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202 PINOCCHIO
" Bring out Pinocchio! We want the little
donkey! Bring out the little donkey! ” shouted
all the boys in the theatre, touched and sorry
for the sad accident.
But the little donkey was seen no more that
evening.
The following morning the veterinary, that
is, the doctor of animals, paid him a visit, and
declared that he would remain lame for life.
The director then said to the stable-boy:
‘What do you suppose I can do with a
lame donkey? He would eat food without earn¬
ing it. Take him to the market and sell him.”
When they reached the market a purchaser
was found at once. He asked the stable-boy:
‘How much do you want for that lame
donkey?”
" Twenty francs.”
" T will give you twenty pence. Don’t sup¬
pose that I am buying him to make use of; 1
am buying him solely for his skin. I see that
his skin is very hard, and I intend to make a
drum with it for the band of my village.”
I leave it to my readers to imagine poor
Pinocchio’s feelings when he heard that he was
destined to become a drum!
As soon as the purchaser had paid his
twenty pence he conducted the little donkey to