Page 164 [164]
146 PINOCCHIO
ing he was dead the terrified boys ran off as
hard as their legs could carry them, and in a
few minutes they were out of sight.
But Pinocchio remained. Although from
grief and fright he was more dead than alive,
nevertheless he ran and soaked his handkerchief
in the sea and began to bathe the temples of
his poor schoolfellow. Crying bitterly in his
despair he kept calling him by name and say¬
ing to him:
“ Eugene! . . . my poor Eugene! . . . open
your eyes and look at me! . . . why do you not
answer? I did not do it, indeed it was not
I that hurt you so! believe me, it was not!
Open your eyes, Eugene. ... If you keep
your eyes shut I shall die too. . . . Oh! what
shall I do? how shall I ever return home? How
can I ever have the courage to go back to my
good mamma? What will become of me?...
Where can I fly to? . . .Oh! how much better it
would have been, a thousand times better, if
I had only gone to school! . . . Why did I listen
to my companions? they have been my ruin.
The master said to me, and my mamma re¬
peated it often: " Beware of bad companions! ?
But I am obstinate... a wilful fool... I let
them talk and then I always take my own way!
and I have to suffer for it. . . . And so, ever