The Star-Money

by The Brothers Grimm

　　There was once on a time a little girl whose father and mother were dead,and she was so poor that she no longer had any little room to live in,or bed to sleep in, and at last she had nothing else but the clothes shewas wearing and a little bit of bread in her hand which some charitablesoul had given her. She was, however, good and pious. And as she wasthus forsaken by all the world, she went forth into the open country,trusting in the good God. Then a poor man met her, who said, "Ah, giveme something to eat, I am so hungry!" She reached him the whole ofher piece of bread, and said, "May God bless it to thy use," and wentonwards. Then came a child who moaned and said, "My head is so cold,give me something to cover it with." So she took off her hood and gaveit to him; and when she had walked a little farther, she met anotherchild who had no jacket and was frozen with cold. Then she gave it herown; and a little farther on one begged for a frock, and she gave awaythat also. At length she got into a forest and it had already becomedark, and there came yet another child, and asked for a little shirt,and the good little girl thought to herself, "It is a dark night andno one sees thee, thou canst very well give thy little shirt away,"and took it off, and gave away that also. And as she so stood, and hadnot one single thing left, suddenly some stars from heaven fell down,and they were nothing else but hard smooth pieces of money, and althoughshe had just given her little shirt away, she had a new one which was ofthe very finest linen. Then she gathered together the money into this,and was rich all the days of her life.