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Little Sister Kindness and the Loving Stitches · The Art of Story-Telling by Julia Darrow Cowles

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  Speaker 1: Section twenty three of the Art of story Telling with
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  Speaker 1: nearly half a hundred stories. This is a LibriVox recording.
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  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
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  Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Read
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  Speaker 1: by Marie Christian The Art of story Telling by Julia
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  Speaker 1: Darrow Cowles, Little Sister, Kindness and the Loving Stitches. Once,
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  Speaker 1: when the world was new, there lived a beautiful princess
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  Speaker 1: whose father was the King of Forgotten Land. The king
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  Speaker 1: loved his daughter very much, but he was a very
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  Speaker 1: wise king. The more he loved the princess, the more
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  Speaker 1: he realized that she must learn obedience and many other
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  Speaker 1: hard lessons. The king knew that if he allowed his
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  Speaker 1: little daughter to be worshiped as many princesses are, her
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  Speaker 1: face would grow hard and full of ugly lines. So
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  Speaker 1: the we princess was taught to divide her treasures and
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  Speaker 1: to care for the poor in her father's kingdom. And
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  Speaker 1: so instead of growing hard and selfish, the king's daughter
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  Speaker 1: grew lovelier every day, and she was known as Princess
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  Speaker 1: Tender Heart. At last, when the princess had grown, there
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  Speaker 1: came a prince from the land of by and By
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  Speaker 1: to marry the Princess tender Heart. For a wedding gift,
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  Speaker 1: he presented her with five hundred and forty three mansions
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  Speaker 1: surrounding his palace, and the princess was to give these
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  Speaker 1: mansions to the friends she loved best, so that she
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  Speaker 1: should not be lonely when she went with the prince
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  Speaker 1: to live in the land of by and By. But
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  Speaker 1: one day the king found his daughter very unhappy, and
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  Speaker 1: when he begged her to tell him why, she was
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  Speaker 1: in tears. She said that she had given away five
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  Speaker 1: hundred and forty two mansions, but she still had many friends,
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  Speaker 1: and she did not know what to do with the
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  Speaker 1: one mansion that remained. It was the one which stood
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  Speaker 1: the very nearest to the palace of the prince. Then
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  Speaker 1: the wise king said, there there, we'll settle this matter easily,
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  Speaker 1: that one home shall go to the one who loves
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  Speaker 1: you best. But how began the princess never mind? How
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  Speaker 1: interrupted her father, And then they both laughed so merrily
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  Speaker 1: that all the canary birds in the kingdom began to sing.
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  Speaker 1: The very next day, the King of Forgotten Land issued
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  Speaker 1: a proclamation which set all the people talking. Among those
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  Speaker 1: who read the copy that was posted outside the palace
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  Speaker 1: gates was a maiden known as Little Sister Kindness. So
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  Speaker 1: the princess is to be married one month from to day,
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  Speaker 1: she exclaimed. Then turning, she saw a blind man standing by,
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  Speaker 1: who had no one with him to tell him what
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  Speaker 1: the king's message contained. Little Sister Kindness stepped to his
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  Speaker 1: side and explained to him the contents of the proclamation.
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  Speaker 1: The princess's tender heart is to be married, she said,
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  Speaker 1: And instead of having her wedding garments made by the
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  Speaker 1: court dressmaker, the King wishes everyone who loves the princess
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  Speaker 1: to come to the palace and help make her clothes.
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  Speaker 1: To the one whose work proves that she loves the
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  Speaker 1: princess best shall be given the finest gift house of
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  Speaker 1: the five hundred and forty three presented by the Prince
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  Speaker 1: of By and by I beg you to tell me more,
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  Speaker 1: urged the blind man. My daughter is a dressmaker. How
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  Speaker 1: shall it be known who best loves the princess? How
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  Speaker 1: fortunate that your daughter is a dressmaker, exclaimed the Little
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  Speaker 1: Sister Kindness. I wish that I were a dressmaker too.
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  Speaker 1: The King announces that by examining the wardrobe. When it
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  Speaker 1: is completed, he will know at a glance who best
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  Speaker 1: loves her, Royal Highness. Everyone adores the princess, so only
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  Speaker 1: by magic will the King know who loves her best.
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  Speaker 1: I thank you, the blind man said, with a low bow.
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  Speaker 1: I must hasten now to tell my daughter this good news.
