Part 6 (2/2)
”I should like to stay--but what aboutYour father has been sent for and before night he will be here”
”Really?” cried Pinocchio joyfully ”Then, o to meet him I cannot wait to kiss that dear old o ahead, but be careful not to lose your way Take the wood path and you'll surely meet him”
Pinocchio set out, and as soon as he found hiiant oak tree he stopped, for he thought he heard a rustle in the brush He was right There stood the Fox and the Cat, the two traveling companions hom he had eaten at the Inn of the Red Lobster
”Here co him ”How did you happen here?”
”How did you happen here?” repeated the Cat
”It is a long story,” said the Marionette ”Let ht, when you left me alone at the Inn, I met the assassins on the road--”
”The assassins? Oh, my poor friend! And what did they want?”
”They wanted old pieces”
”Rascals!” said the Fox
”The worst sort of rascals!” added the Cat
”But I began to run,” continued the Marionette, ”and they after ed iant oak near by
”Could anything be worse?” said the Fox
”What an aorld to live in! Where shall we find a safe place for gentlemen like ourselves?”
As the Fox talked thus, Pinocchio noticed that the Cat carried his right paw in a sling
”What happened to your paw?” he asked
The Cat tried to answer, but he became so terribly twisted in his speech that the Fox had to help him out
”My friend is too o, we ed for help Having nothing to give him, what do you think my friend did out of the kindness of his heart? With his teeth, he bit off the paw of his front foot and threw it at that poor beast, so that heto eat”
As he spoke, the Fox wiped off a tear
Pinocchio, almost in tears himself, whispered in the Cat's ear: ”If all the cats were like you, how lucky thehere?” the Fox asked the Marionette
”I a for my father, ill be here at any old pieces?”
”I still have them in my pocket, except one which I spent at the Inn of the Red Lobster”
”To think that those four gold pieces ht become two thousand tomorrow Why don't you listen to me? Why don't you sow them in the Field of Wonders?”
”Today it is io with you some other time”
”Another day will be too late,” said the Fox
”Why?”
”Because that field has been bought by a very rich man, and today is the last day that it will be open to the public”
”How far is this Field of Wonders?”
”Only two miles away Will you come with us? We'll be there in half an hour You can sow the ather your two thousand coins and return ho?”
Pinocchio hesitated a ood Fairy, old Geppetto, and the advice of the Talking Cricket Then he ended by doing what all boys do, when they have no heart and little brain He shrugged his shoulders and said to the Fox and the Cat: ”Let us go! I am with you”
And they went
They walked and walked for a half a day at least and at last they came to the town called the City of Simple Simons As soon as they entered the town, Pinocchio noticed that all the streets were filled with hairless dogs, yawning fro with cold; with coe butterflies, unable to use their wings because they had sold all their lovely colors; with tailless peacocks, ashaled pheasants, scuttling away hurriedly, grieving for their bright feathers of gold and silver, lost to thears, a beautiful coach passed now and again Within it sat either a Fox, a Hawk, or a Vulture
”Where is the Field of Wonders?” asked Pinocchio, growing tired of waiting
”Be patient It is only a few h the city and, just outside the walls, they stepped into a lonely field, which looked more or less like any other field
”Here we are,” said the Fox to the Marionette ”Dig a hole here and put the gold pieces into it”
The Marionette obeyed He dug the hole, put the four gold pieces into it, and covered theo to that near-by brook, bring back a pail full of water, and sprinkle it over the spot”
Pinocchio followed the directions closely, but, as he had no pail, he pulled off his shoe, filled it ater, and sprinkled the earth which covered the gold Then he asked: ”Anything else?”
”Nothing else,” answered the Fox ”Noe can go Return here within twenty rown and the branches filled with gold pieces”
Pinocchio, beside himself with joy, thanked the Fox and the Cat ift
”We don't want any of your gifts,” answered the two rogues ”It is enough for us that we have helped you to become rich with little or no trouble For this we are as happy as kings”