CHAPTER 18

Pinocchio finds the Fox and the Cat again, and goes with them

to sow the gold pieces in the Field of Wonders





Crying as if his heart would break, the Marionette

mourned for hours over the length of his nose. No matter

how he tried, it would not go through the door. The

Fairy showed no pity toward him, as she was trying to

teach him a good lesson, so that he would stop telling lies,

the worst habit any boy may acquire. But when she saw

him, pale with fright and with his eyes half out of his

head from terror, she began to feel sorry for him and

clapped her hands together. A thousand woodpeckers

flew in through the window and settled themselves on

Pinocchio's nose. They pecked and pecked so hard at

that enormous nose that in a few moments, it was the

same size as before.



"How good you are, my Fairy," said Pinocchio, drying

his eyes, "and how much I love you!"



"I love you, too," answered the Fairy, "and if you wish

to stay with me, you may be my little brother and I'll be

your good little sister."



"I should like to stay--but what about my poor father?"



"I have thought of everything. Your father has been

sent for and before night he will be here."



"Really?" cried Pinocchio joyfully. "Then, my good

Fairy, if you are willing, I should like to go to meet him.

I cannot wait to kiss that dear old man, who has suffered

so much for my sake."



"Surely; go ahead, but be careful not to lose your way.

Take the wood path and you'll surely meet him."



Pinocchio set out, and as soon as he found himself in the

wood, he ran like a hare. When he reached the giant oak

tree he stopped, for he thought he heard a rustle in the

brush. He was right. There stood the Fox and the Cat,

the two traveling companions with whom he had eaten at

the Inn of the Red Lobster.



"Here comes our dear Pinocchio!" cried the Fox,

hugging and kissing him. "How did you happen here?"



"How did you happen here?" repeated the Cat.



"It is a long story," said the Marionette. "Let me tell

it to you. The other night, when you left me alone at the

Inn, I met the Assassins on the road--"



"The Assassins? Oh, my poor friend! And what did they want?"



"They wanted my gold pieces."



"Rascals!" said the Fox.



"The worst sort of rascals!" added the Cat.



"But I began to run," continued the Marionette, "and

they after me, until they overtook me and hanged me to

the limb of that oak."



Pinocchio pointed to the giant oak near by.



"Could anything be worse?" said the Fox.



"What an awful world to live in! Where shall we

find a safe place for gentlemen like ourselves?"



As the Fox talked thus, Pinocchio noticed that the Cat

carried his right paw in a sling.



"What happened to your paw?" he asked.



The Cat tried to answer, but he became so terribly

twisted in his speech that the Fox had to help him out.



"My friend is too modest to answer. I'll answer for

him. About an hour ago, we met an old wolf on the road.

He was half starved and begged for help. Having nothing

to give him, what do you think my friend did out of the

kindness of his heart? With his teeth, he bit off the paw

of his front foot and threw it at that poor beast, so that

he might have something to eat."



As he spoke, the Fox wiped off a tear.



Pinocchio, almost in tears himself, whispered in the Cat's ear:



"If all the cats were like you, how lucky the mice would be!"



"And what are you doing here?" the Fox asked the Marionette.



"I am waiting for my father, who will be here at any moment now."



"And your gold pieces?"



"I still have them in my pocket, except one which I

spent at the Inn of the Red Lobster."



"To think that those four gold pieces might become

two thousand tomorrow. Why don't you listen to me?

Why don't you sow them in the Field of Wonders?"



"Today it is impossible. I'll go with you some other time."



"Another day will be too late," said the Fox.



"Why?"



"Because that field has been bought by a very rich man,

and today is the last day that it will be open to the public."



"How far is this Field of Wonders?"



"Only two miles away. Will you come with us? We'll

be there in half an hour. You can sow the money, and,

after a few minutes, you will gather your two thousand

coins and return home rich. Are you coming?"



Pinocchio hesitated a moment before answering, for he

remembered the good Fairy, old Geppetto, and the advice

of the Talking Cricket. Then he ended by doing what

all boys do, when they have no heart and little brain.

He shrugged his shoulders and said to the Fox and the Cat:



"Let us go! I am with you."



And they went.



They walked and walked for a half a day at least and

at last they came to the town called the City of Simple

Simons. As soon as they entered the town, Pinocchio

noticed that all the streets were filled with hairless dogs,

yawning from hunger; with sheared sheep, trembling with

cold; with combless chickens, begging for a grain of

wheat; with large butterflies, unable to use their wings

because they had sold all their lovely colors; with tailless

peacocks, ashamed to show themselves; and with bedraggled

pheasants, scuttling away hurriedly, grieving for their

bright feathers of gold and silver, lost to them forever.



Through this crowd of paupers and beggars, a beautiful

coach passed now and again. Within it sat either a Fox,

a Hawk, or a Vulture.



"Where is the Field of Wonders?" asked Pinocchio,

growing tired of waiting.



"Be patient. It is only a few more steps away."



They passed through the city and, just outside the walls,

they stepped into a lonely field, which looked more

or less like any other field.



"Here we are," said the Fox to the Marionette.

"Dig a hole here and put the gold pieces into it."



The Marionette obeyed. He dug the hole, put the

four gold pieces into it, and covered them up very carefully.

"Now," said the Fox, "go to that near-by brook, bring

back a pail full of water, and sprinkle it over the spot."



Pinocchio followed the directions closely, but, as he

had no pail, he pulled off his shoe, filled it with water,

and sprinkled the earth which covered the gold. Then

he asked:



"Anything else?"



"Nothing else," answered the Fox. "Now we can go.

Return here within twenty minutes and you will find the

vine grown and the branches filled with gold pieces."



Pinocchio, beside himself with joy, thanked the Fox

and the Cat many times and promised them each a beautiful gift.



"We don't want any of your gifts," answered the two

rogues. "It is enough for us that we have helped you to

become rich with little or no trouble. For this we are

as happy as kings."



They said good-by to Pinocchio and, wishing him good

luck, went on their way.

****

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