"Mother," said the blind child, "what a pity it is that everybody in
this village, except you, is so ugly!"
"Bless your heart, my darling," said the mother; "why do you say that?"
"I was sitting by the fountain," said the blind child, "listening to the
falling water, and the neighbors came to fill their pitchers, and I
heard them talking. It was terrible! it seems that every one in the
whole village is either bald or cross-eyed, wrinkled or misshapen. All
save you, mother!"
"Bless your heart," said the mother; and she looked at her gray, worn
face in the little glass that hung on the wall.
"They did not like to praise your beauty before me!" cried the blind
child. "They spoke your name, and then said, 'Oh! hush, there is the
child!' Was it not foolish of them, mother? as if I did not know!"
"Bless your heart!" said the mother.