And Tom felt sad , and awed , and turned to look at something else . The next thing he saw , and that too puzzled him , was a washing - stand , with ewers and basins , and soap and brushes , and towels , and a large bath full of clean water -- what a heap of things all for washing ! `` She must be a very dirty lady , '' thought Tom , `` by my master 's rule , to want as much scrubbing as all that . But she must be very cunning to put the dirt out of the way so well afterwards , for I do n't see a speck about the room , not even on the very towels . '' And then , looking toward the bed , he saw that dirty lady , and held his breath with astonishment . Under the snow-white coverlet , upon the snow-white pillow , lay the most beautiful little girl that Tom had ever seen . Her cheeks were almost as white as the pillow , and her hair was like threads of gold spread all about over the bed . She might have been as old as Tom , or maybe a year or two older ; but Tom did not think of that . He thought only of her delicate skin and golden hair , and wondered whether she was a real live person , or one of the wax dolls he had seen in the shops . But when he saw her breathe , he made up his mind that she was alive , and stood staring at her , as if she had been an angel out of heaven . No . She can not be dirty . She never could have been dirty , thought Tom to himself . And then he thought , `` And are all people like that when they are washed ? '' And he looked at his own wrist , and tried to rub the soot off , and wondered whether it ever would come off . `` Certainly I should look much prettier then , if I grew at all like her . '' And looking round , he suddenly saw , standing close to him , a little ugly , black , ragged figure , with bleared eyes and grinning white teeth . He turned on it angrily . What did such a little black ape want in that sweet young lady 's room ? And behold , it was himself , reflected in a great mirror , the like of which Tom had never seen before .
And XXXXX , for the first time in his life , found out that he was dirty ; and burst into tears with shame and anger ; and turned to sneak up the chimney again and hide ; and upset the fender and threw the fire-irons down , with a noise as of ten thousand tin kettles tied to ten thousand mad dogs ' tails .
Tom basins bath ewers hair rule soot speck towels year