Oldal 248 [248]
224 PINOCCHIO
They had not gone a hundred yards when
they saw by the roadside two villainous-looking
individuals begging.
They were the Cat and the Fox, but they
were scarcely recognisable. Fancy! the Cat
had so long feigned blindness that she had be¬
come blind in reality; and the Fox, old, mangy,
and with one side paralysed, had not even his
tail left. That sneaking thief, having fallen
into the most squalid misery, one fine day had
found himself obliged to sell his beautiful tail
to a travelling pedlar, who bought it to drive
away flies.
“Oh, Pinocchio!” cried the Fox, “ give a
little in charity to two poor infirm people.”
" Infirm people,” repeated the Cat.
" Begone, impostors!” answered the pup¬
pet. " You took me in once, but you will never
catch me again.”
" Believe me, Pinocchio, we are now poor
and unfortunate indeed! ”’
" If you are poor, you deserve it. Recollect
the proverb: ‘Stolen money never fructifies.’
Begone, impostors! ”
And thus saying Pinocchio and Geppetto
went their way in peace. When they had gone
another hundred yards they saw, at the end of
a path in the middle of the fields, a nice little
straw hut with a roof of tiles and bricks.