"For eating all the cakes. I think it's very wrong of them not to give you any."
"Not at all; they're rich!... I say, isn't it beautiful over there?"
"It's just the same here, only you can't see...."
"Yes, I can," said Tyltyl. "I have very good eyes. I can see the time on the church clock; and Daddy can't!"
The Fairy suddenly grew angry:
"I tell you that you can't see!" she said.
And she grew angrier and angrier. As though it mattered about seeing the time on the church clock!
Of course, the little boy was not blind; but, as he was kind-hearted and deserved to be happy, she wanted to teach him to see what is good and beautiful in all things. It was not an easy task, for she well knew that most people live and die without enjoying the happiness that lies all around them. Still, as she was a fairy, she was all-powerful; and so she decided to give him a little hat adorned with a magic diamond that would possess the extraordinary property of always showing him the truth, which would help him to see the inside of Things and thus teach him that each of them has a life and an existence of its own, created to match and gladden ours.
The Fairy took the little hat from a great bag hanging by her side. It was green and had a white cockade, with the big diamond shining in the middle of it. Tyltyl was beside himself with delight. The Fairy explained to him how the diamond worked. By pressing the top, you saw the soul of Things; if you gave it a little turn to the right, you discovered the Past; and, when you turned it to the left, you beheld the Future.
Tyltyl beamed all over his face and danced for joy; and then he at once became afraid of losing the little hat: