Once upon a time
there was a little girl who lived in a large yellow house with her mother and
father and brother. One day this girl,
whose name was
"Why do you
all live in such a small house?"
"Because
we have no money," replied the mother, looking down at the ground.
"We are also
very hungry," added a little boy who had been standing in the
doorway. "Could you spare some of
the food in your basket?"
This upset
"My daddy
worked very hard to get the money to pay for this food," said
"Well, my
mommy and daddy work very hard, but they still don't have enough money to buy
food for us all," said another little child who had been hiding behind
her mother all this time.
At this
"Upstairs," pointed one of them.
"Mother!"
she cried out. (This was no time to stand on ceremony). "I was just down at those people with a
small house and they said that their mommy and daddy both worked hard and they
still didn't have enough money but you and father said that everyone has as
much money as they need!" Her
mother, whose name was Hellen, smiled and stroked
"Calm
yourself, darling, and let me tell you a little story which may help you
understand."
attentively to her mother's words.
"You may have
noticed," began mother, that some people are, say, taller than
others."
"Well,"
mother continued, "God made us different to tell us apart, and..."
"Excuse me,
Ma'am." A maid. "But I forgot if you wanted the blue
china tonight or..."
"Oh,
really!" laughed Hellen.
"Can't you remember even the simplest things? Use the blue china."
"Thank you,
ma'am," backed the maid out of the room.
"Now,"
said Hellen's mother, keeping her gaze on
"How?" asked little
"Well,"
began Hellen, "that one has worked for us all of her roughly twenty‑five
years, but we don't pay her enough to buy a house. Sometimes she doesn't have enough for
groceries. Just like that family you
came across today."
"You see,"
continued mother, "there are times when I have to help her do her
work. Like when I had to tell her what
color china to set out. Since I am doing
part of her job, it wouldn't be fair to pay her too much money. That would be like stealing from myself. So I keep some of her money as a reward for
helping her do her job."
"Not to make
the water too hot!" cried out
"That's
right, dear" smiled mother Hellen, looking in the direction of the door.
As