1
00:00:01,120 --> 00:00:07,440
Speaker 1: Little Piccola by Nora A. Smith. Piccola lived in Italy,

2
00:00:08,080 --> 00:00:10,720
where the oranges grow, and where all the year the

3
00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:15,199
sun shines warm and bright. I suppose you think Piccola

4
00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:18,320
very strange name for a little girl, but in her

5
00:00:18,399 --> 00:00:21,600
country it was not strange at all, and her mother

6
00:00:21,679 --> 00:00:24,679
thought it the sweetest name a little girl ever had.

7
00:00:26,519 --> 00:00:30,480
Piccola had no kind father, no big brother or sister,

8
00:00:31,239 --> 00:00:34,600
and no sweet baby to play with in love. She

9
00:00:34,679 --> 00:00:36,920
and her mother lived all alone in an old stone

10
00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:40,759
house that looked on a dark, narrow street. They were

11
00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:44,119
very poor, and the mother was away from home almost

12
00:00:44,159 --> 00:00:48,719
every day, washing clothes and scrubbing floors, and working hard

13
00:00:48,719 --> 00:00:52,200
to earn money for her little girl and herself. So

14
00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:55,640
you see, Piccola was alone a great deal of the time.

15
00:00:56,600 --> 00:00:59,799
And if she had not been a very happy, contented

16
00:00:59,799 --> 00:01:04,159
little child, I hardly know what she would have done.

17
00:01:04,439 --> 00:01:07,200
She had no playthings except a heap of stones in

18
00:01:07,239 --> 00:01:10,599
the back yard that she used for building houses, and

19
00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:14,079
a very old, very ragged doll that her mother had

20
00:01:14,120 --> 00:01:17,920
found in the street one day. But there was a

21
00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:20,519
small round hole in the stone wall at the back

22
00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:23,599
of her yard, and her greatest pleasure was to look

23
00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:27,400
through that into her neighbor's garden. When she stood on

24
00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:30,359
a stone and put her eyes close to the hole,

25
00:01:31,079 --> 00:01:33,840
she could see the green grass in the garden, and

26
00:01:33,959 --> 00:01:38,319
smell the sweet flowers, and even hear the water splashing

27
00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:42,239
into the fountain. She had never seen any one walking

28
00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:45,400
in the garden, for it belonged to an old gentleman

29
00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:50,280
who did not care about grass and flowers. One day

30
00:01:50,519 --> 00:01:52,920
in the autumn, her mother told her that the old

31
00:01:52,959 --> 00:01:56,799
gentleman had gone away and had rented his house to

32
00:01:56,879 --> 00:02:00,480
a family of little American children, who who had come

33
00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:03,200
with their sick mother to spend the winter in Italy.

34
00:02:04,719 --> 00:02:09,319
After this, Piccola was never lonely, for all day along

35
00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:12,039
the children ran and played and danced and sang in

36
00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:15,599
the garden. It was several weeks before they saw her

37
00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:18,680
at all, and I am not sure they ever would

38
00:02:18,719 --> 00:02:22,159
have done so. But one day the kitten ran away,

39
00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:25,319
and in chasing her, they came close to the wall

40
00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:28,400
and saw Piccola's black eyes looking through the hole in

41
00:02:28,439 --> 00:02:32,840
the stones. They were a little frightened at first and

42
00:02:32,879 --> 00:02:35,800
did not speak to her. But the next day she

43
00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:40,439
was there again, and rose the oldest girl went up

44
00:02:40,479 --> 00:02:42,560
to the wall and talked to her a little while.

45
00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:46,159
When the children found that she had no one to

46
00:02:46,199 --> 00:02:49,319
play with and was very lonely, they talked to her

47
00:02:49,439 --> 00:02:53,639
every day, and often brought her fruits and candies and

48
00:02:53,759 --> 00:02:57,919
passed them through the hole in the wall. One day

49
00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:00,639
they even pushed the kitten through, but the hole was

50
00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:04,240
hardly large enough for her, and she mewed and scratched

51
00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:08,120
and was very much frightened. After that, the little boy

52
00:03:08,199 --> 00:03:10,560
said he would ask his father if the hole might

53
00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:15,120
not be made larger, and then Piccola could come in

54
00:03:15,199 --> 00:03:18,719
and play with them. The father had found out that

55
00:03:18,719 --> 00:03:21,919
Piccola's mother was a good woman, and that the little

56
00:03:21,919 --> 00:03:25,639
girl herself was sweet and kind, so that he was

57
00:03:25,759 --> 00:03:28,319
very glad to have some of the stones broken away

58
00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:32,840
and an opening maid for Piccola to come in. How

59
00:03:32,879 --> 00:03:36,199
excited she was, and how glad the children were when

60
00:03:36,199 --> 00:03:40,680
she first stepped into the garden. She wore her best dress,

61
00:03:41,159 --> 00:03:44,560
a long, bright colored woolen skirt and a white waist.

