Children Stories - The Poor Sick Mother

There was once an old sow with three little pigs, and as she had not enough to keep them, she sent them out to seek their fortune. The first that went off met a man with a bundle of straw, and said to him: "Please, man, give me that s... Read more of THE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS at Children Stories.ca

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The Poor Sick Mother

from Old French Fairy Tales - Good Little Henry

There was a poor woman, a widow, who lived alone with her little son
Henry. She loved him tenderly and she had good reason to do so, for no
one had ever seen a more charming child. Although he was but seven years
old, he kept the house while his good mother labored diligently and then
left home to sell her work and buy food for herself and her little
Henry. He swept, he washed the floor, he cooked, he dug and cultivated
the garden and when all this was done he seated himself to mend his
clothes or his mother's shoes and to make stools and tables--in short,
to do everything his strength would enable him to do.

The house in which they lived belonged to them, but it was very
lonesome. In front of their dwelling there was a lofty mountain so high
that no one had ever ascended to its summit, and besides it was
surrounded by a rushing torrent, by high walls and insurmountable
precipices.

The mother and her little boy were happy but alas! one day the poor
mother fell sick. They knew no doctor and besides they had no money to
pay for one. Poor Henry did not know how to cure her. He brought her
fresh cool water for he had nothing else to give her, he stayed by her
night and day and ate his little morsel of dry bread at the foot of her
bed. When she slept he looked at her sadly and wept. The sickness
increased from day to day and at last the poor woman was almost in a
dying condition. She could neither speak nor swallow and she no longer
knew her little Henry, who was sobbing on his knees near her bed. In his
despair, he cried out:

"Fairy Bienfaisante, come to my help! Save my mother!"

Henry had scarcely pronounced these words, when a window opened and a
lady richly dressed entered and in a soft voice, said to him:

"What do you wish of me, my little friend? You called me--here I am!"

"Madam," cried Henry, throwing himself on his knees and clasping his
hands, "if you are the fairy Bienfaisante, save my poor mother who is
about to die and leave me alone in the world."

The good fairy looked at Henry most compassionately and then, without
saying a word, she approached the poor woman, bent over her, examined
her attentively, breathed upon her and said:

"It is not in my power, my poor child, to cure your mother; her life
depends upon you alone, if you have the courage to undertake the journey
I will point out to you."

"Speak, madam! I entreat you to speak! there is nothing I will not
undertake to save the life of my dear mother."

The fairy replied,

"You must go and seek the plant of life, which grows on top of the
mountain that you see from this window. When you have obtained this
plant, press its juice into the mouth of your mother and she will be
immediately restored to health."

"I will start out immediately, madam. But who will take care of my poor
mother during my absence? And, moreover," said he, sobbing bitterly,
"she will be dead before my return."

"Do not worry, my dear child. If you go to seek the plant of life, your
mother will need nothing before your return; she will remain precisely
in the condition in which you leave her. But you must dare many dangers
and endure many things before you pluck the plant of life. Great courage
and great perseverance are necessary on your part."

"I fear nothing, madam, my courage and perseverance shall not fail. Tell
me only how I shall know this plant amongst all the others which cover
the top of the mountain."

"When you reach the summit, call the doctor who has charge of this
plant, inform him that I have sent you and he will give you a branch of
the plant of life."

Henry kissed the good fairy's hands and thanked her heartily, took a
sorrowful leave of his mother, covering her with kisses, put some bread
in his pocket and set out, after saluting the fairy respectfully.

The fairy smiled encouragingly at this poor child who so bravely
resolved to ascend a mountain so dangerous that none of those who had
attempted it had ever reached the summit.

Next: The Crow The Cock And The Frog
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