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  Speaker 1: And I must hasten too, agreed Little Sister Kindness, for
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  Speaker 1: I have many friends who were skillful with the needle,
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  Speaker 1: and I must carry the news to each one. From
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  Speaker 1: that hour, the sewing room of the palace became a busy,
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  Speaker 1: bustling place for the seamstresses, and the embroiderers, and the
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  Speaker 1: lace makers came from all parts of the kingdom to
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  Speaker 1: sew upon the wardrobe of the prince's tinderheart. One day
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  Speaker 1: a week later, Little Sister Kindness called at the palace
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  Speaker 1: with a message for a friend who was a noted
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  Speaker 1: lace maker. And while she waited, she watched the busy
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  Speaker 1: workers and heard them talking. It did not take her
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  Speaker 1: long to discover that each worker was striving to make
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  Speaker 1: some great piece of work which should attract the attention
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  Speaker 1: of the king, and that each was eager to secure
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  Speaker 1: the most showy garment to work upon. She saw too,
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  Speaker 1: that the lace makers used knots in the end of
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  Speaker 1: the threads, and that the stitches which would not show
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  Speaker 1: were carelessly made and finished. Finally, Little Sister Kindness became
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  Speaker 1: so distressed by what she saw in the workroom that
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  Speaker 1: she begged to stay. But what can you do, inquired
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  Speaker 1: the manager of the wardrobe. Nothing that will count, replied
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  Speaker 1: Little Sister Kindness. But I can tie loose ends of
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  Speaker 1: threads and darn little holes neatly, and finish seams inside
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  Speaker 1: and there there, exclaimed the manager of the wardrobe, Do
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  Speaker 1: get a needle and begin. I have been so worried
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  Speaker 1: lest the princess should not have one perfect garment. So
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  Speaker 1: Little Sister Kindness began her work, and was soon the
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  Speaker 1: busiest maiden in the palace. Scarcely a garment escaped her
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  Speaker 1: loving fingers. Everything needed a little stitch here and a
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  Speaker 1: little stitch there, a button and a buttonhole in place
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  Speaker 1: of a pin, a bit of trimming to be firmly fastened,
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  Speaker 1: a bow to be sewed securely in place. Always a
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  Speaker 1: stitch here and a stitch there. Never a piece of
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  Speaker 1: winter that would show, not so much as a collar
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  Speaker 1: or a belt, that the king might say, ah, this
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  Speaker 1: was made by little sister kindness. There were days when
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  Speaker 1: the maiden felt discouraged and wished that she too might
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  Speaker 1: be doing something worth while for love of the beautiful princess.
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  Speaker 1: But the unfinished seams in the hastily caught bows kept
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  Speaker 1: her too busy to grow dissatisfied, and she knew that
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  Speaker 1: she was not skillful enough to fashion beautiful garments or
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  Speaker 1: make filmy bits of lace. At last, when the wardrobe
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  Speaker 1: was completed, the king gave a banquet, to which all
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  Speaker 1: in the kingdom were invited. Then, in the presence of
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  Speaker 1: his subjects, he walked into the Great Hall, where all
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  Speaker 1: the wardrobe was displayed. Some of the garments were of linen,
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  Speaker 1: some of silk, some of satin, and others of lace.
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  Speaker 1: And when the king appeared, each robe began to glow
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  Speaker 1: with a soft light, and to shine with a hundred
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  Speaker 1: little stars. Here a star, and there a star. Oh oh,
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  Speaker 1: exclaimed all the people, Oh, oh, oh, there are tiny
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  Speaker 1: gold stitches shining like stars on every garment. Why do
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  Speaker 1: those stitches shine like golden stars? Who put them there?
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  Speaker 1: Whose are the golden stitches? Those are the stitches of
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  Speaker 1: the one who loves the princess best. The King made answer.
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  Speaker 1: Then came a low, wondering murmur from all who had
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  Speaker 1: worked upon the royal wardrobe. And the murmur sounded like
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  Speaker 1: sweet music that sang over and over little sister Kindness.
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  Speaker 1: It is little sister kindness. So it came about that
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  Speaker 1: little sister Kindness in her family went to live in
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  Speaker 1: the home that was nearest the palace of the Prince
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  Speaker 1: and Princess in by and by, and there they all
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  Speaker 1: lived happily ever after. End of Section twenty three.