Page 250 [250]
226 PINOCCHIO
" I will have pity on both father and son,
but I wished to remind you of the ill treatment
I received from you, to teach you that in this
world, when it is possible, we should show cour¬
tesy to everybody, if we wish it to be extended
to us in our hour of need.”
“ You are right, Cricket, you are right, and
I will bear in mind the lesson you have given
me. But tell me how you managed to buy
this beautiful hut.”
“'This hut was given to me yesterday by a
goat whose wool was of a beautiful blue colour.”
" And where has the goat gone?” asked
Pinocchio with lively curiosity.
“T do not know.”
" And when will it come back? . . .”
“It will never come back. It went away
yesterday in great grief and, bleating, it seemed
to say: " Poor Pinocchio . . . I shall never see
him more... by this time the Dog-fish must
have devoured him! . . . ”
“ Did it really say that? . . . Then it was
she! . . . it was she! . . . it was my dear little
Fairy! . . .” exclaimed Pinocchio.
When he had cried for some time he dried
his eyes, and prepared a comfortable bed of
straw for Geppetto to lie down upon. Then
he asked the Cricket: