Most unfortunately, in the lives of puppets there is always a 'but' that spoils everything.

Woe to those who lead idle lives. Idleness is a dreadful illness and must be cured in childhood. If it is not cured then, it can never be cured.

Today at school I will learn to read at once; then tomorrow I will begin to write, and the day after tomorrow to cipher. Then with my acquirements I will earn a great deal of money, and with the first money I have in my pocket I will immediately buy for my papa a beautiful new cloth coat. But what am I saying? Cloth, indeed! It shall be all made of gold and silver, and it shall have diamond buttons. That poor man really deserves it; for to buy me books and to have me taught he has remained in his shirt sleeves... And in this cold! It is only fathers who are capable of such sacrifices!

When poverty shows itself, even mischievous boys understand what it means.

Woe to the lazy man! Laziness is an evil disease which you must not let seize you in childhood, for when you grow up it cannot be cured. Chapter 25

Most unfortunately, in the lives of puppets there is always a 'but' that spoils everything.

Would it be possible to find a more ungrateful boy, or one with less heart than I have!