I.
| rusty | narrow | further | fern |
| dipper | towered | suffering | brim |
| dying | withered | carefully | spill |
Once upon a time it was very hot and very, very dry. No rain had fallen for days and days. The thirsty birds had stopped singing. The plants withered and the animals were dying for want of water. All the people were praying for rain.
One morning a little girl started out to find some water for her sick mother. In her hand she carried a tin dipper.
She climbed a high hill hoping to find a spring. Up and up she climbed. On her way she saw the dusty plants, the quiet birds, and the suffering animals.
The sharp stones cut her feet. High rocks towered above her head. Their strange shapes filled her with fear. But she thought of her sick mother and she would not turn back. At last she came to a great wall of rocks, and could go no farther.
"Oh, that some good fairy would show me where to find water!" she cried.
And then a beautiful fairy stood before her in a robe like the clouds at sunset. She pointed to a narrow path among the rocks. The child followed the path and soon came to a spring hidden under green fern leaves.
She filled her dipper to the brim. How carefully she held it! How softly she stepped, so as not to spill one drop!
In her path down the hill there lay a rabbit almost dead from thirst. The little girl needed all the water, but she poured a few drops upon the rabbit's tongue. Then something wonderful happened! The rusty tin dipper was changed to shining silver.