Then the little girl said:
“Next time you tell me a story I should like it to be happy all through. Happy, you know, from beginning to end.”
The little Marionette thought a few moments, then shook her head.
“I can’t remember such a story,” she said. “I think there must be very few.”
“I am sorry for that,” answered the little girl, disappointed. “I wanted very much to hear one.”
“We must take things as they are,” said the little lady cheerfully. “If I don’t know many stories that are happy all the way through, I know plenty that are so at the beginning, or the middle, or the end; or even more than that.”
“Which do you like best?” said the little girl.
“Oh, stories with a happy ending! You can forget that the beginning or middle has been sad, and you can go away smiling.”
“Then tell me to-morrow a story that ends happily.”