“Here it is!” shouted Candlewick, jumping to his feet.
“What is it?” asked Pinocchio in a whisper.
“It is the coach coming to take me. Now will you come, yes or no?”
“But is it really true,” asked the puppet, “that in that country boys are never obliged to study?”
“Never, never, never!”
“What a delightful country! What a delightful country! What a delightful country!”
XXXI
Pinocchio Enjoys Five Months of Happiness
At last the coach arrived, and it arrived without making the slightest noise, for its wheels were bound round with flax and rags.
It was drawn by twelve pairs of donkeys, all the same size but of different colors.
Some were gray, some white, some brindled like pepper and salt, and others had large stripes of yellow and blue.
But the most extraordinary thing was this: the twelve pairs, that is, the twenty-four donkeys, instead of being shod like other beasts of burden, had on their feet men’s boots made of white kid.
And the coachman?
Picture to yourself a little man broader than he was long, flabby and greasy like a lump of butter, with a small round face like an orange, a little mouth that was always laughing, and a soft, caressing voice like a cat when she is trying to insinuate herself into the good graces of the mistress of the house.
All the boys vied with each other in taking places in his coach, to be conducted to the “Land of Boobies.”
The coach was, in fact, quite full of boys between eight and fourteen years old, heaped one upon another like herrings in a barrel. They were uncomfortable, packed closely together and could hardly breathe; but nobody said “Oh!”—nobody grumbled. The consolation of knowing that in a few hours they would reach a country where there were no books, no schools, and no masters, made them so happy and resigned that they felt neither fatigue nor inconvenience, neither hunger, nor thirst, nor want of sleep.
As soon as the coach had drawn up the little man turned to Candlewick and with a thousand smirks and grimaces said to him, smiling:
“Tell me, my fine boy, would you also like to go to that fortunate country?”
“I certainly wish to go.”
“But I must warn you, my dear child, that there is not a place left in the coach. You can see for yourself that it is quite full.”
“No matter,” replied Candlewick, “if there is no place inside, I will manage to sit on the springs.”
And, giving a leap, he seated himself astride on the springs.
“And you, my love!” said the little man, turning in a flattering manner to Pinocchio, “what do you intend to do? Are you coming with us or are you going to remain behind?”
“I remain behind,” answered Pinocchio. “I am going home. I intend to study, as all well conducted boys do.”
“Much good may it do you!”
“Pinocchio!” called out Candlewick, “listen to me: come with us and we shall have such fun.”
“No, no, no!”
“Come with us and we shall have such fun,” shouted in chorus a hundred voices from the inside of the coach.
“But if I come with you, what will my good Fairy say?” said the puppet, who was beginning to yield.
“Do not trouble your head with melancholy thoughts. Consider only that we are going to a country where we shall be at liberty to run riot from morning till night.”
Pinocchio did not answer, but he sighed; he sighed again; he sighed for the third time, and he said finally:
“Make a little room for me, for I am coming, too.”
“The places are all full,” replied the little man; “but, to show you how welcome you are, you shall have my seat on the box.”
“And you?”
“Oh, I will go on foot.”
“No, indeed, I could not allow that. I would rather mount one of these donkeys,” cried Pinocchio.
Approaching the right-hand donkey of the first pair, he attempted to mount him, but the animal turned on him and, giving him a great blow in the stomach, rolled him over with his legs in the air.
You can imagine the impertinent and immoderate laughter of all the boys who witnessed this scene.
But the little man did not laugh. He approached the rebellious donkey and, pretending to give him a kiss, bit off half of his ear.
Pinocchio in the meantime had gotten up from the ground in a fury and, with a spring, he seated himself on the poor animal’s back. And he sprang so well that the boys stopped laughing and began to shout: “Hurrah, Pinocchio!” and they clapped their hands and applauded him as if they would never finish.
Now that Pinocchio was mounted, the coach started. Whilst the donkeys were galloping and the coach was rattling over the stones of the high road, the puppet thought that he heard a low voice that was scarcely audible saying to him:
“Poor fool! you would follow your own way, but you will repent it!”
Pinocchio, feeling almost frightened, looked from side to side to try and discover where these words could come from, but he saw nobody. The donkeys galloped, the coach rattled, the boys inside slept, Candlewick snored like a dormouse, and the little man seated on the box sang between his teeth:
After they had gone another mile, Pinocchio heard the same little low voice saying to him:
“Bear it in mind, simpleton! Boys who refuse to study and turn their backs upon books, schools and masters, to pass their time in play and amusement, sooner or later come to a bad end. I know it by experience, and I can tell you. A day will come when you will weep as I am weeping now, but then it will be too late!”
On hearing these words whispered very softly, the puppet, more frightened than ever, sprang down from the back of his donkey and went and took hold of his mouth.
Imagine his surprise when he found that the donkey was crying—crying like a boy!
“Eh! Sir Coachman,” cried Pinocchio to the little man, “here is an extraordinary thing!
