Long ago, there lived a lonely lady. She was called Lydia. Lydia's husband had died, and she was alone. She had to make a living for herself. What could Lydia do? She could make special cloth. Her cloth was very fine. The cloth was a deep purple color. Purple was the color of royalty! Royal families loved purple. Lydia sold her purple cloth. It helped Lydia live in a lovely home.
Purple dye was hard to make. How did this lady do it? First, she collected a special kind of shellfish. Then she called people to help.
"We will leave the shells here," she said. The shells were lying on the floor. "Let's crush them into little pieces!"
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