At first the kind little woman began by saying that she was not the little Fairy with Blue Hair: but then, seeing that she had been found out and not wanting to drag out the play-acting any longer, she ended by letting herself be recognized, and said to Pinocchio:
“You rascal of a puppet! However did you notice it was me?”
“It was the great love I have for you that told me.”
“You remember, eh? You left me a little girl, and now you find me a woman; so much a woman that I could almost be your mother.”
“And I'm very glad of it, because now, instead of little sister, I'll call you my mother. For such a long time I've been longing to have a mother like all the other boys!… But how did you manage to grow up so quickly?”
“That's a secret.”
“Teach it to me: I'd like to grow a little too. Can't you see? I've always stayed no taller than a penny's worth of cheese.”
“But you can't grow,” replied the Fairy.
“Why not?”
“Because puppets never grow. They are born puppets, they live as puppets and they die puppets.”
“Oh! I'm sick and tired of always being a puppet!” cried Pinocchio, giving himself a smack on the head. “It's high time I became a man too…”
“And you will become one, if you know how to deserve it…”
“Really? And what can I do to deserve it?”
“Something very easy: get into the habit of being a good little boy.”
“Why, aren't I one already?”
“Far from it! Good boys are obedient, and you, on the other hand…”
“And I never obey.”
“Good boys grow fond of study and of work, and you…”
“And I, on the other hand, loaf about and play truant all year round.”
“Good boys always tell the truth…”
“And I always tell lies.”
“Good boys are glad to go to school…”
“And school gives me a stomach-ache. But from today on I want to change my ways.”
“Do you promise me?”
“I promise. I want to become a good little boy, and I want to be a comfort to my father… Where can my poor father be at this moment?”
“I don't know.”
“Will I ever have the luck to see him again and hug him?”
“I think so: in fact, I'm sure of it.”
At this answer Pinocchio was so overjoyed that he took the Fairy's hands and began kissing them so eagerly that he seemed almost beside himself. Then, raising his face and looking at her lovingly, he asked her:
“Tell me, Mummy: so it isn't true that you're dead?”
“It seems not,” answered the Fairy, smiling.
“If you only knew what grief I felt, and what a lump in my throat, when I read ‘Here lies’…”
“I know: and that is why I have forgiven you. The sincerity of your grief showed me that you had a good heart: and from boys with good hearts, even if they are a bit naughty and badly brought up, there is always something to hope for: that is, there is always hope that they will come back to the right path. That is why I came all the way here to look for you. I will be your mother…”
“Oh, how wonderful!” cried Pinocchio, jumping for joy.
“You will obey me and always do what I tell you.”
“Gladly, gladly, gladly!”
“Starting tomorrow,” added the Fairy, “you will begin by going to school.”
Pinocchio at once became a little less cheerful.
“Then you will choose, as you please, a trade or a craft…”
Pinocchio turned serious.
“What are you grumbling about under your breath?” asked the Fairy in a resentful tone.
“I was saying…” whimpered the puppet in a low voice, “that it seems to me it's a bit late now to go to school…”
“No, sir. Bear in mind that it is never too late to educate yourself and to learn.”
“But I don't want to take up either a craft or a trade…”
“Why not?”
“Because working seems like hard work to me.”
“My boy,” said the Fairy, “those who talk like that almost always end up either in prison or in hospital. Let me tell you, a man, whether he is born rich or poor, is bound in this world to do something, to keep busy, to work. Woe betide anyone who lets idleness get hold of him! Idleness is a very nasty illness, and it must be cured at once, from childhood; otherwise, when we are grown up, it can never be cured.”
These words touched Pinocchio's heart, and raising his head eagerly, he said to the Fairy:
“I'll study, I'll work, I'll do everything you tell me, because, to tell the truth, I'm fed up with a puppet's life, and I want to become a boy at all costs. You promised me, didn't you?”
“I promised you, and now it depends on you.”