"Tell me, little mamma: then it was not true that you were dead?"
"It seems not," said the Fairy, smiling.
"If you only knew the sorrow I felt and the tightening of my throat when I read, 'Here lies—'"
"I know it, and it is on that account that I have forgiven you. I saw from the sincerity of your grief that you had a good heart; and when boys have good hearts, even if they are scamps and have got bad habits, there is always something to hope for; that is, there is always hope that they will turn to better ways. That is why I came to look for you here. I will be your mamma."
"Oh, how delightful!" shouted Pinocchio, jumping for joy.
"You must obey me and do everything that I bid you."
"Willingly, willingly, willingly!"
"Tomorrow," rejoined the Fairy, "you will begin to go to school."
Pinocchio became at once a little less joyful.
"Then you must choose an art, or a trade, according to your own wishes."