Once upon a time, two woodcutters were going home after their day's work. They were tired and very, very cold, for it was winter and the snow lay deep on the ground.

As they came out of the wood into the open, the sky was black overhead. Suddenly they saw a flash like lightning.

"Make a wish!" said one woodcutter. "That's a falling star—it brings good luck!"

"It fell into that bush over there," said the other. "Maybe there is a pot of gold where it landed. The first to find it can have it!"

They both ran to the bush and looked about. There, lying on the white snow, they saw something that shone like gold. The first man to get there called out, "It's a white coat with gold stars all over it." He opened it to see what was inside, and there, fast asleep, was a baby boy. The man was disappointed, for he had been hoping to find a lot of money and be rich.

"I don't want any more children," he said. "As it is, we never have enough to eat. Let's leave this child here."

"We can't do that, it will die of cold," said the other man. He took it up in his arms, and carried it home. His wife opened the door, glad to see him again. When she saw that he had something in his arms, she asked, "What's that?"

"I found it in the forest," he said, showing her the sleeping child.

"Take it away!" she cried. "We have our own children. How can we feed another one?"

"This is a star-child," he replied, and told her how he had found it.

"Take it away!" she said again. "We can't keep it here."

The woodcutter knew that his wife had a kind heart, and that she only said "No" because they were so poor. So he waited. She turned her back on him and went over to the fire. The freezing wind blew through the open door, and she thought, "How can I sent that child away on such a cold night?" Aloud she said, "Close the door."

Her husband came in and placed the sleeping child in her arms. There were tears in her eyes as she gave it a kiss, then she put it in a cot next to her own baby.

Next morning they put the cloak with the stars on it in a box. There was also a gold chain round the star-child's neck, and they put that in the box too.

"We could sell these things to buy food," said the wife.

"They aren't ours," replied the woodcutter. "Maybe one day someone will come looking for the child, and then we can give them back."

So the star-child lived with the woodcutter and his wife just as if he were one of their own children. But the others all had black hair and black eyes, and his eyes were blue, his hair golden, and his skin as white as milk. He was very beautiful to look at, but he was not beautiful in his ways. He was always boasting to the woodcutter's children that his father and mother were a king and queen and that they lived on a star, not in a poor hut. He never helped anyone, and he always asked for the best of everything. He was very vain, too. Often he would lie by the well in the garden and look at his reflection in the water. Then he would smile and say, "How good looking I am!"

He was very unkind to the birds and other animals, as well. He threw stones at them, and laughed if he hit them. He really was a horrid little boy!

One day, a poor woman who was dressed in rags came to their village. She was so tired that she sat down under a tree to rest her feet.

"Let us drive her away, she is ugly and dirty," said the star-child, and he threw stones at her.

"STOP!" cried the woodcutter when he saw what the boy was doing. "She has not done you any harm."

"Don't talk to me like that!" shouted the star-child. "You can't stop me. I shall do it if I like. You aren't my father."

"No. But when I found you in the forest I brought you back here, and my wife and I have looked after you as if you were our own child."

The beggar-woman jumped up when she heard these words. "Did you say you found him in the forest?" she asked. "How long ago?"

"Ten years to this very day," replied the woodcutter.

"Did he have a gold chain round his neck? And was he wrapped in a white cloak with gold stars on it?"

"Yes," answered the woodcutter. "We put them in a box to keep them safe. Come in and see."

When the beggar-woman saw what was in the box, she cried, "This boy must be my son! Some bad men took him from me ten years ago, in the forest. I have been searching for him ever since. At last I have found him!"

The woodcutter's wife called to the star-child, "Come at once! You mother is here!"

Joyfully the boy ran in. But when he saw the beggar-woman in her poor clothes, he shouted rudely, "That's not my mother! She's just an ugly beggar. Send her away!"

The poor woman held out her arms and cried, "You are my long lost son. Please come and give me a kiss."

"I would rather kiss a snake!" yelled the boy. "Get out of my way!" And he pushed her from him.

She went sadly back into the forest. The star-child went out to play with the other children. But they ran away from him saying, "Who are you? We don't know you! How ugly you are! Go away!"

"Why do they say that?" said the star-child to himself. "I know that I am beautiful." And he went to the well in the garden to take a look. What he saw gave him a fright! His beautiful face was now ugly like a toad's and his white skin looked like a fish's scales.

"Who has done this to me?" he cried. "It must be because I was unkind to that woman who said she was my mother. I must find her and tell her I'm sorry."

Away he went to the forest calling, "Mother! Mother!" as he ran. He asked the birds to help him to find her, but they said, "You used to throw stones at us. We don't like you!" and they flew away from him. So he went on looking till night came, then he lay down on a bed of leaves and fell asleep.

Next day he set off again, asking all the animals he met if they had seen his mother. The mole said, "How can I see? You put out my eyes for fun."

So next he asked a little bird, "Will you please fly up high to look? You will be able to see a long way then."

But the little bird answered, "You cut off my wing feathers, and I cannot fly far now."

And the squirrel said, "You killed my mother so why should I help you find yours?"

Beyond the forest he came to a village. Here all the children made fun of him and threw stones at him because he was so ugly. But he did not stop looking. On and on he went, from place to place, always asking for his mother, but no one could tell him where she was. Three long years went by in this way.

