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33 - The Adventures of Pinocchio - Carlo Collodi · Classic Adventure Books Library

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  Chapter thirty three, Pinocchio, having become a donkey, is bought by the
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  owner of a circus who wants to teach him to do tricks. The donkey
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  becomes lame and is sold to a man who wants to use his skin for
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  a drumhead. Very sad and downcast were the two poor little fellows as they
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  stood and looked at each other outside the room. The little man grew more
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  and more impatient, and finally gave the door such a violent kick that it
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  flew open. With his usual sweet smile on his lips, he looked at
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  Pinocchio and lamp Wick and said to them, fine work boys. You have
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  brayed well, so well that I recognized your voices immediately, and here I
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  am. On hearing this. The two donkeys bowed their heads in shame,
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  dropped their ears, and put their tails between their legs. At first,
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  the little man petted and caressed them, and smoothed down their hairy coats.
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  Then he took out a curry comb and worked over them till they shone like
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  glass. Satisfied with the looks of the two little animals, he bridled them
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  and took them to a market place far away from the land of toys in
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  the hope of selling them at a good price. In fact, he did
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  not have to wait very long for an offer. Lamp Wick was bought by
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  a farmer whose donkey had died the day before. Pinocchio went to the owner
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  of a circus who wanted to teach him to do tricks for his audiences.
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  And now do you understand what the little man's profession was. This horrid little
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  being, whose face shone with kindness, went about the world looking for boys.
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  Lazy boys, boys who hated books, boys who wanted to run away
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  from home, boys who were tired of school. All these were his joy
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  and his fortune. He took them with him to the land of toys and
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  let them enjoy themselves to their heart's content. When after months of all play
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  and no work, they became little donkeys, he sold them on the market
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  place. In a few years he had become a millionaire. What happened to
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  lamp Wick, my dear children, I do not know. Pinocchio, I
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  can tell you met with great hardships even from the first day. After putting
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  him in a stable, his new master filled his manger with straw. But
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  Pinocchio, after tasting a mouthful spat it out. Then the man filled the
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  manger with hay. But Pinocchio did not like that any better. Ah,
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  you don't like hay either, he cried angrily. Wait, my pretty donkey,
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  I'll teach you not to be so particular. Without more ado, he
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  took a whip and gave the donkey a hearty blow across the legs. Pinocchio
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  screamed with pain, and as he screamed, he brayed, Haw haw haw,
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  I can't digest straw, then eat the hay, answered his master,
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  who understood the donkey perfectly. Haw haw haw, hay gives me a headache.
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  Do you pretend, by any chance that I should feed you duck or
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  chicken? Asked the man again, and angrier than ever, he gave poor
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  Pinocchio another lashing. At that second beating, Pinocchio became very quiet and said
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  no more. After that, the door of the stable was closed and he
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  was left alone. It was many hours since he had eaten anything, and
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  he started to yawn from hunger. As he yawned, he opened a mouth
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  as big as an oven. Finally, not finding anything else in the manger,
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  he tasted the hay. After tasting it, He chewed it well,
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  closed his eyes, and swallowed it. This hay is not bad, he
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  said to himself. But how much happier I should be if I had studied
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  just now instead of hay, I should be eating some good bread and butter
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  patience. Next morning, when he awoke, Pinocchio looked in the manger for
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  more hay, but it was all gone. He had eaten it all during
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  the night. He tried the straw, but as he chewed away at it,
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  he noticed, to his great disappointment, that it tasted neither like rice
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  nor like macaroni. Patience, he repeated as he chewed. If only my
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  misfortune might serve as a lesson to disobedient boys who refused to study, patience,
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  have patience. Patience indeed, shouted his master just then as he came
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  into the stable. Do you think, perhaps, my little donkey, that
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  I have brought you here only to give you food and drink? Oh?
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  No, you are to help me earn some fine gold pieces, do you
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  hear? Come along now, I am going to teach you to jump and
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  bow, to dance a waltz at a poker, and even to stand on
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  your head. Poor Pinocchio, whether he liked it or not, had to
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  learn all these wonderful things. But it took him three long months and cost
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  him many many lashings before he was pronounced perfect. The day came at last
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  when Pinocchio's master was able to announce an extraordinary performance. The announcements, posted
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  all around the town and written in large letters, read thus, great spectacle,
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  tonight, leaps and exercises by the great artists and the famous horses of
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  the company, first public appearance of the famous donkey called Pinocchio, the Star
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  of the Dance. The theater will be as light as day that night.
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  As you can well imagine, the theater was filled to overflowing one hour before
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  the show was scheduled to start. Not an orchestra chair could be had,
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  not a balcony seat, nor a gallery seat, not even for their weight
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  in gold. The place swarmed with boys and girls of all ages and sizes,
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  wriggling and dancing about in a fever of impatience to see the famous donkey
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  dance. When the first part of the performance was over, the owner and
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  manager of the circus, in a black coat, white knee breeches, and
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  patent leather boots, presented himself to the public, and in a loud,
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  pompous voice, made the following announcement, Most honored friends, gentlemen and ladies,
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  your humble servant, the manager of this theater, presents himself before you
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  tonight, in order to introduce to you the greatest, the most famous donkey
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  in the world, a donkey that has had the great honor in his short
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  life of performing before the kings and queens and emperors of all the great courts
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  of Europe. We thank you for your attention. This speech was greeted by
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  much laughter and applause, and laws grew to a roar. When Pinocchio,
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  the famous donkey appeared in the circus ring, he was handsomely arrayed. A
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  new bridle of shining leather with buckles of polished brass, was on his back.
