"Tomorrow my father will be a rich man, for these four gold pieces willbecome two thousand."
"Don't listen to those who promise you wealth overnight, my boy. As arule they are either fools or swindlers! Listen to me and go home."
"But I want to go on!"
"The hour is late!"
"I want to go on."
"The night is very dark."
"I want to go on."
"The road is dangerous."
"I want to go on."
"Remember that boys who insist on having their own way, sooner or latercome to grief."
"The same nonsense. Good-by, Cricket."
"Good night, Pinocchio, and may Heaven preserve you from the Assassins."
There was silence for a minute and the light of the Talking Cricketdisappeared suddenly, just as if someone had snuffed it out. Once againthe road was plunged in darkness.
CHAPTER 14
Pinocchio, not having listened to the good advice of the TalkingCricket, falls into the hands of the Assassins.
"Dear, oh, dear! When I come to think of it," said the Marionette tohimself, as he once more set out on his journey, "we boys are reallyvery unlucky. Everybody scolds us, everybody gives us advice, everybodywarns us. If we were to allow it, everyone would try to be father andmother to us; everyone, even the Talking Cricket. Take me, for example.Just because I would not listen to that bothersome Cricket, who knowshow many misfortunes may be awaiting me! Assassins indeed! At least Ihave never believed in them, nor ever will. To speak sensibly, I thinkassassins have been invented by fathers and mothers to frighten childrenwho want to run away at night. And then, even if I were to meet themon the road, what matter? I'll just run up to them, and say, 'Well,signori, what do you want? Remember that you can't fool with me! Runalong and mind your business.' At such a speech, I can almost see thosepoor fellows running like the wind. But in case they don't run away, Ican always run myself. . ."
Pinocchio was not given time to argue any longer, for he thought heheard a slight rustle among the leaves behind him.
He turned to look and behold, there in the darkness stood two big blackshadows, wrapped from head to foot in black sacks. The two figuresleaped toward him as softly as if they were ghosts.
"Here they come!" Pinocchio said to himself, and, not knowing where tohide the gold pieces, he stuck all four of them under his tongue.
He tried to run away, but hardly had he taken a step, when he felt hisarms grasped and heard two horrible, deep voices say to him: "Your moneyor your life!"
On account of the gold pieces in his mouth, Pinocchio could not saya word, so he tried with head and hands and body to show, as best hecould, that he was only a poor Marionette without a penny in his pocket.
"Come, come, less nonsense, and out with your money!" cried the twothieves in threatening voices.
Once more, Pinocchio's head and hands said, "I haven't a penny."
"Out with that money or you're a dead man," said the taller of the twoAssassins.
"Dead man," repeated the other.
"And after having killed you, we will kill your father also."
"Your father also!"
"No, no, no, not my Father!" cried Pinocchio, wild with terror; but ashe screamed, the gold pieces tinkled together in his mouth.
"Ah, you rascal! So that's the game! You have the money hidden underyour tongue. Out with it!"
But Pinocchio was as stubborn as ever.
"Are you deaf? Wait, young man, we'll get it from you in a twinkling!"
One of them grabbed the Marionette by the nose and the other by thechin, and they pulled him unmercifully from side to side in order tomake him open his mouth.
All was of no use. The Marionette's lips might have been nailedtogether. They would not open.
In desperation the smaller of the two Assassins pulled out a long knifefrom his pocket, and tried to pry Pinocchio's mouth open with it.
Quick as a flash, the Marionette sank his teeth deep into the Assassin'shand, bit it off and spat it out. Fancy his surprise when he saw that itwas not a hand, but a cat's paw.
Encouraged by this first victory, he freed himself from the claws ofhis assailers and, leaping over the bushes along the road, ran swiftlyacross the fields. His pursuers were after him at once, like two dogschasing a hare.
After running seven miles or so, Pinocchio was well-nigh exhausted.Seeing himself lost, he climbed up a giant pine tree and sat thereto see what he could see. The Assassins tried to climb also, but theyslipped and fell.
Far from giving up the chase, this only spurred them on. They gathered abundle of wood, piled it up at the foot of the pine, and set fire to it.In a twinkling the tree began to sputter and burn like a candle blown bythe wind. Pinocchio saw the flames climb higher and higher. Not wishingto end his days as a roasted Marionette, he jumped quickly to the groundand off he went, the Assassins close to him, as before.
Dawn was breaking when, without any warning whatsoever, Pinocchio foundhis path barred by a deep pool full of water the color of muddy coffee.
What was there to do? With a "One, two, three!" he jumped clear acrossit. The Assassins jumped also, but not having measured their distancewell--splash!!!--they fell right into the middle of the pool. Pinocchiowho heard the splash and felt it, too, cried out, laughing, but neverstopping in his race:
"A pleasant bath to you, signori!"
He thought they must surely be drowned and turned his head to see. Butthere were the two somber figures still following him, though theirblack sacks were drenched and dripping with water.
CHAPTER 15
The Assassins chase Pinocchio, catch him, and hang him to the branch ofa giant oak tree.
As he ran, the Marionette felt more and more certain that he would haveto give himself up into the hands of his pursuers. Suddenly he saw alittle cottage gleaming white as the snow among the trees of the forest.
