Imagine a world where the kindest hearts received the most wonderful surprises. In such a world lived a little girl. Her parents had gone to heaven, and she was so poor she had no little room to live in, no little bed to sleep in, and nothing left except the clothes she was wearing and a small piece of bread in her hand that a kind soul had given her.

But she was good and sweet, and with her heart full of trust, she went out into the countryside.

Soon, she met a poor man who said, "Oh, please give me something to eat, I am so hungry!"
The little girl gave him her whole piece of bread. "May it do you good," she said, and walked on.

Next, she came across a child who was crying and said, "My head is so cold, I wish I had a hat!"
So, she took off her own little bonnet and gave it to the child.

And when she had walked a little further, she met another child who had no jacket and was shivering with cold. The little girl thought, "I can spare my jacket," and she took it off and gave it to the child.

She went on, and another child begged for a dress, so she gave her own dress away too.

Finally, she came to a forest, and it was already dark. Another child appeared and asked for her undershirt, as she had nothing else to keep warm. The good little girl thought, "It's a dark night, no one will see me, I can certainly give away my undershirt," and she took it off and gave it to the child.

And as she stood there, with nothing left at all, suddenly stars began to fall from the sky. But they weren't ordinary stars! They were hard, shiny silver coins. And even though she had given away her undershirt, a new one appeared, made of the finest, softest linen.

She spread out her new shirt and gathered all the silver star-coins into it. There were so many! She was rich now, and she had enough to be happy and comfortable for all her days. And all because she had a kind and generous heart.

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