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178 PINOCCHIO
Pinocchio did not answer; but he sighed:
he sighed again: he sighed for the third time,
and he said finally:
" Make a little room for me, for I am com¬
ing too.”
" "The places are all full,” replied the little
man; “ but to show you how welcome you are,
you shall have my seat on the box...”
7 MG VOUS gia
“ Oh, I will go on foot.”
" No, indeed, I could not allow that. I
would rather mount one of these donkeys,”
cried Pinocchio.
Approaching the right-hand donkey of the
first pair he attempted to mount him, but the
animal turned on him, and giving him a great
blow in the stomach rolled him over with his
legs in the air.
You can imagine the impertinent and im¬
moderate laughter of all the boys who wit¬
nessed this scene.
But the little man did not laugh. He ap¬
proached the rebellious donkey and, pretend¬
ing to give him a kiss, bit off half of his ear.
Pinocchio in the meantime had got up from
the ground in a fury, and with a spring he
seated himself on the poor animal’s back. And
he sprang so well that the boys stopped laugh¬
ing and began to shout: “ Hurrah, Pinocchio!”