"Don't worry so much. Only think that we are going to a land wherewe shall be allowed to make all the racket we like from morning tillnight."
Pinocchio did not answer, but sighed deeply once--twice--a third time.Finally, he said:
"Make room for me. I want to go, too!"
"The seats are all filled," answered the Little Man, "but to show youhow much I think of you, take my place as coachman."
"And you?"
"I'll walk."
"No, indeed. I could not permit such a thing. I much prefer riding oneof these donkeys," cried Pinocchio.
No sooner said than done. He approached the first donkey and tried tomount it. But the little animal turned suddenly and gave him such aterrible kick in the stomach that Pinocchio was thrown to the ground andfell with his legs in the air.
At this unlooked-for entertainment, the whole company of runawayslaughed uproariously.
The little fat man did not laugh. He went up to the rebellious animal,and, still smiling, bent over him lovingly and bit off half of his rightear.
In the meantime, Pinocchio lifted himself up from the ground, and withone leap landed on the donkey's back. The leap was so well taken thatall the boys shouted,
"Hurrah for Pinocchio!" and clapped their hands in hearty applause.
Suddenly the little donkey gave a kick with his two hind feet and,at this unexpected move, the poor Marionette found himself once againsprawling right in the middle of the road.
Again the boys shouted with laughter. But the Little Man, instead oflaughing, became so loving toward the little animal that, with anotherkiss, he bit off half of his left ear.
"You can mount now, my boy," he then said to Pinocchio. "Have no fear.That donkey was worried about something, but I have spoken to him andnow he seems quiet and reasonable."
Pinocchio mounted and the wagon started on its way. While the donkeysgalloped along the stony road, the Marionette fancied he heard a veryquiet voice whispering to him:
"Poor silly! You have done as you wished. But you are going to be asorry boy before very long."
Pinocchio, greatly frightened, looked about him to see whence the wordshad come, but he saw no one. The donkeys galloped, the wagon rolledon smoothly, the boys slept (Lamp-Wick snored like a dormouse) and thelittle, fat driver sang sleepily between his teeth.
After a mile or so, Pinocchio again heard the same faint voicewhispering: "Remember, little simpleton! Boys who stop studying and turntheir backs upon books and schools and teachers in order to give alltheir time to nonsense and pleasure, sooner or later come to grief. Oh,how well I know this! How well I can prove it to you! A day will comewhen you will weep bitterly, even as I am weeping now--but it will betoo late!"
At these whispered words, the Marionette grew more and more frightened.He jumped to the ground, ran up to the donkey on whose back he had beenriding, and taking his nose in his hands, looked at him. Think how greatwas his surprise when he saw that the donkey was weeping--weeping justlike a boy!
"Hey, Mr. Driver!" cried the Marionette. "Do you know what strange thingis happening here! This donkey weeps."
"Let him weep. When he gets married, he will have time to laugh."
"Have you perhaps taught him to speak?"
"No, he learned to mumble a few words when he lived for three years witha band of trained dogs."
"Poor beast!"
"Come, come," said the Little Man, "do not lose time over a donkey thatcan weep. Mount quickly and let us go. The night is cool and the road islong."
Pinocchio obeyed without another word. The wagon started again. Towarddawn the next morning they finally reached that much-longed-for country,the Land of Toys.
This great land was entirely different from any other place in theworld. Its population, large though it was, was composed wholly of boys.The oldest were about fourteen years of age, the youngest, eight. Inthe street, there was such a racket, such shouting, such blowing oftrumpets, that it was deafening. Everywhere groups of boys were gatheredtogether. Some played at marbles, at hopscotch, at ball. Others rode onbicycles or on wooden horses. Some played at blindman's buff, others attag. Here a group played circus, there another sang and recited. A fewturned somersaults, others walked on their hands with their feet in theair. Generals in full uniform leading regiments of cardboard soldierspassed by. Laughter, shrieks, howls, catcalls, hand-clapping followedthis parade. One boy made a noise like a hen, another like a rooster,and a third imitated a lion in his den. All together they created sucha pandemonium that it would have been necessary for you to put cottonin your ears. The squares were filled with small wooden theaters,overflowing with boys from morning till night, and on the walls of thehouses, written with charcoal, were words like these: HURRAH FOR THELAND OF TOYS! DOWN WITH ARITHMETIC! NO MORE SCHOOL!
As soon as they had set foot in that land, Pinocchio, Lamp-Wick, andall the other boys who had traveled with them started out on a tour ofinvestigation. They wandered everywhere, they looked into every nook andcorner, house and theater. They became everybody's friend. Who could behappier than they?
What with entertainments and parties, the hours, the days, the weekspassed like lightning.
"Oh, what a beautiful life this is!" said Pinocchio each time that, bychance, he met his friend Lamp-Wick.
"Was I right or wrong?" answered Lamp-Wick. "And to think you did notwant to come! To think that even yesterday the idea came into your headto return home to see your Fairy and to start studying again! If todayyou are free from pencils and books and school, you owe it to me, tomy advice, to my care. Do you admit it? Only true friends count, afterall."
