Oldal 201 [201]
PINOCCHIO 18)
. “ But have you by chance taught him to
talk?”
“ No; but he spent three years in a com¬
pany of learned dogs, and he learnt to mutter
a few words.”
" Poor beast!”
" Come, come," said the little man, " dont
let us waste time in seeing a donkey cry. Mount
him, and let us go on: the night is cold and the
road is long."
Pinocchio obeyed without another word. In
the morning about daybreak they arrived safely
in the " Land of Boobies.”
It was a country unlike any other country
in the world. The population was composed
entirely of boys. The oldest were fourteen,
and the youngest scarcely eight years old. In
the streets there was such merriment, noise,
and shouting, that it was enough to turn any¬
body’s head. There were troops of boys every¬
where. Some were playing with nuts, some
with battledores, some with balls. Some rode
velocipedes, others wooden horses. A party
were playing at hide and seek, a few were chas¬
ing each other. Boys dressed in straw were
eating lighted tow; some were reciting, some
singing, some leaping. Some were amusing
themselves with walking on their hands with
their feet in the air; others were trundling