Chapter 33
Pinocchio, having become a Donkey,is bought by the owner of a Circus,who wants to teach him to do tricks.
The Donkey becomes lame and is soldto a man who wants to use his skinfor a drumheadVery sad and downcast were the two poor little fellowsas they stood and looked at each other. Outside the room,the Little Man grew more and more impatient, and finallygave the door such a violent kick that it flew open. Withhis usual sweet smile on his lips, he looked at Pinocchioand Lamp-Wick and said to them:
"Fine work, boys! You have brayed well, so well thatI recognized your voices immediately, and here I am."On hearing this, the two Donkeys bowed their heads in shame,dropped their ears, and put their tails between their legs.
At first, the Little Man petted and caressed them andsmoothed down their hairy coats. Then he took out acurrycomb and worked over them till they shone like glass.
Satisfied with the looks of the two little animals,he bridled them and took them to a market place far awayfrom the Land of Toys, in the hope of selling them at agood price.
In fact, he did not have to wait very long for an offer.
Lamp-Wick was bought by a farmer whose donkey had diedthe day before. Pinocchio went to the owner of a circus,who wanted to teach him to do tricks for his audiences.
And now do you understand what the Little Man'sprofession was? This horrid little being, whose face shonewith kindness, went about the world looking for boys.
Lazy boys, boys who hated books, boys who wanted torun away from home, boys who were tired of school--allthese were his joy and his fortune. He took them withhim to the Land of Toys and let them enjoy themselvesto their heart's content. When, after months of all playand no work, they became little donkeys, he sold them onthe market place. In a few years, he had become a millionaire.
What happened to Lamp-Wick? My dear children, I do not know.
Pinocchio, I can tell you, met with great hardshipseven from the first day.
After putting him in a stable, his new master filled hismanger with straw, but Pinocchio, after tasting a mouthful,spat it out.
Then the man filled the manger with hay.
But Pinocchio did not like that any better.
"Ah, you don't like hay either?" he cried angrily.
"Wait, my pretty Donkey, I'll teach you not to be so particular."Without more ado, he took a whip and gave the Donkeya hearty blow across the legs.
Pinocchio screamed with pain and as he screamed he brayed:
"Haw! Haw! Haw! I can't digest straw!""Then eat the hay!" answered his master, who understoodthe Donkey perfectly.
"Haw! Haw! Haw! Hay gives me a headache!""Do you pretend, by any chance, that I should feed you duckor chicken?" asked the man again, and, angrier than ever,he gave poor Pinocchio another lashing.
At that second beating, Pinocchio became very quiet and said no more.
After that, the door of the stable was closed and hewas left alone. It was many hours since he had eatenanything and he started to yawn from hunger. As heyawned, he opened a mouth as big as an oven.
Finally, not finding anything else in the manger,he tasted the hay. After tasting it, he chewed it well,closed his eyes, and swallowed it.
"This hay is not bad," he said to himself. "But howmuch happier I should be if I had studied! Just now,instead of hay, I should be eating some good breadand butter. Patience!"Next morning, when he awoke, Pinocchio looked inthe manger for more hay, but it was all gone. He hadeaten it all during the night.
He tried the straw, but, as he chewed away at it, henoticed to his great disappointment that it tasted neitherlike rice nor like macaroni.
"Patience!" he repeated as he chewed. "If only mymisfortune might serve as a lesson to disobedient boyswho refuse to study! Patience! Have patience!""Patience indeed!" shouted his master just then, as hecame into the stable. "Do you think, perhaps, my littleDonkey, that I have brought you here only to give youfood and drink? Oh, no! You are to help me earn somefine gold pieces, do you hear? Come along, now. I amgoing to teach you to jump and bow, to dance a waltz anda polka, and even to stand on your head."Poor Pinocchio, whether he liked it or not, had to learnall these wonderful things; but it took him three longmonths and cost him many, many lashings before he waspronounced perfect.
The day came at last when Pinocchio's master wasable to announce an extraordinary performance. Theannouncements, posted all around the town, and writtenin large letters, read thus:
GREAT SPECTACLE TONIGHTLEAPS AND EXERCISES BY THE GREAT ARTISTSAND THE FAMOUS HORSESof theCOMPANYFirst Public Appearanceof theFAMOUS DONKEYcalledPINOCCHIOTHE STAR OF THE DANCEThe Theater will be as Light as DayThat night, as you can well imagine, the theater was filledto overflowing one hour before the show was scheduled to start.
Not an orchestra chair could be had, not a balcony seat,nor a gallery seat; not even for their weight in gold.
The place swarmed with boys and girls of all ages andsizes, wriggling and dancing about in a fever of impatienceto see the famous Donkey dance.
When the first part of the performance was over, theOwner and Manager of the circus, in a black coat, whiteknee breeches, and patent leather boots, presented himselfto the public and in a loud, pompous voice made thefollowing announcement:
"Most honored friends, Gentlemen and Ladies!
