The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1863-05-07
a Fairy Tale with a Moral.

There was once a poor woman and she had no
dearer wish than once, by accident or a miracle,
u obtain Il great deal OF money, because she be-
lieved that if she only had money, all sorrow,
accident and suffering, would be as gone. The
accident and the miracle did not happen for a
long time, however, till the woman once heard
that on the slope Of Il hill there grew among
other grass a weed, and if any one were So fortu-
nate as TO pluck it, the mountain would open,
the plucker would walk into Il large cave, at
which seven men sat around a table, who would
allow her TO take away rs much OF their treasure
as she could carry. From this moment the poor
woman had nothing more pressing to do than to
fetch hillgrass daily during the summer for her
cow, because she hoped TO pluck the miraculous
weed among it. And so she did one day the
woman had again collected grass, carried the
heavy basket on her head, and led her little
daughter by the hand, when 4 large rock opened
n0iscleSslv before i wcll-oilcd door, and allowed
her TO see into a cave, where seven old men with
long boards were sitting around n table, and
piles of gold were heaped around them. The
woman naturally soon took advantage of the OPP
portunity, emptied her basket upon the ground
and filed it with gold. When this was done,
and she was going out, one Of the old men GER
tainly said, d" Woman, forget not the best
thing - but she did not listen, and went of.
But she had scarce reached the entrance of the
cave when the rock closed up again, and shut in
the wOman's little daughter. who had remained
behind playing with the gold.
Then the mother grief and agony were great;
she ran lamenting 10 the clergyman and told
him what had occurred. The latter said she
must wait seven years till she could find her
daughter again; after that period she must 20
again u the mountain at the same hour in which
she lost her child. and wait for what might hap
pen but she had made a grand mistake in quite
cmptyIng her basket for the sake of the gold. be
cause the miracle weed was among the grass she
threw away. Now she remembered the old
mans words, and learned To her sorrow that she
had done wrong to consider wealth rs the highest
blessing.
How slightly she now valued this gold she
brought home. when she had 10 pay for it by the
l,ss of her child She thought further, and
found that there were many blessings in the
world which. if lost, reduced the value of gold
10 nothing. This and many other things the
poor rich woman had time TO reflect on during
the seven years, and, to her honor be it said.
that till the expiration Of that time, she would
not look at or handle the gold. At length the
day came on which she hoped TO find her child
again. The woman hurried to the hill in the
neighbOrhOod Of the rock where her child was
shut up and see there from the distance she
perceived the treasure of her heart. her child
sleeping III front Of the rocks; it was as young
and blooming as when she lost it. She lifted it
tenderly and kissed it a thousand times with tears
on the road home, thinking. d" If all the gold
were out of my room | should be as happy as if
| had found all the treasures in the world"
But the gold was not gone; and 50 she was
grateful for that. and enioved the advantage of
wealth. and spent much on the good education of
her daughter, and thus the well-trained maiden
became a great and invaluable treasure.-BeHt-
lays Miscellany.