Page 184 [184]
164 — PINOCCHIO
the knocker, which was iron, turned suddenly
into an eel, and slipping out of his hands dis¬
appeared in the stream of water that ran down
the middle of the street.
“Ah! is that it?” shouted Pinocchio, blind
with rage. ‘Since the knocker has disap¬
peared, I will kick instead with all my might.”
And drawing a little back he gave a tre¬
mendous kick against the house door. The blow
was indeed so violent that his foot went through
the wood and stuck; and when he tried to draw
it back again it was trouble thrown away, for
it remained fixed like a nail that has been
hammered down.
Think of poor Pinocchio! He was obliged
to spend the remainder of the night with one
foot on the ground and the other in the air.
The following morning at daybreak the
door was at last opened. ‘That clever little
Snail had taken only nine hours to come down
from the fourth story to the door. It is evident
that her exertions must have been great.
“What are you doing with your foot stuck
in the door?” she asked the puppet, laughing.
“It was an accident. Do try, beautiful
little Snail, if you cannot release me from this
torture."
“My boy, that is the work of a carpenter,
and I have never been a carpenter.”