"
_Boy:_ "Have you got a temper, too?"
_Mother (smiling and nodding):_ "Of course I have--as bad as yours--or
worse."
_Boy (delighted):_ "Really?"
_Mother:_ "But it's something we all have to learn to control. Because
if we can't control it, it's sure to make us do things that we're
ashamed of afterwards--things that are unkind and unfair to others.
Aren't you just a little bit ashamed of what you did to Delia?"
_Boy (meeting her eye with smile of enquiry--then looking away and
thinking, with feeling):_ "No--I'm not!"
_Mother (petting his hand):_ "Well--I suppose you're still thinking
about the bird--and there's still a little of that old temper left. But
wait awhile and think it over. And--I'm going to tell you something that
_I_ think would be awfully nice. Sometime, if you did happen to feel
like it and went to Delia of your own accord and explained to her how
you lost your temper and were sorry for calling her that awful
name----?"
_Boy (looking away, thinking, then turning to her, hesitating and
shaking his head):_ "I couldn't mummy, please,--I couldn't--not now----"
_Mother:_ "I'm sure she'd appreciate it, a lot.
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