"It's true, Lamp-Wick, it's true. If today I am a really happy boy, itis all because of you. And to think that the teacher, when speaking ofyou, used to say, 'Do not go with that Lamp-Wick! He is a bad companionand some day he will lead you astray.'"
"Poor teacher!" answered the other, nodding his head. "Indeed I know howmuch he disliked me and how he enjoyed speaking ill of me. But I am of agenerous nature, and I gladly forgive him."
"Great soul!" said Pinocchio, fondly embracing his friend.
Five months passed and the boys continued playing and enjoyingthemselves from morn till night, without ever seeing a book, or a desk,or a school. But, my children, there came a morning when Pinocchio awokeand found a great surprise awaiting him, a surprise which made him feelvery unhappy, as you shall see.
CHAPTER 32
Pinocchio's ears become like those of a Donkey. In a little while hechanges into a real Donkey and begins to bray.
Everyone, at one time or another, has found some surprise awaiting him.Of the kind which Pinocchio had on that eventful morning of his life,there are but few.
What was it? I will tell you, my dear little readers. On awakening,Pinocchio put his hand up to his head and there he found--
Guess!
He found that, during the night, his ears had grown at least ten fullinches!
You must know that the Marionette, even from his birth, had very smallears, so small indeed that to the naked eye they could hardly be seen.Fancy how he felt when he noticed that overnight those two dainty organshad become as long as shoe brushes!
He went in search of a mirror, but not finding any, he just filled abasin with water and looked at himself. There he saw what he nevercould have wished to see. His manly figure was adorned and enriched by abeautiful pair of donkey's ears.
I leave you to think of the terrible grief, the shame, the despair ofthe poor Marionette.
He began to cry, to scream, to knock his head against the wall, but themore he shrieked, the longer and the more hairy grew his ears.
At those piercing shrieks, a Dormouse came into the room, a fat littleDormouse, who lived upstairs. Seeing Pinocchio so grief-stricken, sheasked him anxiously:
"What is the matter, dear little neighbor?"
"I am sick, my little Dormouse, very, very sick--and from an illnesswhich frightens me! Do you understand how to feel the pulse?"
"Feel mine then and tell me if I have a fever."
The Dormouse took Pinocchio's wrist between her paws and, after a fewminutes, looked up at him sorrowfully and said: "My friend, I am sorry,but I must give you some very sad news."
"What is it?"
"You have a very bad fever."
"But what fever is it?"
"The donkey fever."
"I don't know anything about that fever," answered the Marionette,beginning to understand even too well what was happening to him.
"Then I will tell you all about it," said the Dormouse. "Know then that,within two or three hours, you will no longer be a Marionette, nor aboy."
"What shall I be?"
"Within two or three hours you will become a real donkey, just like theones that pull the fruit carts to market."
"Oh, what have I done? What have I done?" cried Pinocchio, grasping histwo long ears in his hands and pulling and tugging at them angrily, justas if they belonged to another.
"My dear boy," answered the Dormouse to cheer him up a bit, "why worrynow? What is done cannot be undone, you know. Fate has decreed that alllazy boys who come to hate books and schools and teachers and spend alltheir days with toys and games must sooner or later turn into donkeys."
"But is it really so?" asked the Marionette, sobbing bitterly.
"I am sorry to say it is. And tears now are useless. You should havethought of all this before."
"But the fault is not mine. Believe me, little Dormouse, the fault isall Lamp-Wick's."
"And who is this Lamp-Wick?"
"A classmate of mine. I wanted to return home. I wanted to be obedient.I wanted to study and to succeed in school, but Lamp-Wick said to me,'Why do you want to waste your time studying? Why do you want to go toschool? Come with me to the Land of Toys. There we'll never study again.There we can enjoy ourselves and be happy from morn till night.'"
"And why did you follow the advice of that false friend?"
"Why? Because, my dear little Dormouse, I am a heedlessMarionette--heedless and heartless. Oh! If I had only had a bit ofheart, I should never have abandoned that good Fairy, who loved meso well and who has been so kind to me! And by this time, I should nolonger be a Marionette. I should have become a real boy, like all thesefriends of mine! Oh, if I meet Lamp-Wick I am going to tell him what Ithink of him--and more, too!"
After this long speech, Pinocchio walked to the door of the room. Butwhen he reached it, remembering his donkey ears, he felt ashamed to showthem to the public and turned back. He took a large cotton bag from ashelf, put it on his head, and pulled it far down to his very nose.
Thus adorned, he went out. He looked for Lamp-Wick everywhere, along thestreets, in the squares, inside the theatres, everywhere; but he wasnot to be found. He asked everyone whom he met about him, but no one hadseen him. In desperation, he returned home and knocked at the door.
"Who is it?" asked Lamp-Wick from within.
"It is I!" answered the Marionette.
"Wait a minute."
After a full half hour the door opened. Another surprise awaitedPinocchio! There in the room stood his friend, with a large cotton bagon his head, pulled far down to his very nose.
At the sight of that bag, Pinocchio felt slightly happier and thought tohimself:
"My friend must be suffering from the same sickness that I am! I wonderif he, too, has donkey fever?"
But pretending he had seen nothing, he asked with a smile:
"How are you, my dear Lamp-Wick?"
