Stranica 183 [183]
PINOCCHIO 163
‘Ah, I understand!” said the Snail. " W ait
for me there. I will come down and open the
door directly.”
“ Be quick, for pity’s sake, for I am dying
of cold."
“My boy, I am a snail, and snails are never
in a hurry.”
An hour passed, and then two, and the door
was not opened. Pinocchio, who was wet
through, and trembling from cold and fear, at
last took courage and knocked again, and this
time he knocked louder.
At this second knock a window on the lower
story opened, and the same Snail appeared at it.
“ Beautiful little Snail,” cried Pinocchio
from the street, “ I have been waiting for two
hours! And two hours on such a bad night
seem longer than two years. Be quick, for
pity’s sake.”
“My boy,” answered the calm, phlegmatic
little animal—‘‘ my boy, I am a snail, and
snails are never in a hurry.”
And the window was shut again.
Shortly afterwards midnight struck; then
one o clock, then two o'clock, and the door
remained still closed.
Pinocchio at last, losing all patience, seized
the knocker in a rage, intending to give a blow
that would resound through the house. But