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  Two white camellias were tied to his ears. Ribbons and tassels of red
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  silk adorned his mane, which was divided into many curls. A great sash
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  of gold and silver was fastened around his waist, and his tail was decorated
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  with ribbons of many brilliant colors. He was a handsome donkey. Indeed,
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  the manager, when introducing him to the public, added these words, most
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  honored audience, I shall not take your time tonight to tell you of the
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  great difficulties which I have encountered while trying to tame this animal. Since I
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  found him in the wilds of Africa. Observe I beg of you the savage
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  look of his eye. All the means used by centuries of civilization in subduing
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  way wild beasts failed in this case. I had finally to resort to the
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  gentle language of the whip in order to bring him to my will with all
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  my kindness. However, I never succeeded in gaining my donkey's love. He
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  is still to day as savage as the day I found him. He still
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  fears and hates me. But I have found in him one great redeeming feature.
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  Do you see this little bump on his forehead. It is this bump
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  which gives him the great talent of dancing and using his feet as nimbly as
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  a human being. Admire him, O signory, and enjoy yourselves. I
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  let you now be the judges of my success as a teacher of animals.
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  Before I leave you, I wish to state that there will be another performance
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  to morrow night. If the weather threatens rain, the great spectacle will take
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  place at eleven o'clock in the morning. The manager bowed and then to Pinocchio
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  and said, ready, Pinocchio, before starting a performance, salute your audience.
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  Pinocchio obediently bent his two knees to the ground and remained kneeling until the
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  manager, with the crack of the whip, cried, sharply walk. The
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  donkey lifted himself on his fore feet and walked around the ring. A few
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  minutes passed, and again the voice of the manager called quickstep, and Pinocchio
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  obediently changed his step gallop, and Pinocchio galloped full speed, and Pinocchio ran
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  as fast as he could. As he ran, the master raised his arm
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  and a pistol shot rang in the air. At the shot, the little
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  donkey fell to the ground as if he were really dead. A shower of
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  applause greeted the donkey as he arose to his feet. Cries and shouts and
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  handclappings were heard on all sides. At all that noise, Pinocchio lifted his
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  head and raised his eyes. There in front of him in a box sat
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  a beautiful woman. Around her neck. She wore a long gold chain from
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  which hung a large medallion. On the medallion was painted the picture of a
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  marionette that pictures of me. That beautiful lady is my fairy, said Pinocchio
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  to himself, recognizing her. He felt so happy that he tried his best
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  to cry out, oh my fairy, my own fairy. But instead of
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  words, a loud braying was heard in the theater, so loud and so
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  long that all the spectators, men, women and children, but especially the
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  children, burst out laughing. Then, in order to teach the donkey that
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  it was not good manners to bray before the public, the manager hit him
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  on the nose with the handle of the whip. The poor little donkey stuck
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  out a long tongue and licked his nose for a long time in an effort
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  to take away the pain and what was his grief? When, on looking
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  up toward the boxes, he saw that the fairy had disappeared, he felt
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  himself fainting, his eyes filled with tears, and he wept bitterly. No
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  one knew it, however, least of all the manager, who, cracking
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  his whip, cried out, Bravo, Pinocchio, Now show us how gracefully,
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  you can jump through the rings. Pinocchio tried two or three times,
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  but each time he came near the ring, he found it more to his
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  taste to go under it. The fourth time, at a look from his
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  master, he leaped through it, but as he did so, his hind
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  legs caught in the ring, and he fell to the floor in a heap.
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  When he got up, he was lame and could hardly limp as far
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  as the stable Pinocchio, we want Pinocchio, we want the little donkey,
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  cried the boys from the orchestra. Saddened by the accident. No one saw
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  Pinocchio again that evening. The next morning, the veterinary, that is,
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  the animal doctor declared that he would be lame for the rest of his life.
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  What do I want with a lame donkey, said the manager to the
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  stable boy. Take him to the market and sell him. When they reached
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  the square, a buyer was soon found. How much do you ask for
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  that little lame donkey? He asked, four dollars. I'll give you four
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  cents. Don't think I'm buying him for work. I want only his skin.
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  It looks very tough, and I can use it to make myself a
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  drumhead. I belonged to a musical band in my village, and I need
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  a drum. I leave it to you, my dear children, to picture
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  to yourself the great pleasure with which Pinocchio heard he was to become a drumhead
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  as soon as the buyer had paid the force. Thence the donkey changed hands.
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  His new owner took him to a high cliff overlooking the sea, put
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  a stone around his neck, tied a rope to one of his hind feet,
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  gave him a push, and threw him into the water. Pinocchio sank
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  immediately, and his new master sat on the cliff, waiting for him to
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  drown, so as to skin him and make himself a drumhead. End of
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  Chapter thirty three.