Pinocchio (Union Square Kids Unabridged Classics)

by Carlo Collodi

ended, however, by doing as all boys do who have not a grain of sense and who have no heart—he ended by giving his head a little shake and saying to the Fox and the Cat: “Let us go: I will come with you.”

After having walked half the day they reached a town that was called Trap for Blockheads.

“Hunger, my boy, is not a good reason for appropriating what does not belong to us.”

Oh, if I could be born again! But now it is too late, and I must have patience!”

Indeed!

“Be assured, my boy,” replied the Pigeon, “that when hunger is real and there is nothing else to eat, even vetch becomes delicious. Hunger knows neither caprice nor greediness.”

“So much the better for you,” answered the man. “Then, my boy, if you are really dying of hunger, eat two fine slices of your pride, and be careful not to get indigestion.”

“My dear boy,” said the Marmot by way of consoling him, “you can do nothing. It is destiny. It is written in the decrees of wisdom that all boys who are lazy and who take a dislike to books, to schools, and to teachers and who pass their time in amusement, games, and diversions must end sooner or later by being transformed into so many little donkeys.”

And now, my little readers, you will have understood the fine trade that little man pursued. The wicked little monster, who had a face all milk and honey, made frequent journeys around the world with his wagon. As he went along he collected, with promises and flattery, all the idle boys who had taken a dislike to books and school. As soon as his wagon was full, he conducted them to the Land of Boobies so that they might pass their time in games, in uproar, and in amusement. When these poor deluded boys, from continuous play and no study, had become so many little donkeys, he took possession of them with great delight and satisfaction and carried them off to the fairs and markets to be sold. And in this way he had in a few years made heaps of money and had become a millionaire.