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OCR
194. PINOCCHIO filled the manger with straw; but Pinocchio, having tried a mouthful, spat it out again. Then his master, grumbling, filled the manger with hay; but neither did the hay please him. “Ah!” exclaimed his master in a passion. “Does not hay please you either? Leave it to me, my fine donkey; if you are so full of caprices I will find a way to cure you! . . .” And by way of correcting him he struck his legs with his whip. Pinocchio began to cry and to bray with pain, and he said, braying: ‘« J-a, j-a, I cannot digest straw!... “Then eat hay!” said his master, who understood perfectly the asinine dialect. ‘“J-a, j-a, hay gives me a pain in my stomach.” “Do you mean to pretend that a little donkey like you must be kept on breasts of chickens, and capons in jelly?” asked his master, getting more and more angry, and whipping him again. At this second whipping Pinocchio prudently held his tongue and said nothing more. The stable was then shut and Pinocchio was left alone. He had not eaten for many hours, and he began to yawn from hunger. And when he yawned he opened a mouth that seemed as wide as an oven. 29