One night he came to a city with a high wall all round it. There were two soldiers at the gate, and they stopped him from going in. "What do you want?" they asked.

"I am looking for my mother," he told them.

They laughed at him, and one said, "I should think she was glad you are lost, you are so ugly. Be off with you! No one wants you here!"

Sadly he turned to go away, but an old man standing nearby said, "I will give you a bottle of wine for him. He can work for me."

"Done!" replied the soldiers.

The old man, who was really a magician, led the star-child through narrow city streets till they came to a little door in a wall. The magician took the boy inside and pushed him into a damp, dark cellar. He gave him a bit of bread to eat and some water to drink. Then he locked the door and went away, leaving the star-child all alone.

In the morning the magician came to him and said, "Hidden in a wood near this city, there are three pieces of gold. One is white gold, one is yellow gold and the third is red. You must go and find the white gold and bring it here to me. If you don't, I shall beat you a hundred times with this stick. Come!"

He opened the door and let the star-child out. "Be back here at sunset," he warned, "Now go!"

The star-child found the wood, for it was not far away, and began to look for the white gold. He looked everywhere, but he could not find any. The hours went by, and at last he saw that the sun was setting in the west. He would have to go back to the magician without the gold, and he knew that he would get a beating.

Just as he was leaving the wood, he heard a cry of pain. Even though it would make him late and the magician would be even more angry, he went back to see if he would help. He found a hare caught in a trap. "You poor thing," he said, opening the trap. "I will soon set you free."

"Thank you," said the hare. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm looking for some white gold," said the boy, "but I can't find any. If I don't take some to my master, he will beat me."

"Come with me," said the hare. "I know where there is some." He took the star-child to a tree where the gold was hidden in a crack in the bard. Thanking the hare, the star-child ran back to the city with the gold. At the gate he saw a poor beggar-man who cried, "Please give me some money to buy bread, or I shall die."

"I only have one piece, and I must take it to my master," said the boy.

"I have had no food for days. Please!" begged the poor man.

So the star-child gave him the white gold, and went back to his master with nothing. The magician was very angry. He took the boy back to the cellar and beat him, then left him to cry himself to sleep.

Next morning the magician came and told him, "Today you must find the yellow gold and bring it to me by sunset. If not, I will whip you three hundred times."

Again the boy hunted all day for the gold, but could not find it. When he saw the sun beginning to set, he sat down and cried. He was afraid to go back with empty hands.

"Why are you crying?" said a voice. It was the hare whom he had set free the day before.

"I have looked all day for some yellow gold for my master, but I can't find any."

"Follow me," said the hare, and he took the boy to a little pool. There, at the bottom of the water, shone the yellow gold. Thankfully the boy ran back with it to the city. As he ran, he saw the beggar-man limping along.

"Help! Help!" he called when he saw the star-child. "They have driven me out of the city and I have nowhere to go. I shall die of cold tonight. Please give me some money to pay for a bed."

"I only have one piece," said the boy, "and I must take it to my master or he will whip me."

But the man kept on begging, and in the end the boy gave him the piece of yellow gold. When the magician saw that he had nothing, he beat him harder and longer than the night before, and left him in the cellar with no food.

On the third morning, the magician told him, "Today you must bring me the red gold. If you don't, I shall kill you."

All day the star-child searched for red gold in the wood, but found nothing. When evening came, he sat down and cried. Soon the hare came along again, and told him to look in a little cave just behind him. There in a corner he found some red gold, and joyfully he set off with it. But he had only gone a little way when he saw the beggar once more. When the star-child saw how ill he looked, he was so sorry for him that he gave him the red gold too.

"Now it will be the end of me," he said, slowly making his way back to the city. When he came to the gate, the two soldiers who guarded it stepped forward and bowed, calling him, "My Lord."

He thought they were making fun of him, but as he went on through the streets, many people came crowding round him, saying to one another, "How beautiful he is!"

They would not go away, and there were so many of them that he could not find the door to the magician's house. Instead he saw a palace gate in front of him. Some men came out to meet him, saying, "We have been waiting for you, O beautiful prince."

"I am the son of a beggar-woman," he told them. "And I know that I am ugly. Why do you call me beautiful?"

Then one man held up his shining shield and said, "Look in this."

And the star-child saw that his face had once more become as beautiful as when he used to see it in the water of the well.

"You must be our king," the people said. "A wise man told us our king would come today."

"No, I must go. I am looking for my mother," he told them. "She is not a queen, she is only a poor beggar-woman." And he turned to go back towards the city gate.

And there, coming towards him, was the beggar-woman who had said she was his mother. With her was the beggar-man to whom he had given the three pieces of gold. With a cry of joy, he ran towards them. He knelt down at the beggar-woman's feet crying, "Mother, forgive me!"

As he knelt there, both the beggar-man and the beggar-woman placed their hands on his head, and said the one word, "Rise!"

He stood up, and when he looked at them, he saw that they were no longer beggars, but a king and queen, each wearing a gold crown.

"This is you mother," said the king.

"And this is your father," said the queen.

Then they both put their arms around him and kissed him. After that, they took him into the palace. They gave him beautiful clothes and placed a gold crown on his head because they said he was to be the king of that city.

The very next day, he sent rich gifts to the woodcutter and his wife and children. As for the bad magician, he sent him far away. And thereafter, as long as the star-child lived, no one in that city was ever poor or hungry, and they were all happy together.