1.piccola

once there lived in france a little girl name piccola. when she was very young, her father died, and her mother was very, very poor.
one christmas eve piccola said to her mother, "mamma, will uncle santa come to our house tonight?" her mother felt very sad and shook her head.
before she went to bed, piccola took off her little wooden shoes and put them on the floor near the chimney. she said to her mother, “perhaps uncle santa will come.”
all was white with snow outside, and it was very cold.
in the night a little bird with a broken wing fell down the chimney and hopped into one of the shoes. very early in the morning piccola woke up. she jumped out of bed and ran to look into her shoes.
there she saw the little bird in one of the shoes. she picked up the shoe and ran to show her christmas present to her mother. she said, "santa claus did not forget me, mamma."





2.pandora's box

many years ago all the word was very beautiful and nobody was ever sick or unhappy.
at that time there lived a beautiful little girl named pandora. one day gave her a wonderful box tied with a golden cord and made her promise not to open it. pandora and her little playmate, epimetheus, often looked at the box and wondered what was in it.
for a long time pandora kept her promise to the fairy, but at last she wanted to peep into the box. she untied the cord and lifted the cover only a little.
out flew hundreds of bad little fairies. they stung pandora and she fell on the floor and screamed. they stung epimetheus, too.
then they flew out of doors and stung all the children in the land. by and by pandora heard a little voice crying, “let me out, and i will help you,”
she opened the box, and out flew a beautiful little fairy. she told pandora that her name was hope. she kissed her and epimetheus, and made them well. then away she flew to help the other children.
to this day, when people are sick or unhappy, the good little fairy, hope, comes to comfort them.





3.the crab and his mother

“my child,” said a crab to her son, “why do you walk so awkward? if you wish to make a good appearance, you should go straight forward, and not to one side as you do so constantly.”
“i do wish to make a good appearance, mamma” said the young crab; “and if you will show me how, i will try to walk straight forward.”
“why, this is the way, of course,” said the mother, as she started off to the right, “no, this is the way,” said she, as she made another attempt, to the left.
the little crab smiled. “ when you learn to do it yourself, you can teach me,” he said, and he went back to his play.



4.the wolf and the crane

one day a wolf, who was eating his dinner much too fast, swallowed a bone, which stuck in his throat and pained him very much. he tried to get it out, but could not.
just then he saw a crane passing by. “dear fiend,” said he to the crane, “ there is a bone sticking in my throat. you have a good long neck; can't you reach down and pull it out? i will pay you well for it.” “i'll try,” said the crane. then he put his head into the wolf’s mouth, between his sharp teeth, and reaching down, pulled out bone. “there!” said the wolf, “i am glad it is out; i must be more careful another time.” “i will go now, if you will pay me,” said the crane.
“pay you, indeed!” cried the wolf. “be thankful that i did not bite your head off when it was in my mouth. you ought to be content with that.”



5. handel, the musician

long ago they're lived in germany a little boy named george frederick handel.
he loved music and wanted to learn to play the piano, but his father wanted him to become a lawyer and would not let him take music lessons.
there was a little, old-fashioned piano up in the attic. at night, when everybody was asleep, the little boy used to creep up the stairs and play softly to himself.
when he was about seven years old, he went with his father to visit a wealthy duke. the duke lived in a beautiful palace with many large rooms. there was a wonderful organ in one of the rooms.
while his father and the duke sat talking, little handel slipped away. he sat down at the organ and began to play. his little hands moved over the keys and the room was filled with a sweetest music.
when he finished playing, he turned around and saw his father and the duke looking at him. the duke asked him where he had learned to play, and the boy told him about the piano in the attic.
then the duke persuaded handle's father to let him study music, and he became a famous composer.

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