Oldal 153 [153]
PINOCCHIO 135
“ Willingly, willingly, willingly! ”
. To-morrow,” rejoined the Fairy, “ you
will begin to go to school.”
Pinocchio became at once a little less joyful.
‘Then you must choose an art, or a trade,
according to your own wishes.”
Pinocchio became very grave.
" What are you muttering between your
teeth?” asked the Fairy in an angry voice.
" 1 was saying,” moaned the puppet in a
low voice, “ that it seemed to me too late for
me to go to school now... ."
" No, sir. Keep it in mind that it is never
too late to learn and to instruct ourselves.”
" But I do not wish to follow either an art
or a trade.”
éc Why? 39
“* Because it tires me to work.”
" My boy,” said the Fairy, “ those who talk
in that way end almost always either in prison
or in the hospital. Let me tell you that every
man, whether he is born rich or poor, is obliged
to do something in this world—to occupy him¬
self, to work. Woe to those who lead slothful
lives. Sloth is a dreadful illness and must be
cured at once, in childhood. If not, when we
are old it can never be cured.”
Pinocchio was touched by these words, and
lifting his head quickly he said to the Fairy: