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

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  Chapter eighteen, Pinocchio finds the fox and the cat again and goes with them
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  to sow the gold pieces in the field of wonders. Crying as if his
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  heart would break, the marionette mourned for hours over the length of his nose.
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  No matter how he tried, it would not go through the door.
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  The fairy showed no pity toward him, as she was trying to teach him
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  a good lesson so that he would stop telling lies, the worst habit any
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  boy may acquire. But when she saw him pale with fright and with his
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  eyes half out of his head from terror, she began to feel sorry for
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  him and clapped her hands together. A thousand woodpeckers flew in through the window
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  and settled themselves on Pinocchio's nose. They pecked and pecked so hard at that
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  enormous nose that in a few moments it was the same size as before.
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  How good you are, my fairy, said Pinocchio, drying his eyes,
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  And how much I love you. I love you too, answered the fairy.
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  And if you wish to stay with me, you may be my little
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  brother, and I'll be your good little sister. I should like to stay,
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  But what about my poor father. I have thought of everything your father
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  has been sent for, and before night he will be here, really,
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  cried Pinocchio joyfully. Then, my good fairy, if you are willing,
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  I should like to go to meet him. I cannot wait to kiss that
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  dear old man who has suffered so much for my sake. Surely go ahead,
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  but be careful not to lose your way. Take the wood path,
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  and you'll surely meet him. Pinocchio set out, and as soon as he
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  found himself in the wood, he ran like a hare. When he reached
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  the giant oak tree, he stopped, for he thought he heard a rustle
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  in the brush. He was right There stood the fox and the cat,
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  the two traveling companions with whom he had eaten at the inn of the Red
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  Lobster. Here comes our dear Pinocchio, cried the fox, hugging and kissing
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  him. How did you happen here? How did you happen here? Repeated
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  the cat. It is a long story, said the marionette. Let me
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  tell it to you. The other night, when you left me alone at
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  the inn, I met the assassins on the road. The assassins, Oh
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  my poor friend. And what did they want? They wanted my gold pieces,
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  rascals, said the fox. The worst sort of rascals, added the
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  cat. But I began to run, continued the marionette, and they after
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  me until they overtook me and hanged me to the limb of that oak.
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  Pinocchio pointed to the giant and oak near by. Could anything be worse?
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  Said the fox? What an awful world to live in. Where shall we
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  find a safe place for gentlemen like ourselves? As the fox talked thus,
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  Pinocchio noticed that the cat carried his right paw in a sling. What happened
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  to your paw? He asked. The cat tried to answer, but he
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  became so terribly twisted in his speech that the fox had to help him out.
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  My friend is too modest to answer. I'll answer for him. About
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  an hour ago we met an old wolf on the road. He was half
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  starved and begged for help, having nothing to give him, what do you
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  think my friend did? Out of the kindness of his heart. With his
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  teeth, he bit off the paw of his front foot and threw it at
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  that poor beast, so that he might have something to eat. As he
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  spoke, the fox wiped off a tear. Pinocchio, almost in tears himself,
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  whispered in the cat's ear. If all the cats were like you,
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  how lucky the mice would be. And what are you doing here, the
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  fox asked the marionette. I am waiting for my father, who will be
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  here at any moment now. And your gold pieces. I still have them
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  in my pocket, except one which I spent at the inn of the red
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  lobster. To think that those four gold pieces might become two thousand tomorrow,
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  why don't you listen to me? Why don't you sow them in the field
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  of wonders? To day? It is impossible. I'll go with you some
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  other time. Another day will be too late, said the fox. Why
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  because that field has been bought by a very rich man, and to day
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  is the last day that it will be open to the public. How far
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  is this field of wonders? Only two miles away? Will you come with
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  us? We'll be there in half an hour. You can sow the money,
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  and after a few minutes you will gather your two thousand coins and return
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  home. Rich are you coming? Pinocchio hesitated a moment before answering for he
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  remembered the good fairy old Geppetto, and the advice of the talking cricket.
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  Then he ended by doing what all boys do when they have no heart and
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  little brain. He shrugged his shoulders and said to the fox and the cat,
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  let us go. I am with you. And they went. They
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  walked and walked for half a day at least, and at last they came
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  to the town called the City of Simple Simons. As soon as they entered
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  the town, Pinocchio noticed that all the streets were filled with hairless dogs,
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  yawning from hunger, with sheared sheep trembling with cold, with combless chickens begging
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  for a grain of wheat, with large butterflies unable to use their wings because
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  they had sold all their lovely colors, with tailless peacocks ashamed to show themselves,
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  and with bedraggled pheasants scuttling away hurriedly grieving for their bright feathers of gold
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  and silver, lost to them forever. Through this crowd of paupers and beggars,
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  a beautiful coach passed now and again. Within it sat either a fox,
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  a hawk, or a vulture. Where is the field of wonders,
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  asked Pinocchio, growing tired of waiting, Be patient. It is only a
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  few more steps away. They passed through the city, and just outside the
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  walls, they stepped into a lonely field which looked more or less like any
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  other field. Here we are, said the fox to the marionette. Dig
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  a hole here and put the gold pieces into it. The marionette obeyed.
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  He dug the hole, put the four gold pieces into it, and covered
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  them up very carefully. Now, said the fox, go to that near
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  by brook, bring back a pail full of water, and sprinkle it over
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  the spot. Pinocchio followed the directions closely, but as he had no pail,
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  he pulled off his shoe, filled it with water, and sprinkled the
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  earth, which covered the gold. Then he asked anything else, Nothing else,
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  answered the fox. Now we can go return here within twenty minutes,
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  and you will find the vine groan and the branches filled with gold pieces.
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  Pinocchio, beside himself with joy, thanked the fox and the cat many times
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  and promised them each a beautiful gift. We don't want any of your gifts,
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  answered the two rogues. It is enough for us that we have helped
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  you to become rich with little or no trouble. For this we are as
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  happy as kings. They said good bye to Pinocchio, and wishing him good
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  luck, went on their way end of Chapter eighteen.