"Oh, yes!... At once!... Show them to us!..."

"I haven't them in my pocket," said the Fairy. "But this is very
lucky; you will see them when you go through the Land of Memory. It's
on the way to the Blue Bird, just on the left, past the third
turning.... What were you doing when I knocked?"

"We were playing at eating cakes," said Tyltyl.

"Have you any cakes?... Where are they?..."

"In the house of the rich children.... Come and look, it's so lovely!"

And Tyltyl dragged the Fairy to the window.

"But it's the others who are eating them!" said she.

"Yes, but we can see them eat," said Tyltyl.

"Aren't you cross with them?"

"What for?"

"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:

"Daddy will take it from me!" he cried.

"No," said the Fairy, "for no one can see it as long as