Bits & Pieces Index

The Seamstress

One day, when a seamstress was sewing while sitting close to a river, her thimble fell into the river. When she cried out, the spirit of the river appeared andasked, "My dear child, why are you crying?"

The seamstress replied that her thimble had fallen into the water and she needed it to help support herfamily.

The spirit of the river reached into the water and pulled up a golden thimble set with pearls.

"Is this your thimble?".

The seamstress replied, "No."

The spirit again reached into the river. He held out a silver thimble ringed with sapphires.

"Is this your thimble?".

Again, the seamstress replied, "No."

The spirit reached down again and came up with a leather thimble. "Is this your thimble?".

The seamstress replied, "Yes."

The spirit of the river was pleased with the woman's honesty and gave her all three thimbles to keep, and the seamstress went home happy.

Some years later, the seamstress was walking with her husband along the riverbank, and her husband fell into the river and disappeared under thewater. When she cried out, the spirit of the river again appeared and asked her, "Why areyou crying?"

"Oh spirit, my husband has fallen into the river!"

The spirit reached down into the water and came up with George Clooney.

"Is this your husband?".

"Yes," cried the seamstress.

The spirit was furious. "You lied! That is not true!"

The seamstress replied, "Oh, please forgive me. You see, I was afraid that if I said 'no' to George Clooney, you would have come up with Brad Pitt. Then if I said 'no' to him, you would have come up with my husband. Had I then said 'yes,' you would have given me all three. Now,I'm not in the best of health and would not be able to take care of allthree husbands, so THAT'S why I said 'yes' to George Clooney.

And so the spirit let her keep him.

The moral of this story is: Whenever a woman lies, it's for a good and honourable reason, and in the best interest of others.

Author unknown. Modified by me