第42章

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 heedless Marionette--heedless and heartless.Oh! If I had only had a bit of heart, I should never have abandoned that good Fairy, who loved me so well and who has been so kind to me! And by this time, I should no longer be a Marionette.I should have become a real boy, like all these friends of mine! Oh, if I meet Lamp-Wick I am going to tell him what I think of him--and more, too!"After this long speech, Pinocchio walked to the door of the room.But when he reached it, remembering his donkey ears, he felt ashamed to show them to the public and turned back.He took a large cotton bag from a shelf, 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 the streets, in the squares, inside the theatres, everywhere; but he was not to be found.He asked everyone whom he met about him, but no one had seen 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 awaited Pinocchio! There in the room stood his friend, with a large cotton bag on his head, pulled far down to his very nose.

At the sight of that bag, Pinocchio felt slightly happier and thought to himself:

"My friend must be suffering from the same sickness that I am! I wonder if 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 cotton bag over your ears?""The doctor has ordered it because one of my knees hurts.

And you, dear Marionette, 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 time the 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 an earache?""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, dear Pinocchio.""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 them high in air.

And then a scene took place which is hard to believe, but it is all too true.The Marionette and his friend, Lamp-Wick, when they saw each other both stricken by the same misfortune, instead of feeling sorrowful and ashamed, began to poke fun at each other, and after much nonsense, they ended by bursting out into hearty laughter.

They laughed and laughed, and laughed again--laughed till they ached--laughed till they cried.

But all of a sudden Lamp-Wick stopped laughing.He tottered and almost fell.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 as he stumbled about helplessly.

They had hardly finished speaking, when both of them fell on all fours and began running and jumping around the room.

As they ran, their arms turned into legs, their faces lengthened into snouts and their backs became covered with long gray hairs.

This was humiliation enough, but the most horrible moment was the one in which the two poor creatures felt their tails appear.Overcome with shame and grief, they tried to cry and bemoan their fate.

But what is done can't be undone! Instead of moans and cries, they burst forth 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 called to them:

"Open! I am the Little Man, the driver of the wagon which brought you here.Open, I say, or beware!"