What is the theme of the passage?
a) kindness is rewarded.
b) timing is everything.
c) time heals all wounds.
d) appearances are deceiving.

1once upon a time, a widowed man lived in a small kingdom and cared for his kind daughter, tam, by himself. eventually, the man remarried, but his new wife was cruel to tam. tam’s life worsened when a baby girl, cam, was born. tam’s father and stepmother showered cam with everything she desired, leaving tam to live a desolate, lonely life. she cleaned the house, cooked the food, hauled the trash, and collected the water.

2one day, tam’s stepmother sent her and cam to collect fish. though they were half sisters, tam and cam had contrasting personalities. tam fished continuously until her basket overflowed with fish, while cam lazily lounged in the sun. upon realizing that she had no fish to take home, cam decided to steal tam’s fish. when tam wasn’t looking, cam poured tam’s fish into her own basket, snickered, and fled home.

3tam wept when she saw the empty basket because she knew that punishment awaited her; however, she stopped crying abruptly when a beautiful woman appeared. the woman grinned sweetly and told tam not to weep.

4“your misfortunes will be over soon, tam. inside your basket, you will find one fish. take it home and care for it,” said the woman.

5tam put the fish in the well behind her house. each time tam neared the well, the fish surfaced, which made tam very happy. one day, because tam's stepmother despised tam’s happiness, she removed the fish from the well and returned it to the river. the next time tam visited the well, the fish did not surface. tam instantly knew what had occurred and wept. once again, the beautiful woman appeared. she instructed tam to visit the fish at the edge of the river whenever she needed .

6a few weeks later, the autumn festival began, and tam’s town erupted with activity. tam planned to attend the festival, but her stepmother wrote a list of many chores for her to complete. saddened, tam visited the water's edge and asked for . in a moment, the beautiful woman appeared before tam and instantly transformed tam's shabby clothes into a stunning blue and silver dress.

7tam raced to festival, where she earned praise as the most beautiful woman in attendance. tam shimmered like a star in the glowing gown, but having everyone's eyes on her made her self-conscious, and she ran away. in her haste, she lost a shoe on the staircase.

8 later, the prince discovered tam’s lost shoe. he had seen tam at the festival and hoped to marry her. he traveled the kingdom seeking the woman whose foot fit the shoe. when the prince arrived at tam’s house, she tried on the shoe and it fit! the prince was jubilant and asked tam to marry him. eventually, the prince became king, and tam became queen. though tam never took revenge on her family members, they lived in agony knowing that if they had been kinder, they could have lived with tam and the king.