I.
Once upon a time, a mother loved her little boy so well that she made the mistake of offending one of his good fairies. This was the fairy of carefulness.
The mother made the mistake of trying to do everything for her little son. She even put his toys away when he was tired of playing.
After the boy grew older and went to school, she did many of his lessons for him. His daily marks in arithmetic were good, for much of his work was done by his mother at home. Of course his teacher did not know this for the boy copied his mother’s work.
Now, just as you would expect, this made the boy very careless. But he was really a bright boy, and even though he did not do well, he managed to pass his examinations.
“If you would only be more careful,” his teachers would say, “you would have the highest marks.”
When his mother saw his reports, she would say: “Oh, isn’t this too bad, son; I know you will have better marks next time.”
So, when the boy became a man he did everything in the same careless manner, forgetting that other people would not excuse him as his mother had done.
Now the good fairy of carefulness was very much offended at the way in which the mother spoiled her little son. So she said to herself, “I must, I must teach that boy a lesson!”
