Speaker 1: A Little kind hearted Girl written by Flora Annie Stale.
Speaker 1: Once upon a time there lived a kind hearted girl.
Speaker 1: Now their father had no work, so the girl began
Speaker 1: to think of going to service. So she packed up
Speaker 1: a bundle, said goodbye, and started to find a place.
Speaker 1: But no one in the town wanted a girl, so
Speaker 1: she went farther into the country, and she journeyed. She
Speaker 1: came upon an oven in which a lot of loaves
Speaker 1: were baking. Now, as she passed the loaves, cried out
Speaker 1: with one voice, little girl, little girl, take us out,
Speaker 1: Please take us out. We have been baking for seven
Speaker 1: years and no one has come to take us out.
Speaker 1: Do take us out, or we shall soon be burnt. Then,
Speaker 1: being a kind, obliging little girl, she stopped, put down
Speaker 1: her bundle, took out the bread, and went on her way, saying,
Speaker 1: you will be more comfortable now. After a time, she
Speaker 1: came to a cow lowing beside an empty bucket, and
Speaker 1: the cow said to her little girl, little girl, milk me,
Speaker 1: please milk me. Seven years have I been waiting, but
Speaker 1: no one has come to milk me. So the kind
Speaker 1: girl stopped, put down her bundle, milked the cow into
Speaker 1: the bucket, and went on her way, saying, now you
Speaker 1: will be more comfortable. By and bye. She came to
Speaker 1: an apple tree so laden with fruit that its branches
Speaker 1: one night to break, and the apple tree called to
Speaker 1: her little girl, Little girl, please shake my branches. The
Speaker 1: fruit is so heavy, I can't stand straight. Then the
Speaker 1: kind girl stopped, put down her bundle, and shook the
Speaker 1: branches so that the apples fell off and the tree
Speaker 1: could stand straight. Then she went on her way, saying,
Speaker 1: you will be more comfortable now. So she journeyed on
Speaker 1: till she came to a house where an old woman lived.
Speaker 1: Now this woman wanted a servant maid and promised good wages.
Speaker 1: Therefore the girl agreed to stop with her and try.
Speaker 1: How she liked service. She had to sweep the floor,
Speaker 1: keep the house clean and tidy, the fire bright and cheery.
Speaker 1: But there was one thing the woman said she must
Speaker 1: never do, and that was looking up the chimney. If
Speaker 1: you do, said the woman, something will fall down on
Speaker 1: you and you will come to a bad end. Well,
Speaker 1: the girl swept and dusted and made up the fire,
Speaker 1: but never a penny of wages did she say. Now
Speaker 1: the girl wanted to go home, as she did not
Speaker 1: like the old woman's service that didn't pay her. But
Speaker 1: she did not like to go home penniless, so she
Speaker 1: stayed on sweeping and dusting and doing her work just
Speaker 1: as if she was pleased. Then one day, as she
Speaker 1: was sweeping up the hearth down tumbled some suit, and
Speaker 1: without remembering she was forbidden to look up the chimney.
Speaker 1: She looked up to see where the suit came from,
Speaker 1: and lo and behold, a bag full of gold fell
Speaker 1: plump into her lap. Now the woman happened to be out,
Speaker 1: so the girl thought it a fine opportunity to be
Speaker 1: off home. So she kilted up her dress and started
Speaker 1: to run home. But she had only gone a little
Speaker 1: way when she heard the woman coming after her on
Speaker 1: her broomstick. Now the apple tree she had helped to
Speaker 1: stand straight happened to be quite close, so she ran
Speaker 1: to it and cried, apple tree, apple tree, hide me
Speaker 1: so the old woman can't find me, for if she does,
Speaker 1: she'll pick my bones and bury me under the garden stones.
Speaker 1: Then the apple tree said, of course, I will you
Speaker 1: help me to stand straight? And one good turn deserves another.
Speaker 1: So the apple tree hid her finally in its green branches,
Speaker 1: And when the woman flew past, saying, O, tree of mine,
Speaker 1: O tree of mine? Have you seen my naughty little
Speaker 1: maid with a villy willy wag and a great big bag.
Speaker 1: She's stolen my money all I had. The apple tree answered, no, mother, dear,
Speaker 1: not for seven years. So the woman flew on the
Speaker 1: wrong way, and the girl got down, thanked the tree politely,
Speaker 1: and started again. But just as she got to where
Speaker 1: the cow was standing beside the bucket, she heard the
Speaker 1: woman coming again. So she ran to the cow and cried, cow, cow,
Speaker 1: please hide me so the old woman can't find me,
Speaker 1: for if she does, she'll pick my bones and bury
Speaker 1: me under the garden stones. Certainly I will, answered the cow,
Speaker 1: didn't you milk me and make me comfortable? Hide yourself
Speaker 1: behind me and you'll be quite safe. And when the
Speaker 1: old woman flew by and called to the cow, oh
Speaker 1: cow of mine, Oh cow of mine, have you seen
Speaker 1: my naughty little maid with a villy willy wag and
Speaker 1: a great big bag who stole my money all that
Speaker 1: I had, she just said politely, no, mother, dear, not
Speaker 1: for seven years. Then the old woman went on in
Speaker 1: the wrong direction, and the girl started afresh on her
Speaker 1: way home, but Just as she got to where the
Speaker 1: oven stood, she heard that old woman coming behind her again.
Speaker 1: So she ran as fast as she could to the
Speaker 1: oven and cried, oh, oven, oh, oven, hide me so
Speaker 1: as the old woman can't find me, for if she does,
Speaker 1: she'll pick my bones and bury them under the garden stones.
Speaker 1: Then the oven said, I'm afraid there is no room
Speaker 1: for you, as another batch of bread is baking. But
Speaker 1: there is the baker, ask him. So she asked the baker,
Speaker 1: and he said, of course I will. You saved my
Speaker 1: last batch from being burned. So run into the bakehouse.
Speaker 1: You will be quite safe there, and I will settle
Speaker 1: the old woman for you. So she hid in the
Speaker 1: bake house only just in time, for there was the
Speaker 1: old woman calling angrily, Oh man of mine, man of mine,
Speaker 1: have you seen my naughty little maid with a villy
Speaker 1: willy wag and a great big bag who stole my
Speaker 1: money all I had. Then the baker replied, look in
Speaker 1: the oven, she may be there. And the old woman
Speaker 1: alighted from her broomstick and peered into the oven, but
Speaker 1: she could see no one. Creep in and look in
Speaker 1: the farthest corner, said the baker, slyly, and the old
Speaker 1: woman crept in when bang he shut the door in
Speaker 1: her face, and there she was locked in, And when
Speaker 1: she came out with the bread, she was all crisp
Speaker 1: and brown and had to go home as best she could,
Speaker 1: and put cold cream all over her. And the kind,
Speaker 1: obliging little girl got safe home with her bag of money.