waited and waited a long, long time until
the cup was full of water. Then she started down the
mountain holding the cup very carefully, for she didn’t
want to spill a single drop. On the way she passed a
poor little dog. He could hardly drag himself along.
He was panting for breath and his tongue hung from his
mouth because it was so dry and parched. "Oh, you poor
little dog," said the little girl, "you’re so thirsty.
I can’t pass you without giving you a few drops of water.
If I give you just a little there will still be enough
for my mother. So the little girl poured some water into her
hand and held it down for the little dog. He lapped it up
quickly and then he felt so much better than he frisked and
barked and seemed almost to say "Thank you little girl." And
the little girl didn’t notice- but her tin dipper had
changed into a silver dipper and was just as full of water
as it had been before.
She thought about her mother and hurried along as fast as
she could go. When she reached home it was late in the
afternoon, almost dark. The little girl pushed the door open
and hurried up to her mother’s room. When she came into the
room, the old maid servant who helped the little girl and her
mother, and had been working hard all day taking care of the
sick woman, came to the door.
She was so tired and so thirsty that she couldn’t even speak
to the little girl. "Do give her some water."
She has worked hard all day and she needs it much more than
I do" So the little girl held the cup to her lips and the
old servant drank some of the water. She felt stronger and
better right away and she went over to the mother and lifted
her up. The little girl didn’t notice that the cup had
changed into a golden cup and was just as full of water as it
was before!
Then she held the cup to her mother’s lips and she drank and
drank. Oh, she felt so much better! when she had finished
there was still some water left in the cup. The little girl
was just raising it to her own lips when there was a knock
at the door.
The servant opened it and there stood a stranger.
He was very pale and all covered with dust from travelling. I
am thirsty" he said "Won’t you give me a little water?" The
little girl said, "Why, certainly I will, I am sure that you
need it far more than I do. Drink it all"
The stranger smiled and took the dipper in his hand, and as
he took it, it changed into a diamond dipper. He turned it
upside down and all the water spilled and sank into the
ground. And where it spilled a fountain bubbled up. The cool
water flowed and splashed-enough for the people and all the
animals in the whole land to have all the water they wanted
to drink.
As they watched the water they forgot the stranger, but
presently when they looked at him he was gone. They thought they
could see him just vanishing in the sky- and there in the
sky, clear and high, shone the diamond dipper. It shines up
there yet, and remind people of the little girl who was kind
and unselfish. It is called the Big Dipper.
You´re visitor number
since 8/1/98.
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