62
00:03:45,719 --> 00:03:48,400
Round her neck was a string of beads, and on

63
00:03:48,479 --> 00:03:52,960
her feet were little wooden sandals. It would seem very

64
00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:57,000
strange to us when it not to wear wooden shoes,

65
00:03:58,039 --> 00:04:01,240
but Piccola and her mother had never worn anything else,

66
00:04:02,199 --> 00:04:07,199
and never had any money to buy stockings. Piccola almost

67
00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:11,039
always ran about barefooted like the kittens and the chickens

68
00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:14,599
and the little ducks. What a good time they had

69
00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:18,680
that day, And how glad Piccola's mother was that her

70
00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:21,879
little girl could have such a pleasant, safe place to

71
00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:26,560
play in while she was away at work. By and

72
00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:30,279
by December came, and the little Americans began to talk

73
00:04:30,319 --> 00:04:35,120
about Christmas. One day when Piccola's curly head and bright

74
00:04:35,199 --> 00:04:38,079
eyes came peeping through the hole in the wall, and

75
00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:40,800
they ran to her and helped her in, And as

76
00:04:40,839 --> 00:04:44,199
they did so, they all asked her at once what

77
00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:48,399
she thought she would have for a Christmas present? A

78
00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:56,040
Christmas present, said Piccola, Why what is that? All the

79
00:04:56,120 --> 00:05:00,000
children looked surprised at this, and Rose said, rather great,

80
00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:07,040
dear Piccola, don't you know what Christmas is? Oh? Yes,

81
00:05:07,839 --> 00:05:10,160
Piccola knew. It was the happy day when the baby

82
00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:13,160
Christ was born, And she had been to church on

83
00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:16,399
that day and heard the beautiful singing, and had seen

84
00:05:16,439 --> 00:05:19,360
the picture of the Babe lying in the manger with

85
00:05:19,519 --> 00:05:23,959
cattle and sheep, sleeping round about. Oh, yes, she knew

86
00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:27,759
all that very well, But what was a Christmas present?

87
00:05:29,279 --> 00:05:31,720
Then the children began to laugh and to answer her.

88
00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:35,360
Altogether there was such a clatter of tongues that she

89
00:05:35,439 --> 00:05:38,680
could hear only a few words now and then, such

90
00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:48,759
as chimney, Santa Claus, stockings, reindeer, Christmas Eve, candies, and toys.

91
00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:53,079
Piccola put her hands over her ears and said, oh,

92
00:05:53,639 --> 00:05:58,879
I can't understand one word you tell me Rose. Then

93
00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:02,720
Rose told her all about jolly Santa Claus, with his

94
00:06:02,839 --> 00:06:06,240
red cheeks and white beard and fur coat, and about

95
00:06:06,279 --> 00:06:11,160
his reindeer and sleigh full of toys. Every Christmas Eve,

96
00:06:11,879 --> 00:06:15,480
said Rose, he comes down the chimney and fills the

97
00:06:15,519 --> 00:06:20,399
stockings of all the good children. So Piccola, you hang

98
00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:23,959
up your stocking, and who knows what a beautiful Christmas

99
00:06:23,959 --> 00:06:28,399
present you will find when morning comes. Of course, Piccola

100
00:06:28,439 --> 00:06:31,560
thought this was a delightful plan, and was very pleased

101
00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:34,920
to hear about it. Then all the children told her

102
00:06:34,959 --> 00:06:38,240
of every Christmas Eve they could remember, and of the

103
00:06:38,319 --> 00:06:42,120
presents they had had, so that she went home thinking

104
00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:46,000
of nothing but dolls and hoops and balls and ribbons

105
00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:50,439
and marbles. And wagons and kites. She told her mother

106
00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:53,480
about Santa Claus, and her mother seemed to think that

107
00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:56,800
perhaps he did not know that there was any little

108
00:06:56,839 --> 00:06:59,920
girl in that house, and very likely he would not

109
00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:04,399
come at all. But Piccola felt very sure Santa Claus

110
00:07:04,399 --> 00:07:07,680
would remember her, for her little friends had promised to

111
00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:12,079
send a letter up the chimney to remind him. Christmas

112
00:07:12,079 --> 00:07:16,720
Eve came at last, Piccola's mother hurried home from her work.

113
00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:20,759
They had their little supper of soup and bread, and

114
00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:24,600
soon it was bedtime time to get ready for Santa Claus.