"Your humble servant, the Manager of this theater,presents himself before you tonight in order to introduceto you the greatest, the most famous Donkey in the world,a Donkey that has had the great honor in his short life ofperforming before the kings and queens and emperors ofall the great courts of Europe.
"We thank you for your attention!"This speech was greeted by much laughter andapplause. And the applause grew to a roar when Pinocchio,the famous Donkey, appeared in the circus ring. He washandsomely arrayed. A new bridle of shining leather withbuckles of polished brass was on his back; two whitecamellias were tied to his ears; ribbons and tassels of redsilk adorned his mane, which was divided into manycurls. A great sash of gold and silver was fastened aroundhis waist and his tail was decorated with ribbons of manybrilliant colors. He was a handsome Donkey indeed!
The Manager, when introducing him to the public,added these words:
"Most honored audience! I shall not take your timetonight to tell you of the great difficulties which I haveencountered while trying to tame this animal, since Ifound him in the wilds of Africa. Observe, I beg of you,the savage look of his eye. All the means used bycenturies of civilization in subduing wild beasts failed in thiscase. I had finally to resort to the gentle language of thewhip in order to bring him to my will. With all mykindness, however, I never succeeded in gaining my Donkey'slove. He is still today as savage as the day I foundhim. He still fears and hates me. But I have found inhim one great redeeming feature. Do you see this littlebump on his forehead? It is this bump which gives himhis great talent of dancing and using his feet as nimblyas a human being. Admire him, O signori, and enjoyyourselves. I let you, now, be the judges of my success as ateacher of animals. Before I leave you, I wish to statethat there will be another performance tomorrow night.
If the weather threatens rain, the great spectacle will takeplace at eleven o'clock in the morning."The Manager bowed and then turned to Pinocchio and said:
"Ready, Pinocchio! Before starting your performance,salute your audience!"Pinocchio obediently bent his two knees to the groundand remained kneeling until the Manager, with the crackof the whip, cried sharply: "Walk!"The Donkey lifted himself on his four feet and walkedaround the ring. A few minutes passed and again thevoice of the Manager called:
"Quickstep!" and Pinocchio obediently changed his step.
"Gallop!" and Pinocchio galloped.
"Full speed!" and Pinocchio ran as fast as he could.
As he ran the master raised his arm and a pistol shot rangin the air.
At the shot, the little Donkey fell to the ground as ifhe were really dead.
A shower of applause greeted the Donkey as he arose to his feet.
Cries and shouts and handclappings were heard on all sides.
At all that noise, Pinocchio lifted his head and raisedhis eyes. There, in front of him, in a box sat a beautifulwoman. Around her neck she wore a long gold chain,from which hung a large medallion. On the medallionwas painted the picture of a Marionette.
"That picture is of me! That beautiful lady is my Fairy!"said Pinocchio to himself, recognizing her. He felt so happythat he tried his best to cry out:
"Oh, my Fairy! My own Fairy!"But instead of words, a loud braying was heard in the theater,so loud and so long that all the spectators--men, women,and children, but especially the children--burst out laughing.
Then, in order to teach the Donkey that it was notgood manners to bray before the public, the Managerhit him on the nose with the handle of the whip.
The poor little Donkey stuck out a long tongue and lickedhis nose for a long time in an effort to take away the pain.
And what was his grief when on looking up toward the boxes,he saw that the Fairy had disappeared!
He felt himself fainting, his eyes filled with tears,and he wept bitterly. No one knew it, however,least of all the Manager, who, cracking his whip, cried out:
"Bravo, Pinocchio! Now show us how gracefully you canjump through the rings."Pinocchio tried two or three times, but each time hecame near the ring, he found it more to his taste to gounder it. The fourth time, at a look from his master heleaped through it, but as he did so his hind legs caughtin the ring and he fell to the floor in a heap.
When he got up, he was lame and could hardly limp asfar as the stable.
"Pinocchio! We want Pinocchio! We want the little Donkey!"cried the boys from the orchestra, saddened by the accident.
No one saw Pinocchio again that evening.
The next morning the veterinary--that is, the animal doctor--declared that he would be lame for the rest of his life.
"What do I want with a lame donkey?" said the Managerto the stableboy. "Take him to the market and sell him."When they reached the square, a buyer was soon found.
"How much do you ask for that little lame Donkey?" he asked.
"Four dollars.""I'll give you four cents. Don't think I'm buying himfor work. I want only his skin. It looks very tough andI can use it to make myself a drumhead. I belong to amusical band in my village and I need a drum."I leave it to you, my dear children, to picture toyourself the great pleasure with which Pinocchio heard thathe was to become a drumhead!
As soon as the buyer had paid the four cents, theDonkey changed hands. His new owner took him to a highcliff overlooking the sea, put a stone around his neck,tied a rope to one of his hind feet, gave him a push, andthrew him into the water.
Pinocchio sank immediately. And his new master saton the cliff waiting for him to drown, so as to skin himand make himself a drumhead.
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