He sold his little box to a jeweller for a good price , bought a house and opened a workshop . Then he hung up a sign with , ` Labakan , Tailor , ' over his door , and sat down to mend his own torn clothes with the very needle which had been in the ivory box . After a while he was called away , and when he went back to his work he found a wonderful thing had happened ! The needle was sewing away all by itself and making the neatest little stitches , such as Labakan had never been able to make even at his best . Certainly even the smallest gift of a kind fairy is of great value , and this one had yet another advantage , for the thread never came to an end , however much the needle sewed . Labakan soon got plenty of customers . He used to cut out the clothes , make the first stitch with the magic needle , and then leave it to do the rest . Before long the whole town went to him , for his work was both so good and so cheap . The only puzzle was how he could do so much , working all alone , and also why he worked with closed doors . And so the promise on the ivory box of ` Wealth and Happiness ' came true for him , and when he heard of all the brave doings of Prince Omar , who was the pride and darling of his people and the terror of his enemies , the ex-prince thought to himself , ` After all , I am better off as a tailor , for `` Honour and Glory '' are apt to be very dangerous things . ' The Colony Of Cats Long , long ago , as far back as the time when animals spoke , there lived a community of cats in a deserted house they had taken possession of not far from a large town . They had everything they could possibly desire for their comfort , they were well fed and well lodged , and if by any chance an unlucky mouse was stupid enough to venture in their way , they caught it , not to eat it , but for the pure pleasure of catching it . The old people of the town related how they had heard their parents speak of a time when the whole country was so overrun with rats and mice that there was not so much as a grain of corn nor an ear of maize to be gathered in the fields ; and it might be out of gratitude to the cats who had rid the country of these plagues that their descendants were allowed to live in peace . No one knows where they got the money to pay for everything , nor who paid it , for all this happened so very long ago . But one thing is certain , they were rich enough to keep a servant ; for though they lived very happily together , and did not scratch nor fight more than human beings would have done , they were not clever enough to do the housework themselves , and preferred at all events to have some one to cook their meat , which they would have scorned to eat raw . Not only were they very difficult to please about the housework , but most women quickly tired of living alone with only cats for companions , consequently they never kept a servant long ; and it had become a saying in the town , when anyone found herself reduced to her last penny : ' I will go and live with the cats , ' and so many a poor woman actually did . Now Lizina was not happy at home , for her mother , who was a widow , was much fonder of her elder daughter ; so that often the younger one fared very badly , and had not enough to eat , while the elder could have everything she desired , and if Lizina dared to complain she was certain to have a good beating . At last the day came when she was at the end of her courage and patience , and exclaimed to her mother and sister : ` As you hate me so much you will be glad to be rid of me , so I am going to live with the cats ! ' ` Be off with you ! ' cried her mother , seizing an old broom-handle from behind the door .
Poor Lizina did not wait to be told twice , but ran off at once and never stopped till she reached the door XXXXX the cats ' house .
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