“That is the very way you look! What do you think of yourself?”
At last there was not a land nor any people who had not seen the mirror. And you may be sure that everybody who looked in the mirror had a very poor opinion of himself.
And now the sprites thought of a good joke. They flew with the mirror high up into the sky. The mirror grinned as it went up, and kept on grinning until it became so slippery the sprites could hardly hold it. Up they flew until they came near reaching the stars. The joke they had in view was so good that the mirror grinned until it wriggled out of their hands and fell and fell and fell, until it struck the ground. It was broken into a million pieces and the wind scattered them everywhere, until you would have thought that was the end of the mirror.
But not so fast! Each tiny bit was now as bad as the whole mirror itself. Some bits were like dust and flew into people’s eyes. Then their eyes saw everything crooked, or looked evil at all the good things. They would say of such a one: “He has a bad eye, do not trust him.”
Some bits flew into people’s hearts and it made them shudder for their hearts became hard and cold like lumps of ice. They did not love anybody at all, not even their own children. Some bits flew into people’s minds, and then they thought evil thoughts and planned wicked things. They oppressed the poor and even had designs on the mayor and councilmen.
At all this the sprites laughed as if it were a good joke. But I tell you it was very wicked of them, for some bits of the mirror are floating about yet and we must look out not to have them come near us.
THE PIG AND THE SHEEP
Every one can do his part in making a home.
Listen now, and you shall hear a story about a pig and a sheep who started out one morning to build a house so that they could live together. After traveling a long way they met a rabbit. The rabbit asked them where they were going.