115
00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:29,199
But oh, Piccola remembered then for the first time that

116
00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:31,759
the children had told her she must hang up her stocking,

117
00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:37,399
and she hadn't any, and neither had her mother. How sad,

118
00:07:37,959 --> 00:07:42,079
how sad it was. Now Santa Claus would come and

119
00:07:42,199 --> 00:07:44,839
perhaps be angry because he couldn't find any place to

120
00:07:44,879 --> 00:07:49,319
put the present. The poor little girl stood by the fireplace,

121
00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:52,959
and the big tears began to run down her cheeks.

122
00:07:53,879 --> 00:07:57,720
Just then her mother called to her, hurry, Piccola, come

123
00:07:57,759 --> 00:08:02,839
to bed. What did she do? But she stopped crying

124
00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:05,720
and tried to think, and in a moment she remembered

125
00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:08,959
her wooden shoes and ran off to get one of them.

126
00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:12,639
She put it close to the chimney and said to herself,

127
00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:17,279
surely Santa Claus will know what it's there, for he

128
00:08:17,399 --> 00:08:20,800
will know I haven't any stockings, so I gave him

129
00:08:20,839 --> 00:08:25,720
the shoe instead. Then she went off happily to her

130
00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:28,759
bed and was asleep almost as soon as she had

131
00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:34,039
nestled close to her mother's side. The sun had only

132
00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:39,200
just begun to shine next morning when Piccola awoke. With

133
00:08:39,320 --> 00:08:42,080
one jump, she was out on the floor and running

134
00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:45,519
toward the chimney. The wooden shoe was lying where she

135
00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:49,480
had left it, but you could never never guess what

136
00:08:49,679 --> 00:08:53,440
was in it. Piccola had not meant to wake her mother,

137
00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:56,879
but this surprise was more than any little girl could

138
00:08:56,879 --> 00:09:00,159
bear and yet be quiet. So she danced to the

139
00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:04,799
bed with the shoe in her hand, calling mother, mother, look,

140
00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:10,080
look see the present Santa Claus brought me. Her mother

141
00:09:10,159 --> 00:09:14,759
raised her head and looked into the shoe. Why, Piccola,

142
00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:19,399
she said, A little chimney swallow nestling in your shoe.

143
00:09:20,200 --> 00:09:23,080
What a good Santa Claus to bring you a bird?

144
00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:30,279
Good Santa Claus, dear Santa Claus, cried Piccola, and she

145
00:09:30,399 --> 00:09:33,440
kissed her mother, and kissed the bird, and kissed the shoe,

146
00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:37,679
and even threw kisses up the chimney. She was so happy.

147
00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:41,279
When the birdling was taken out of the shoe, they

148
00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:44,679
found that he did not try to fly, only to

149
00:09:44,759 --> 00:09:48,399
hop around the room, And as they looked closer, they

150
00:09:48,399 --> 00:09:50,799
could see that one of his wings was hurt a little,

151
00:09:51,519 --> 00:09:54,320
but the mother bounded up carefully so that it did

152
00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:57,480
not seem to pain him. And he was so gentle

153
00:09:57,519 --> 00:09:59,440
that he took a drink of water from a cup,

154
00:10:00,159 --> 00:10:03,039
and even ate crumbs and seeds out of Piccola's hands.

155
00:10:04,200 --> 00:10:06,480
She was a proud little girl when she took her

156
00:10:06,559 --> 00:10:10,320
Christmas present to show the children in the garden. They

157
00:10:10,320 --> 00:10:15,879
had had a great many gifts, dolls that could say Mamma, bright,

158
00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:22,039
picture books, trains of cars, toy pianos, but not one

159
00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:28,399
of them playthings was alive like Piccola's birdling. They were

160
00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:32,279
as pleased as she, and Rose hunted about the house

161
00:10:32,320 --> 00:10:35,360
until she found a large wicker cage that belonged to

162
00:10:35,399 --> 00:10:39,600
a blackbird she once had. She gave the cage to Piccola,

163
00:10:40,159 --> 00:10:42,840
and the Swallows seemed to make himself quite at home

164
00:10:42,879 --> 00:10:45,679
in it at once, and sat on the perch, winking

165
00:10:45,759 --> 00:10:49,720
his bright eyes at the children. Rose had saved a

166
00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:53,000
bag of candies for Piccola, And when she went home

167
00:10:53,080 --> 00:10:56,279
at last, with the cage in her dear swallow safely

168
00:10:56,320 --> 00:10:59,799
inside it, I am sure there was not a happier

169
00:10:59,799 --> 00:11:05,720
life little girl in the whole country of Italy. End

170
00:11:06,080 --> 00:11:09,559
of Little Piccola by Nora A. Smith.