THE NEW SHIRT.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 85, 11 April 1925, Page 22

THE NEW SHIRT.

Once upon a time there lived a poor widow who had seven children. She had to work very hard to feed and clothe them all. She worked all day, and only in the winter evenings could she sew shirts for her children that they might not go naked. The children grew very fastr—so fast that no sooner had she sewed a shirt for the eldest than it was too small for him, and had to be passed on to his younger brother. The shirt was passed in turn to each of the family, till when it came to the youngest it was so thin that the sun shone through it. The youngest child was four years old, so happy that he played and sang all day long, so fond of animals and flowers that when he saw a lamb he ran to find choice, tender shoots and blades of grass to feed it. He loved birds, too, and often when he found a tiny bird fallen out of the nest he would take it home and look after it till it was grown up and could fly away. He loved spiders, and whenever he found a spider in the house he would carry it carefully out of doors in order that it might not be swept away by the broom. But after a time his little shirt grew so thin from wear that it fell right off, and he had to run about with no clothes at all. One day he was hunting berries in! the forest when he met a lamb. "Why, little boy, where is your shirt?" "Alas!" said the'youngest child, "I have no shirt, and mother has no time to make mc a new one." "That is a very sad state of affairs," said the lamb. "A sad state of affairs indeed," and he shook his woolly head. He seemed to be thinking very deeply. Perhaps he was remembering how often his little friend had found him nice things to eat. The little boy was moving away, when suddenly the lamb said: "I know, I will give you my wool for a shirt." And he pulled all his wool off and gave it to the little boy, who took it with great joy. He had never had anything so thick and warm in the whole of his life before. And as the youngest child went on his way home he passed a thornbush. "What are you carrying there," said the bush. "Wool to make a shirt," said the youngest child. Then said the thornbush : "Give it to mc and I will card \ it for you." And so he did, passing his j thorny arms to and fro and making the wool into beautiful soft rolls. . And as the little boy carried the wool along he saw the web of a spider. And j tho spider eat in the middle of it and ■ called: "Give mc your wool, little one, j and I will spin it for you." Then the spider worked away with his tiny feet and spun a cloth so fine that it would have passed through a ring. He gave it to the child, who ran merrily homewards until he saw a giant crab sitting in a brook. "What are yon carrying there?" said the crab. "Cloth I for a shirt," said the youngest child.' "Let mc cut it out for you,' , - said the , crab. And 'with his great shears he cut j out a little shirt %'cry nicely. j First, he cut out the back of the shirt' and then he cut out the front, leaving ; big arm-holes so that the little boy might j have loose sleeves to his shirt and use his arms freely.' Then he cut out the, little sleeves and the cuffs and the collar, j Finally he produced from his vest pocket j a card with six lovely little. fancy buttons on it. The little boy. had never seen such beautiful buttons in his life before. And he jumped for joy to think he would goon be wearing them. : Now, the shirt only needed to be sewn.! but he knew hig mother would not have time until the next winter. But just as the tiny cottaee came in sijjht he saw a tiny bird. "Give mc your shirt, little one," said the bird. "I will sew it for you." And she took a long thread in her beak and* flew to and fro till the shirt was all sewn together. "Now." said the bird, "you have as nice a shirt as you possibly desire." The little boy put it on with great joy and ran to show it to his mother and brothers and sisters. And they all said they had never seen a nicer one. j