Stranica 223 [223]
OCR
PINOCCHIO 201 Then the director, to give him a lesson, and to make him understand that it is not good manners to bray before the public, gave him a blow on his nose with the handle of his whip. The poor little donkey put his tongue out an inch, and licked his nose for at least five minutes, thinking perhaps that it would ease the pain he felt. But what was his despair when, looking up a second time, he saw that the box was pial and that the Fairy had disappeared! . . He thought he was going to die: his pase filled with tears and he began to weep. Nobody, however, noticed it, and least of all the director who, cracking his whip, shouted: " Courage, Pinocchio! Now let the audience see how gracefully you can jump through the hoops.” Pinocchio tried two or three times, but each time that he came in front of the hoop, instead of going through it, he found it easier to go under it. At last he made a leap and went through it; but his right leg unfortunately caught in the hoop, and that caused him to fall to the ground doubled up in a heap on the other side. When he got up he was lame, and it was only with great difficulty that he managed to return to the stable.
