There were six dolls to be taken up and dressed every morning , for Beth was a child still and loved her pets as well as ever . Not one whole or handsome one among them , all were outcasts till Beth took them in , for when her sisters outgrew these idols , they passed to her because Amy would have nothing old or ugly . Beth cherished them all the more tenderly for that very reason , and set up a hospital for infirm dolls . No pins were ever stuck into their cotton vitals , no harsh words or blows were ever given them , no neglect ever saddened the heart of the most repulsive , but all were fed and clothed , nursed and caressed with an affection which never failed . One forlorn fragment of dollanity had belonged to Jo and , having led a tempestuous life , was left a wreck in the rag bag , from which dreary poorhouse it was rescued by Beth and taken to her refuge . Having no top to its head , she tied on a neat little cap , and as both arms and legs were gone , she hid these deficiencies by folding it in a blanket and devoting her best bed to this chronic invalid . If anyone had known the care lavished on that dolly , I think it would have touched their hearts , even while they laughed . She brought it bits of bouquets , she read to it , took it out to breathe fresh air , hidden under her coat , she sang it lullabies and never went to bed without kissing its dirty face and whispering tenderly , `` I hope you 'll have a good night , my poor dear . '' Beth had her troubles as well as the others , and not being an angel but a very human little girl , she often ` wept a little weep ' as Jo said , because she could n't take music lessons and have a fine piano . She loved music so dearly , tried so hard to learn , and practiced away so patiently at the jingling old instrument , that it did seem as if someone -LRB- not to hint Aunt March -RRB- ought to help her . Nobody did , however , and nobody saw Beth wipe the tears off the yellow keys , that would n't keep in tune , when she was all alone . She sang like a little lark about her work , never was too tired for Marmee and the girls , and day after day said hopefully to herself , `` I know I 'll get my music some time , if I 'm good . '' There are many Beths in the world , shy and quiet , sitting in corners till needed , and living for others so cheerfully that no one sees the sacrifices till the little cricket on the hearth stops chirping , and the sweet , sunshiny presence vanishes , leaving silence and shadow behind . If anybody had asked Amy what the greatest trial of her life was , she would have answered at once , `` My nose . '' When she was a baby , Jo had accidently dropped her into the coal hod , and Amy insisted that the fall had ruined her nose forever . It was not big nor red , like poor ` Petrea 's ' , it was only rather flat , and all the pinching in the world could not give it an aristocratic point . No one minded it but herself , and it was doing its best to grow , but Amy felt deeply the want of a Grecian nose , and drew whole sheets of handsome ones to console herself . `` Little Raphael , '' as her sisters called her , had a decided talent for drawing , and was never so happy as when copying flowers , designing fairies , or illustrating stories with queer specimens of art . Her teachers complained that instead of doing her sums she covered her slate with animals , the blank pages of her atlas were used to copy maps on , and caricatures of the most ludicrous description came fluttering out of all her books at unlucky moments . She got through her lessons as well as she could , and managed to escape reprimands by being a model of deportment .
She was a great favorite with her mates , XXXXX good-tempered and possessing the happy art of pleasing without effort .
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