"Poor Blackbird!" said Pinocchio to the Cat, "why did you treat him sobadly?"
"I did it to give him a lesson. He will learn another time not tomeddle in other people's conversation."
They had gone almost half-way when the Fox, halting suddenly, said tothe puppet:
"Would you like to double your money?"
"In what way?"
"Would you like to make out of your five miserable sovereigns, ahundred, a thousand, two thousand?"
"I should think so! but in what way?"
"The way is easy enough. Instead of returning home you must go with us."
"And where do you wish to take me?"
"To the land of the Owls."
Pinocchio reflected a moment, and then he said resolutely:
"No, I will not go. I am already close to the house, and I will returnhome to my papa, who is waiting for me. Who can tell how often the poorold man must have sighed yesterday when I did not come back! I haveindeed been a bad son, and the Talking-Cricket was right when he said:'Disobedient boys never come to any good in the world.' I have found itto be true, for many misfortunes have happened to me. Even yesterday inFire-Eater's house I ran the risk--Oh! it makes me shudder only to thinkof it!"
"Well, then," said the Fox, "you are quite decided to go home? Go, then,and so much the worse for you."
"So much the worse for you!" repeated the Cat.
"Think well of it, Pinocchio, for you are giving a kick to fortune."
"To fortune!" repeated the Cat.
"Between today and tomorrow your five sovereigns would have become twothousand."
"Two thousand!" repeated the Cat.
"But how is it possible that they could become so many?" askedPinocchio, remaining with his mouth open from astonishment.
"I will explain it to you at once," said the Fox. "You must know that inthe land of the Owls there is a sacred field called by everybody theField of Miracles. In this field you must dig a little hole, and you putinto it, we will say, one gold sovereign. You then cover up the holewith a little earth; you must water it with two pails of water from thefountain, then sprinkle it with two pinches of salt, and when nightcomes you can go quietly to bed. In the meanwhile, during the night, thegold piece will grow and flower, and in the morning when you get up andreturn to the field, what do you find? You find a beautiful tree ladenwith as many gold sovereigns as a fine ear of corn has grains in themonth of June."
"So that," said Pinocchio, more and more bewildered, "supposing I buriedmy five sovereigns in that field, how many should I find there thefollowing morning?"
"That is an exceedingly easy calculation," replied the Fox, "acalculation that you can make on the ends of your fingers. Everysovereign will give you an increase of five hundred; multiply fivehundred by five, and the following morning will find you with twothousand five hundred shining gold pieces in your pocket."
"Oh! how delightful!" cried Pinocchio, dancing for joy. "As soon as everI have obtained those sovereigns, I will keep two thousand for myselfand the other five hundred I will make a present of to you two."
"A present to us?" cried the Fox with indignation and appearing muchoffended. "What are you dreaming of?"
"What are you dreaming of?" repeated the Cat.
"We do not work," said the Fox, "for interest: we work solely to enrichothers."
"Others!" repeated the Cat.
"What good people!" thought Pinocchio to himself, and, forgetting thereand then his papa, the new coat, the spelling-book, and all his goodresolutions, he said to the Fox and the Cat:
"Let us be off at once. I will go with you."
A LITTLE CHICKEN POPPED OUT, VERY GAY AND POLITE]
CHAPTER XIII
THE INN OF THE RED CRAW-FISH
They walked, and walked, and walked, until at last, towards evening,they arrived, all tired out, at the inn of The Red Craw-Fish.
"Let us stop here a little," said the Fox, "that we may have somethingto eat, and rest ourselves for an hour or two. We will start again atmidnight, so as to arrive at the Field of Miracles by dawn tomorrowmorning."
Having gone into the inn they all three sat down to table, but none ofthem had any appetite.
The Cat, who was suffering from indigestion and feeling seriouslyindisposed, could only eat thirty-five fish with tomato sauce and fourportions of tripe with Parmesan cheese; and because she thought thetripe was not seasoned enough, she asked three times for the butter andgrated cheese!
The Fox would also willingly have picked a little, but as his doctor hadordered him a strict diet, he was forced to content himself simply witha hare dressed with a sweet and sour sauce, and garnished lightly withfat chickens and early pullets. After the hare he sent for a made dishof partridges, rabbits, frogs, lizards and other delicacies; he couldnot touch anything else. He cared so little for food, he said, that hecould put nothing to his lips.
The one who ate the least was Pinocchio. He asked for some walnuts and ahunch of bread, and left everything on his plate. The poor boy'sthoughts were continually fixed on the Field of Miracles.
When they had supped, the Fox said to the host:
"Give us two good rooms, one for Mr. Pinocchio, and the other for me andmy companion. We will snatch a little sleep before we leave. Remember,however, that at midnight we wish to be called to continue our journey."
"Yes, gentlemen," answered the host, and he winked at the Fox and theCat, as much as to say: "I know what you are up to. We understand oneanother!"
No sooner had Pinocchio got into bed than he fell asleep at once andbegan to dream. And he dreamed that he was in the middle of a field, andthe field was full of shrubs covered with clusters of gold sovereigns,and as they swung in the wind they went zin, zin, zin, almost as if theywould say: "Let who will, come and take us." But just as Pinocchio wasstretching out his hand to pick handfuls of those beautiful gold piecesand to put them in his pocket, he was suddenly awakened by three violentblows on the door of his room.
