A dispute arose among three ladies as to which had the most beautiful
hands. One sat by a stream, and dipped her hand into the water and held
it up; another plucked strawberries until the ends of her fingers were
pink; and a third gathered violets until her hands were fragrant. An
old, haggard woman, passing by, asked, "Who will give me a gift, for I
am poor?" all three denied her; but another who sat near, unwashed in
the stream, unstained with fruit, unadorned with flowers or perfume,
gave her a little gift, and satisfied the poor woman. Then the woman
asked them what was the subject of their dispute; and they told her, and
lifted up before her their beautiful hands. "Beautiful indeed!" she
exclaimed, as she saw them. But when they asked her which was the most
beautiful, she said: "It is not the hand that is washed clean in the
brook; it is not the hand that is coloured with crimson tints; it is not
the hand that is perfumed with fragrant flowers; but the hand that gives
to the poor, that is the most beautiful."
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