Once upon a time, there was a little girl whose father and mother had died. She was so poor that she no longer had a room to live in, nor a bed to sleep in. Finally, she had nothing left but the clothes she was wearing and a little piece of bread in her hand that some charitable soul had given her. Yet, she was good and pious. Forsaken by all the world, she went forth into the countryside, trusting in dear God.

Then a poor man met her, who said, "Ah, give me something to eat, I am so hungry."

She handed him her entire piece of bread, saying, "May God bless it for you," and went on her way.

Then a child came who moaned and said, "My head is so cold. Give me something to cover it with." So she took off her cap and gave it to the child. When she had walked a little farther, she met another child who had no jacket and was freezing. She gave her jacket to that child, and a little farther on, another begged for a dress, which she also gave away. At length, she made her way into a forest, and it was already dark. Then yet another child came and asked for a shift, and the pious girl thought to herself, "It is a dark night and no one can see you. You can very well give your shift away," and she took it off and gave it away as well.

And thus she stood there, with nothing left at all, when suddenly some stars fell down from heaven. They were nothing but hard, shining talers. Although she had just given her shift away, she was now wearing a new one made of the very finest linen. Then she gathered the money into her new shift, and was rich all the days of her life.