"If I have enough breath left with which to reach that little house, Imay be saved," he said to himself.
Not waiting another moment, he darted swiftly through the woods, theAssassins still after him.
After a hard race of almost an hour, tired and out of breath, Pinocchiofinally reached the door of the cottage and knocked. No one answered.
He knocked again, harder than before, for behind him he heard the stepsand the labored breathing of his persecutors. The same silence followed.
As knocking was of no use, Pinocchio, in despair, began to kick and bangagainst the door, as if he wanted to break it. At the noise, a windowopened and a lovely maiden looked out. She had azure hair and a facewhite as wax. Her eyes were closed and her hands crossed on her breast.With a voice so weak that it hardly could be heard, she whispered:
"No one lives in this house. Everyone is dead."
"Won't you, at least, open the door for me?" cried Pinocchio in abeseeching voice.
"I also am dead."
"Dead? What are you doing at the window, then?"
"I am waiting for the coffin to take me away."
After these words, the little girl disappeared and the window closedwithout a sound.
"Oh, Lovely Maiden with Azure Hair," cried Pinocchio, "open, I beg ofyou. Take pity on a poor boy who is being chased by two Assass--"
He did not finish, for two powerful hands grasped him by the neck andthe same two horrible voices growled threateningly: "Now we have you!"
The Marionette, seeing death dancing before him, trembled so hard thatthe joints of his legs rattled and the coins tinkled under his tongue.
"Well," the Assassins asked, "will you open your mouth now or not? Ah!You do not answer? Very well, this time you shall open it."
Taking out two long, sharp knives, they struck two heavy blows on theMarionette's back.
Happily for him, Pinocchio was made of very hard wood and the knivesbroke into a thousand pieces. The Assassins looked at each other indismay, holding the handles of the knives in their hands.
"I understand," said one of them t
o the other, "there is nothing left todo now but to hang him."
"To hang him," repeated the other.
They tied Pinocchio's hands behind his shoulders and slipped the noosearound his neck. Throwing the rope over the high limb of a giant oaktree, they pulled till the poor Marionette hung far up in space.
Satisfied with their work, they sat on the grass waiting for Pinocchioto give his last gasp. But after three hours the Marionette's eyes werestill open, his mouth still shut and his legs kicked harder than ever.
Tired of waiting, the Assassins called to him mockingly: "Good-by tilltomorrow. When we return in the morning, we hope you'll be polite enoughto let us find you dead and gone and with your mouth wide open." Withthese words they went.
A few minutes went by and then a wild wind started to blow. As itshrieked and moaned, the poor little sufferer was blown to and frolike the hammer of a bell. The rocking made him seasick and the noose,becoming tighter and tighter, choked him. Little by little a filmcovered his eyes.
Death was creeping nearer and nearer, and the Marionette still hopedfor some good soul to come to his rescue, but no one appeared. As he wasabout to die, he thought of his poor old father, and hardly conscious ofwhat he was saying, murmured to himself:
"Oh, Father, dear Father! If you were only here!"
These were his last words. He closed his eyes, opened his mouth,stretched out his legs, and hung there, as if he were dead.
CHAPTER 16
The Lovely Maiden with Azure Hair sends for the poor Marionette, putshim to bed, and calls three Doctors to tell her if Pinocchio is dead oralive.
If the poor Marionette had dangled there much longer, all hope wouldhave been lost. Luckily for him, the Lovely Maiden with Azure Hair onceagain looked out of her window. Filled with pity at the sight of thepoor little fellow being knocked helplessly about by the wind, sheclapped her hands sharply together three times.
At the signal, a loud whirr of wings in quick flight was heard and alarge Falcon came and settled itself on the window ledge.
"What do you command, my charming Fairy?" asked the Falcon, bending hisbeak in deep reverence (for it must be known that, after all, the LovelyMaiden with Azure Hair was none other than a very kind Fairy who hadlived, for more than a thousand years, in the vicinity of the forest).
"Do you see that Marionette hanging from the limb of that giant oaktree?"
"I see him."
"Very well. Fly immediately to him. With your strong beak, break theknot which holds him tied, take him down, and lay him softly on thegrass at the foot of the oak."
The Falcon flew away and after two minutes returned, saying, "I havedone what you have commanded."
"How did you find him? Alive or dead?"
"At first glance, I thought he was dead. But I found I was wrong, foras soon as I loosened the knot around his neck, he gave a long sigh andmumbled with a faint voice, 'Now I feel better!'"
The Fairy clapped her hands twice. A magnificent Poodle appeared,walking on his hind legs just like a man. He was dressed in courtlivery. A tricorn trimmed with gold lace was set at a rakish angle overa wig of white curls that dropped down to his waist. He wore a jauntycoat of chocolate-colored velvet, with diamond buttons, and with twohuge pockets which were always filled with bones, dropped thereat dinner by his loving mistress. Breeches of crimson velvet, silkstockings, and low, silver-buckled slippers completed his costume. Histail was encased in a blue silk covering, which was to protect it fromthe rain.
