TELL Me A StOrY

The Magic Stone

• Elizabeth Applebaum
AppleTree Editor

nce upon a time a long,
long time ago in a place
far, far from here there
lived a poor Jewish family. Their
house was small, covered with
vines, and often it was cold inside.
Meals consisted of potatoes, a
carrot or two, bread and eggs.
Only on Shabbat did the family
eat chicken, and even then there
was only enough for each person
to have one piece.
The family included the parents,
three boys and two girls. The old-
est girl was beautiful, with dark
hair and blue eyes; her name was
Miriam.
The younger girl also was beau-
tiful, with dark hair and dark eyes;
her name was Dena.
Miriam was a hard worker, but
she was selfish. She often found
work sewing for neighbors and
would keep most of the money
she earned for herself. Dena, on
the other hand, was generous.
When her father handed her her
piece of Shabbat chicken she
would pretend not to be hungry,
so that the meat could be given to
another.

One evening Miriam had just
returned from work when she saw
Dena sitting underneath the apple
tree in their front yard. She
thought: "My sister is so lazy;
what is the matter witlis her? She
just sits there and daydreams."
When Dena looked up, Miriam
called, "Haven't you got anything
better to do?"
"But I am doing something quite
important," Dena answered.
"What?" Miriam said indignant-
! ly.
I
"I am waiting for the lilacs to
I grow."
"What lilacs?"
"Why yesterday I found a coin
1 which I gave to a beggar in
town," Dena said. "In turn, he
gave me a red stone shaped like
a heart. He told me to plant it,
that it would grow lilacs."
Miriam could hardly contain her-
: self. "Lilacs? From a stone? How
silly can you be!"
But Dena ignored her sister,
and each day she continued to
return to the spot where she had
buried the heart stone. She gave
the stone a little water, and

made certain it had plenty of
sunshine.
One day it came to pass that a
bud began poking its head from
the earth. In no time at all it
began to bloom, its radiant purple
leaves becoming a cloud of splen-
dor. The air everywhere was thick
with scent — the sweet smell of
fresh lilacs.
Miriam was terribly jealous of
her sister's flower, which grew
taller than the family's house. She
decided to cut it down, then Jake
the petals and sell them in the vil-
lage. She was certain she would
be able to secure a great fortune
for her efforts.
That night, Miriam began her
terrible deed. Snip, snip, snip —
\–
the petals fell easily, like tears.
After an hour, Miriam had enough
petals to fill a large bag.
Miriam came to town and
stopped at the first shop. Inside,
she was quite surprised to see the
village rabbi. She felt his eyes
heavy upon her; the smell of lilacsn_2
was everywhere. Could he know
what she had done, Miriam won-
dered? ...

Editor's note: Here is a project that bolsters a child's imagination and creativity
— and it is a lot of fun. A parent or caregiver should read the following story,
which the child will then complete. Children also should be encouraged to
draw a picture illustrating how they have chosen to finish the story.

3/20

1998

60