Theme: Good behavior; effort

All for a Better World

Once upon a time, in a distant village, a girl lived in a poor house with her parents. The family did not have many resources and the girl knew that, in order to improve her life, she needed to study. She wanted to know everything, to learn to do things. She wanted to prepare herself to have a profession and do good things with her work. That’s why she asked her parents to enroll her in school many times.

In the first days, the teacher realized how hardworking the girl was. She paid attention to class. She took care of her material. She was polite to people. She was always neat, clean and combed, although she had no beautiful clothes.

The teacher, watching the girl's good behavior, always praised her.

One day, the teacher thought:

- What a shame! She is so good, but her look is always ugly because of the clothes she wears. I'll give her a beautiful dress as a gift!

The girl looked beautiful in the blue dress she got from the teacher. And she felt so good about it that she started to dress up even more. She took a shower before going to school, brushed her hair carefully and tied a ribbon.

Seeing how beautiful her daughter looked in the new dress, her mother decided to save money to buy fabrics and make other beautiful clothes for her.

The girl started to walk with a pleasant appearance, besides being studious and polite, enchanting everyone who lived with her.

After a few weeks, the father, proud of his daughter, from whom he only received praise, said to his wife:

- Honey, our daughter deserves to live in a more beautiful house. In my spare time, I will paint the walls, fix the fence and plant flowers in the garden.

So, he did. After a while, the house was so beautiful that it was the most shinning house on the street.

The neighbors then followed the example of the girl's father. They started to tidy up their houses and, after a few months, the whole street was beautiful, with flower beds, shady trees and pretty houses.

Then, that street became the most pleasant in the neighborhood. The residents of other streets, upon seeing that, also wanted to take care of their homes. Little by little, the whole neighborhood was improved.

One day, a city hall representative passed by. In front of the beautiful houses, gardens and trees, he thought that such a good neighborhood deserved improvements.

Shortly afterwards, the work began. The streets were paved, the lighting improved, the garbage collection regularized and the square renovated.

The girl, who wanted to study and improve her life and her family’s, had no idea that she had started all that transformation.

None of the people in this story knew that when they did the best they could, they were influencing someone. But this is what happens when everyone strives to do good: the whole world gets better.

Text adapted from the story “O Vestido Azul”.

Translation:
Larissa Martine - larissa_am@hotmail.com

marcelapradacontato@gmail.com