"Come, Medoro," said the Fairy to him. "Get my best coach ready and setout toward the forest. On reaching the oak tree, you will find a poor,half-dead Marionette stretched out on the grass. Lift him up tenderly,place him on the silken cushions of the coach, and bring him here tome."
The Poodle, to show that he understood, wagged his silk-covered tail twoor three times and set off at a quick pace.
In a few minutes, a lovely little coach, made of glass, with lining assoft as whipped cream and chocolate pudding, and stuffed with canaryfeathers, pulled out of the stable. It was drawn by one hundred pairsof white mice, and the Poodle sat on the coachman's seat and snapped hiswhip gayly in the air, as if he were a real coachman in a hurry to getto his destination.
In a quarter of an hour the coach was back. The Fairy, who was waitingat the door of the house, lifted the poor little Marionette in her arms,took him to a dainty room with mother-of-pearl walls, put him to bed,and sent immediately for the most famous doctors of the neighborhood tocome to her.
One after another the doctors came, a Crow, and Owl, and a TalkingCricket.
"I should like to know, signori," said the Fairy, turning to the threedoctors gathered about Pinocchio's bed, "I should like to know if thispoor Marionette is dead or alive."
At this invitation, the Crow stepped out and felt Pinocchio's pulse, hisnose, his little toe. Then he solemnly pronounced the following words:
"To my mind this Marionette is dead and gone; but if, by any evilchance, he were not, then that would be a sure sign that he is stillalive!"
"I am sorry," said the Owl, "to have to contradict the Crow, my famousfriend and colleague. To my mind this Marionette is alive; but if, byany evil chance, he were not, then that would be a sure sign that he iswholly dead!"
"And do you hold any opinion?" the Fairy asked the Talking Cricket.
"I say that a wise doctor, when he does not know what he is talkingabout, should know enough to keep his mouth shut. However, thatMarionette is not a stranger to me. I have known him a long time!"
Pinocchio, who until then had been very quiet, shuddered so hard thatthe bed shook.
"That Marionette," continued the Talking Cricket, "is a rascal of theworst kind."
Pinocchio opened his eyes and closed them again.
"He is rude, lazy, a runaway."
Pinocchio hid his face under the sheets.
"That Marionette is a disobedient son who is breaking his father'sheart!"
Long shuddering sobs were heard, cries, and deep sighs. Think howsurprised everyone was when, on raising the sheets, they discoveredPinocchio half melted in tears!
"When the dead weep, they are beginning to recover," said the Crowsolemnly.
"I am sorry to contradict my famous friend and colleague," said the Owl,"but as far as I'm concerned, I think that when the dead weep, it meansthey do not want to die."
CHAPTER 17
Pinocchio eats sugar, but refuses to take medicine. When the undertakerscome for him, he drinks the medicine and feels better. Afterwards hetells a lie and, in punishment, his nose grows longer and longer.
As soon as the three doctors had left the room, the Fairy went toPinocchio's bed and, touching him on the forehead, noticed that he wasburning with fever.
She took a glass of water, put a white powder into it, and, handing itto the Marionette, said lovingly to him:
"Drink this, and in a few days you'll be up and well."
Pinocchio looked at the glass, made a wry face, and asked in a whiningvoice: "Is it sweet or bitter?"
"It is bitter, but it is good for you."
"If it is bitter, I don't want it."
"Drink it!"
"I don't like anything bitter."
"Drink it and I'll give you a lump of sugar to take the bitter tastefrom your mouth."
"Where's the sugar?"
"Here it is," said the Fairy, taking a lump from a golden sugar bowl.
"I want the sugar first, then I'll drink the bitter water."
"Do you promise?"
"Yes."
The Fairy gave him the sugar and Pinocchio, after chewing and swallowingit in a twinkling, said, smacking his lips:
"If only sugar were medicine! I should take it every day."
"Now keep your promise and drink these few drops of water. They'll begood for you."
Pinocchio took the glass in both hands and stuck his nose into it. Helifted it to his mouth and once more stuck his nose into it.
"It is too bitter, much too bi
tter! I can't drink it."
"How do you know, when you haven't even tasted it?"
"I can imagine it. I smell it. I want another lump of sugar, then I'lldrink it."
The Fairy, with all the patience of a good mother, gave him more sugarand again handed him the glass.
"I can't drink it like that," the Marionette said, making more wryfaces.
"Why?"
"Because that feather pillow on my feet bothers me."
The Fairy took away the pillow.
"It's no use. I can't drink it even now."
"What's the matter now?"
"I don't like the way that door looks. It's half open."
The Fairy closed the door.
"I won't drink it," cried Pinocchio, bursting out crying. "I won't drinkthis awful water. I won't. I won't! No, no, no, no!"
"My boy, you'll be sorry."
"I don't care."
"You are very sick."
"I don't care."
"In a few hours the fever will take you far away to another world."
"I don't care."
"Aren't you afraid of death?"
"Not a bit. I'd rather die than drink that awful medicine."
At that moment, the door of the room flew open and in came four Rabbitsas black as ink, carrying a small black coffin on their shoulders.
"What do you want from me?" asked Pinocchio.
The Adventures of Pinocchio Page 4