It was the host who had come to tell him that midnight had struck.
"Are my companions ready?" asked the puppet.
"Ready! Why, they left two hours ago."
"Why were they in such a hurry?"
"Because the Cat had received a message to say that her eldest kittenwas ill with chilblains on his feet and was in danger of death."
"Did they pay for the supper?"
"What are you thinking of? They are too well educated to dream ofoffering such an insult to a gentleman like you."
"What a pity! It is an insult that would have given me so muchpleasure!" said Pinocchio, scratching his head. He then asked:
"And where did my good friends say they would wait for me?"
"At the Field of Miracles, tomorrow morning at daybreak."
Pinocchio paid a sovereign for his supper and that of his companions,and then left.
Outside the inn it was so pitch dark that he had almost to grope hisway, for it was impossible to see a hand's breadth in front of him. Somenight-birds flying across the road from one hedge to the other brushedPinocchio's nose with their wings as they passed, which caused him somuch terror that, springing back, he shouted: "Who goes there?" and theecho in the surrounding hills repeated in the distance: "Who goes there?Who goes there?"
As he was walking along he saw a little insect shining dimly on thetrunk of a tree, like a night-light in a lamp of transparent china.
"Who are you?" asked Pinocchio.
"I am the ghost of the Talking-Cricket," answered the insect in a lowvoice, so weak and faint that it seemed to come from the other world.
"What do you want with me?" said the puppet.
"I want to give you some advice. Go back and take the four sovereignsthat you have left to your poor father, who is weeping and in despairbecause you have not returned to him."
"By tomorrow my papa will be a gentleman, for these four sovereigns willhave become two thousand."
"Don't trust to those who promise to make you rich in a
day. Usuallythey are either mad or rogues! Give ear to me, and go back, my boy."
"On the contrary, I am determined to go on."
"The hour is late!"
"I am determined to go on."
"The night is dark!"
"I am determined to go on."
"The road is dangerous!"
"I am determined to go on."
"Remember that boys who are bent on following their caprices, and willhave their own way, sooner or later repent it."
"Always the same stories. Good-night, Cricket."
"Good-night, Pinocchio, and may Heaven preserve you from dangers andfrom assassins."
No sooner had he said these words than the Talking-Cricket vanishedsuddenly like a light that has been blown out, and the road becamedarker than ever.
CHAPTER XIV
PINOCCHIO FALLS AMONGST ASSASSINS
"Really," said the puppet to himself, as he resumed his journey, "howunfortunate we poor boys are. Everybody scolds us and gives us goodadvice. See now; because I don't choose to listen to that tiresomeCricket, who knows, according to him, how many misfortunes are to happento me! I am even to meet with assassins! That is, however, of littleconsequence, for I don't believe in assassins--I have never believed inthem. For me, I think that assassins have been invented purposely bypapas to frighten boys who want to go out at night. Besides, supposing Iwas to come across them here in the road, do you imagine they wouldfrighten me? Not the least in the world. I should go to meet them andcry: 'Gentlemen assassins, what do you want with me? Remember that withme there is no joking. Therefore go about your business and be quiet!'At this speech they would run away like the wind. If, however, they wereso badly educated as not to run away, why, then I would run away myselfand there would be an end of it."
But Pinocchio had not time to finish his reasoning, for at that momenthe thought that he heard a slight rustle of leaves behind him.
He turned to look and saw in the gloom two evil-looking black figurescompletely enveloped in charcoal sacks. They were running after him ontiptoe and making great leaps like two phantoms.
"Here they are in reality!" he said to himself and, not knowing where tohide his gold pieces, he put them in his mouth precisely under histongue.
Then he tried to escape. But he had not gone a step when he felt himselfseized by the arm and heard two horrid, sepulchral voices saying to him:
"Your money or your life!"
Pinocchio, not being able to answer in words, owing to the money thatwas in his mouth, made a thousand low bows and a thousand pantomimes. Hetried thus to make the two muffled figures, whose eyes were only visiblethrough the holes in their sacks, understand that he was a poor puppet,and that he had not as much as a counterfeit nickel in his pocket.
"Come, now! Less nonsense and out with the money!" cried the twobrigands threateningly.
And the puppet made a gesture with his hands to signify: "I have none."
"Deliver up your money or you are dead," said the tallest of thebrigands.
"Dead!" repeated the other.
"And after we have killed you, we will also kill your father!"
"Also your father!"
"No, no, no, not my poor papa!" cried Pinocchio in a despairing voice,and as he said it the sovereigns clinked in his mouth.
"Ah! you rascal! Then you have hidden your money under your tongue! Spitit out at once!"
Pinocchio was obstinate.
"Ah! you pretend to be deaf, do you? Wait a moment, leave it to us tofind a means to make you give it up."
And one of them seized the puppet by the end of his nose, and the othertook him by the chin, and began to pull them brutally, the one up andthe other down, to force him to open his mouth. But it was all to nopurpose. Pinocchio's mouth seemed to be nailed and riveted together.
