第43章
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 sold to a man who wants to use his skin for a drumheadVery sad and downcast were the two poor little fellows as they stood and looked at each other.Outside the room, the Little Man grew more and more impatient, and finally gave the door such a violent kick that it flew open.With his usual sweet smile on his lips, he looked at Pinocchio and Lamp-Wick and said to them:
"Fine work, boys! You have brayed well, so well that I recognized your voices immediately, and here I am."On hearing this, the two Donkeys bowed their heads in shame, dropped their ears, and put their tails between their legs.
At first, the Little Man petted and caressed them and smoothed down their hairy coats.Then he took out a currycomb and worked over them till they shone like glass.
Satisfied with the looks of the two little animals, he bridled them and took them to a market place far away from the 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 was bought by a farmer whose donkey had died the day before.Pinocchio went to the owner of a circus, who wanted to teach him to do tricks for his audiences.
And now do you understand what the Little Man's profession was? This horrid little being, whose face shone with kindness, went about the world looking for boys.
Lazy boys, boys who hated books, boys who wanted to run away from home, boys who were tired of school--all these were his joy and his fortune.He took them with him to the Land of Toys and let them enjoy themselves to their heart's content.When, after months of all play and no work, they became little donkeys, he sold them on the market 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 with straw, but Pinocchio, after tasting a mouthful, spat it out.
Then the man filled the manger with hay.
But Pinocchio did not like that any better.
"Ah, you don't like hay either?" he cried angrily.
"Wait, my pretty Donkey, I'll teach you not to be so particular."Without more ado, he took a whip and gave the Donkey a hearty blow across the legs.
Pinocchio screamed with pain and as he screamed he brayed:
"Haw! Haw! Haw! I can't digest straw!""Then eat the hay!" answered his master, who understood the Donkey perfectly.
"Haw! Haw! Haw! Hay gives me a headache!""Do you pretend, by any chance, that I should feed you duck or chicken?" asked the man again, and, angrier than ever, he gave poor Pinocchio another lashing.
At that second beating, Pinocchio became very quiet and said no more.
After that, the door of the stable was closed and he was left alone.It was many hours since he had eaten anything and he started to yawn from hunger.As he yawned, he opened a mouth as big as an oven.
Finally, not finding anything else in the manger, he tasted the hay.After tasting it, he chewed it well, closed his eyes, and swallowed it.
"This hay is not bad," he said to himself."But how much happier I should be if I had studied! Just now, instead of hay, I should be eating some good bread and butter.Patience!"Next morning, when he awoke, Pinocchio looked in the manger for more hay, but it was all gone.He had eaten it all during the night.
He tried the straw, but, as he chewed away at it, he noticed to his great disappointment that it tasted neither like rice nor like macaroni.
"Patience!" he repeated as he chewed."If only my misfortune might serve as a lesson to disobedient boys who refuse to study! Patience! Have patience!""Patience indeed!" shouted his master just then, as he came into the stable."Do you think, perhaps, my little Donkey, that I have brought you here only to give you food and drink? Oh, no! You are to help me earn some fine gold pieces, do you hear? Come along, now.I am going to teach you to jump and bow, to dance a waltz and a polka, and even to stand on your head."Poor Pinocchio, whether he liked it or not, had to learn all these wonderful things; but it took him three long months and cost him many, many lashings before he was pronounced perfect.
The day came at last when Pinocchio's master was able to announce an extraordinary performance.The announcements, posted all around the town, and written in large letters, read thus:
GREAT SPECTACLE TONIGHT
LEAPS AND EXERCISES BY THE GREAT ARTISTS
AND THE FAMOUS HORSES
of the COMPANY
First Public Appearanceof theFAMOUS DONKEYcalledPINOCCHIO
THE STAR OF THE DANCE
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The Theater will be as Light as Day That night, as you can well imagine, the theater was filled to overflowing one hour before the show was scheduled to start.
Not an orchestra chair could be had, not a balcony seat, nor a gallery seat; not even for their weight in gold.
The place swarmed with boys and girls of all ages and sizes, wriggling and dancing about in a fever of impatience to see the famous Donkey dance.
When the first part of the performance was over, the Owner and Manager of the circus, in a black coat, white knee breeches, and patent leather boots, presented himself to the public and in a loud, pompous voice made the following announcement:
"Most honored friends, Gentlemen and Ladies!