The Great Bear (Tolstoy)
Division into chapters is editorial.
The drought and the magical pitcher
In ancient times, a terrible drought devastated the earth.
A long, long time ago there was a big drought on the earth. All the rivers dried up and the streams and wells, and the trees withered and the bushes and grass, and men and beasts died of thirst.
During this catastrophic time, a little girl ventured out into the night to search for water for her sick mother.
She searched everywhere but found nothing. Exhausted from her fruitless quest, she lay down on the grass and fell asleep. When she awoke, she discovered something miraculous had happened.
When she awoke and took up the pitcher she nearly upset the water it contained. The pitcher was full of clear, fresh water. The little girl was glad and was about to put it to her lips, but she remembered her mother.
Despite her own desperate thirst, the girl immediately thought of her sick mother and began running home as fast as she could. In her haste, she stumbled over a small dog lying in her path and dropped the pitcher. The dog whined pitifully from thirst and suffering.
Fearing she had spilled the precious water, the girl quickly seized the pitcher. To her amazement, it stood upright and the water remained intact. Moved by compassion for the suffering animal, she poured a little water into her palm and let the dog drink. The grateful creature lapped up the water and was comforted. When the girl picked up the pitcher again, she discovered it had transformed from common wood to gleaming silver.
Acts of kindness and the creation of the Great Bear
The little girl hurried home and presented the silver pitcher to her mother.
Her mother, despite being gravely ill and dying of thirst, showed the same selfless love as her daughter. She refused to drink the water, insisting that her child should have it instead. At the moment the mother handed the pitcher back to her daughter, another miraculous transformation occurred - the silver pitcher turned to pure gold. The little girl, overwhelmed by thirst and no longer able to contain herself, was about to drink when an unexpected visitor arrived.
A stranger entered their home and begged for a drink.
Faced with this final test of compassion, the little girl made the ultimate sacrifice. Though she was desperately thirsty and had endured so much to obtain the water, she swallowed her saliva and gave the golden pitcher to the stranger. This final act of selfless kindness triggered the most wondrous transformation of all.
The little girl swallowed her saliva and gave the pitcher to him. And suddenly seven large diamonds sprang out of the pitcher and a stream of clear, fresh water flowed from it.
The miraculous pitcher now provided an endless supply of fresh, clear water for all who needed it. But the magic did not end there. The seven brilliant diamonds that had emerged from the pitcher began to rise into the air, ascending higher and higher until they reached the heavens themselves. There, they took their eternal place in the night sky, forming the constellation known as the Great Bear, serving as a permanent reminder of the little girl's compassion and the power of selfless love to create miracles that benefit all of humanity.
And the seven diamonds began to rise, and they rose higher and higher till they reached the sky and became the Great Bear.
Through her journey from desperation to miracle, the little girl had demonstrated that acts of kindness and selflessness, even in the face of extreme hardship, possess the power to transform not only objects but the very fabric of the world itself. Her compassion for her mother, the suffering dog, and the unknown stranger had created both an endless source of life-giving water and a celestial monument to human goodness that would shine forever in the night sky.