once upon a time there was a poor woman , who lived in a wretched hut far away from the village . she had but little to bite and less to burn , so she sent her little boy to the forest to gather wood . he skipped and leaped , and leaped and skipped , in order to keep warm , for it was a cold , gray autumn day , and whenever he had gathered a root or a branch to add to his bundle , he had to slap his arms against his shoulders , for the cold made his hands as red as the whortleberry bushes over which he walked . when he had filled his barrow , and was wandering homeward , he crossed a field of stubble . there he saw lying a jagged white stone . " o , you poor old stone , how white and pale you are ! you must be freezing terribly ! " said the boy ; took off his jacket , and laid it over the stone . and when he came back home with his wood , his mother asked him how it was that he was going around in the autumn cold in his shirt - sleeves . he told her that he had seen a jagged old stone , quite white and pale with the frost , and that he had given it his jacket . " you fool , " said the woman , " do you think a stone can freeze ? and even if it had chattered with frost , still , charity begins at home . your clothes cost enough as it is , even when you do n't hang them on the stones out in the field!"--and with that she drove the boy out again to fetch his jacket . when he came to the stone , the stone had turned around , and had raised itself from the ground on one side .
who did the woman send to gather wood ?
her little boy .
her little boy .