Then the shorter assassin drew out an ugly knife and tried to put itbetween his lips like a lever or chisel. But Pinocchio, as quick aslightning, caught his hand with his teeth, and with one bite bit itclear off and spat it out. Imagine his astonishment when instead of ahand he perceived that a cat's paw lay on the ground.
Encouraged by this first victory he used his nails to such purpose thathe succeeded in liberating himself from his assailants, and, jumping thehedge by the roadside, he began to fly across the country. The assassinsran after him like two dogs chasing a hare, and the one who had lost apaw ran on one leg, and no one ever knew how he managed it.
After a race of some miles Pinocchio could go no more. Giving himselfup for lost, he climbed the trunk of a very high pine tree and seatedhimself in the topmost branches. The assassins attempted to climb afterhim, but when they had reached half-way up they slid down again andarrived on the ground with the skin grazed from their hands and knees.
But they were not to be beaten by so little; collecting a quantity ofdry wood, they piled it beneath the pine and set fire to it. In lesstime than it takes to tell, the pine began to burn and to flame like acandle blown by the wind. Pinocchio, seeing that the flames weremounting higher every instant, and not wishing to end his life like aroasted pigeon, made a stupendous leap from the top of the tree andstarted afresh across the fields and vineyards. The assassins followedhim, and kept behind him without once giving up.
The day began to break and they were still pursuing him. SuddenlyPinocchio found his way barred by a wide, deep ditch full of stagnantwater the color of coffee. What was he to do? "One! two! three!" criedthe puppet, and, making a rush, he sprang to the other side. Theassassins also jumped, but not having measured the distanceproperly--splash! splash! they fell into the very middle of the ditch.Pinocchio, who heard the plunge and the splashing of the water, shoutedout, laughing, and without stopping:
"A fine bath to you, gentleman assassins."
And he felt convinced that they were drowned, when, turning to look, heperceived that, on the contrary, they were both running after him, stillenveloped in their sacks, with the water dripping from them as if theyhad been two hollow baskets.
CHAPTER XV
THE ASSASSINS HANG PINOCCHIO TO THE BIG OAK
At this sight the puppet's courage failed him and he was on the point ofthrowing himself on the ground and giving himself over for lost.Turning, however, his eyes in every direction, he saw, at some distance,a small house as white as snow.
"If only I had breath to reach that house," he said to himself, "perhapsI should be saved."
And, without delaying an instant, he recommenced running for his lifethrough the wood, and the assassins after him.
At last, after a desperate race of nearly two hours, he arrived quitebreathless at the door of the house, and knocked.
No one answered.
He knocked again with great violence, for he heard the sound of stepsapproaching him and the heavy panting of his persecutors. The samesilence.
Seeing that knocking was useless, he began in desperation to kick andpommel the door with all his might. The window then opened and abeautiful Child appeared at it. She had blue hair and a face as white asa waxen image; her eyes were closed and her hands were crossed on herbreast. Without moving her lips in the least, she said, in a voice thatseemed to come from the other world:
"In this house there is no one. They are all dead."
"Then at least open the door for me yourself," shouted Pinocchio, cryingand imploring.
"I am dead also."
"Dead? Then what are you doing there at the window?"
"I am waiting for the bier to come to carry me away."
Having said this she immediately disappeared and the window was closedagain without the slightest noise.
"Oh! beautiful Child with blue hair," cried Pinocchio, "open the door,for pity's sake! Have compassion on a poor boy pursued by assas--"
But he could not finish the word, for he felt himself seized by thecollar and the same two horrible voices said to him threateningly:
"You shall not escape from us again!"
The puppet, seeing death staring him in the face, w
as taken with such aviolent fit of trembling that the joints of his wooden legs began tocreak, and the sovereigns hidden under his tongue to clink.
"Now, then," demanded the assassins, "will you open your mouth--yes orno? Ah! no answer? Leave it to us: this time we will force you to openit!"
And, drawing out two long, horrid knives as sharp as razors,clash!--they attempted to stab him twice.
But the puppet, luckily for him, was made of very hard wood; the knivestherefore broke into a thousand pieces and the assassins were left withthe handles in their hands, staring at each other.
"I see what we must do," said one of them. "He must be hung! let us hanghim!"
"Let us hang him!" repeated the other.
Without loss of time they tied his arms behind him, passed a runningnoose round his throat, and hung him to the branch of a tree called theBig Oak.
They then sat down on the grass and waited for his last struggle. But atthe end of three hours the puppet's eyes were still open, his mouthclosed, and he was kicking more than ever.
Losing patience, they turned to Pinocchio and said in a bantering tone:
"Good-bye till tomorrow. Let us hope that when we return you will bepolite enough to allow yourself to be found quite dead, and with yourmouth wide open."
And they walked off.
In the meantime a tempestuous northerly wind began to blow and roarangrily, and it beat the poor puppet from side to side, making him swingviolently, like the clatter of a bell ringing for a wedding. And theswinging gave him atrocious spasms, and the running noose, becomingstill tighter round his throat, took away his breath.