"Very well. Like a mouse in a Parmesan cheese."
"Is that really true?"
"Why should I lie to you?"
"I beg your pardon, my friend, but why then are you wearing that cottonbag over your ears?"
"The doctor has ordered it because one of my knees hurts. And you, dearMarionette, why are you wearing that cotton bag down to your nose?"
"The doctor has ordered it because I have bruised my foot."
"Oh, my poor Pinocchio!"
"Oh, my poor Lamp-Wick!"
An embarrassingly long silence followed these words, during which timethe two friends looked at each other in a mocking way.
Finally the Marionette, in a voice sweet as honey and soft as a flute,said to his companion:
"Tell me, Lamp-Wick, dear friend, have you ever suffered from anearache?"
"Never! And you?"
"Never! Still, since this morning my ear has been torturing me."
"So has mine."
"Yours, too? And which ear is it?"
"Both of them. And yours?"
"Both of them, too. I wonder if it could be the same sickness."
"I'm afraid it is."
"Will you do me a favor, Lamp-Wick?"
"Gladly! With my whole heart."
"Will you let me see your ears?"
"Why not? But before I show you mine, I want to see yours, dearPinocchio."
"No. You must show yours first."
"No, my dear! Yours first, then mine."
"Well, then," said the Marionette, "let us make a contract."
"Let's hear the contract!"
"Let us take off our caps together. All right?"
"All right."
"Ready then!"
Pinocchio began to count, "One! Two! Three!"
At the word "Three!" the two boys pulled off their caps and threw themhigh in air.
And then a scene took place which is hard to believe, but it is all tootrue. The Marionette and his friend, Lamp-Wick, when they saw each otherboth stricken by the same misfortune, instead of feeling sorrowful andashamed, began to poke fun at each other, and after much nonsense, theyended by bursting out into hearty laughter.
They laughed and laughed, and laughed again--laughed till theyached--laughed till they cried.
But all of a sudden Lamp-Wick stopped laughing. He tottered and almostfell. Pale as a ghost, he turned to Pinocchio and said:
"Help, help, Pinocchio!"
"What is the matter?"
"Oh, help me! I can no longer stand up."
"I can't either," cried Pinocchio; and his laughter turned to tears ashe stumbled about helplessly.
They had hardly finished speaking, when both of them fell on all foursand began running and jumping around the room. As they ran, their armsturned into legs, their faces lengthened into snouts and their backsbecame covered with long gray hairs.
This was humiliation enough, but the most horrible moment was the onein which the two poor creatures felt their tails appear. Overcome withshame and grief, they tried to cry and bemoan their fate.
But what is done can't be undone! Instead of moans and cries, they burstforth into loud donkey brays, which sounded very much like, "Haw! Haw!Haw!"
At that moment, a loud knocking was heard at the door and a voice calledto them:
"Open! I am the Little Man, the driver of the wagon which brought youhere. Open, I say, or beware!"
CHAPTER 33
Pinocchio, having become a Donkey, is bought by the owner of a Circus,who wants to teach him to do tricks. The Donkey becomes lame and is soldto a man who wants to use his skin for a drumhead.
Very sad and downcast were the two poor little fellows as they stoodand looked at each other. Outside the room, the Little Man grew more andmore impatient, and finally gave the door such a violent kick thatit flew open. With his usual sweet smile on his lips, he looked atPinocchio and Lamp-Wick and said to them:
"Fine work, boys! You have brayed well, so well that I recognized yourvoices immediately, and here I am."
On hearing this, the two Donkeys bowed their heads in shame, droppedtheir ears, and put their tails between their legs.
At first, the Little Man petted and caressed them and smoothed downtheir hairy coats. Then he took out a currycomb and worked over themtill they shone like glass. Satisfied with the looks of the two littleanimals, he bridled them and took them to a market place far away fromthe Land of Toys, in the hope of selling them at a
good price.
In fact, he did not have to wait very long for an offer. Lamp-Wick wasbought by a farmer whose donkey had died the day before. Pinocchio wentto the owner of a circus, who wanted to teach him to do tricks for hisaudiences.
And now do you understand what the Little Man's profession was? Thishorrid little being, whose face shone with kindness, went about theworld looking for boys. Lazy boys, boys who hated books, boys who wantedto run away from home, boys who were tired of school--all these were hisjoy and his fortune. He took them with him to the Land of Toys and letthem enjoy themselves to their heart's content. When, after months ofall play and no work, they became little donkeys, he sold them on themarket place. In a few years, he had become a millionaire.
What happened to Lamp-Wick? My dear children, I do not know. Pinocchio,I can tell you, met with great hardships even from the first day.
After putting him in a stable, his new master filled his manger withstraw, but Pinocchio, after tasting a mouthful, spat it out.
Then the man filled the manger with hay. But Pinocchio did not like thatany better.
"Ah, you don't like hay either?" he cried angrily. "Wait, my prettyDonkey, I'll teach you not to be so particular."
Without more ado, he took a whip and gave the Donkey a hearty blowacross the legs.
Pinocchio screamed with pain and as he screamed he brayed:
The Adventures of Pinocchio Page 10
