The Child Who Thought That Up Was Down

There once was a poor child who had known nothing but cruelty and neglect.

Her step mother you see was a terrible woman who, every time she beat her told her, “That is love” and every time she made her sleep in the cold on a cold stone floor said, “That is called comfort”.

Everything that the step mother taught the little girl was wrong; she taught her that a hit was a kiss and that a strangle was a cuddle; she taught her that being mean was being good and that neglect was kindness.

One day, however, a visitor came to the house who was a kind gentleman and he gave her a kitten.

“It is to cuddle”, he said.

Unfortunately, the little girl had been taught by her cruel step mother that “Cuddle” meant strangle and she killed the kitten and the kind man, horrified and thinking she was cruel, got angry with her and she was so confused that she ran away crying.

And she ran into the forest and found an old well and she was weeping down the well and going to throw herself down it when she met an old woman who couldn’t speak and the old woman, seeing that she was sobbing cuddled and comforted her.

Fortunately, because the old woman was mute she couldn’t confuse the little girl with words and they lived together in silence quite happily.

And she taught the girl another language; how to speak with her hands and, in that language she taught her all about love and kindness and she also taught her to love all the animals and plants of the forest who, although they had no language, were more honest than people and gentle to those who were kind to them and so she grew up more healthily than she would have had she stayed with her step mother in fact she grew into a very beautiful and happy young woman.

But then, one day she was walking through the forest when she heard two people talking; a young woman and a young man and they were walking hand in hand and the woman was saying to the man,

“Oh I shall kiss you and I shall cuddle you and I shall show you love like you have never had before”.

And hearing this and remembering the words that her stepmother had taught her she thought that the woman was threatening to hurt the man and so she picked up a stick and flew at the woman beating her.

And at first the man was going to defend the woman but then he saw her face change; horns sprouted upon her head; she hissed and grew claws upon her hands and he realized then that she was a she-devil that had been seducing him just to kill him.

The she-devil ran off screaming into the forest and then the man started to thank the girl for saving him but she told him not to speak and then because she started to sign with her fingers, he became convinced that she was mute.

Now the girl and the man went back to her house and he met the old woman who had saved her from throwing herself in the well and the man started to fall in love with the girl and because he loved her he learned to speak with his hands.

And when he had learned enough of her language he made the sign for “Please”, the sign for “Marry” and the sign for “Me”.

And sometime later they were married and she and the old woman moved into his large house, for he was a wealthy merchant’s son and because they never spoke except with their hands they lived a very happy life together.