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.