I and Mary were not; we always did as you bid us, didn't we?"
"Generally: but then, I did not spoil you; and you were not perfect angels after all: Mary had a fund of quiet obstinacy, and you were somewhat faulty in regard to temper; but you were very good children on the whole."
"I know I was sulky sometimes, and I should have been glad to see these children sulky sometimes too; for then I could have understood them; but they never were; for they could not be offended, nor hurt, nor ashamed: they could not be unhappy in any way, except when they were in a passion."
"Well, if they could not, it was not their fault; you cannot expect stone to be as pliable as clay."
"No, but still, it is very unpleasant to live with such unimpressible, incomprehensible creatures. You cannot love them, and if you could, your love would be utterly thrown away; they could neither return it, nor value, nor understand it.—But however, even if I should stumble on such a family again, which is quite unlikely, I have all this experience
